RESOLUTION(1)

on the prevention of natural disasters

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Nassau (Bahamas) from 11 to 14 October 1999,

- having regard to European Parliament resolution A4-0021/97,

- having regard to the European Parliament's opinion of 2 October 1997,

- having regard to Commission Communication COM(96)0153 - C4-0265/96,

- having regard to Regulation 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 on humanitarian aid,

A. having regard to the growing number of natural hazards and disasters and the increase in the devastating violence thereof, the origin of which may be found in climate change, demographic pressure and the impact which human beings have on nature throughout the world,

B. whereas disasters not only result in a significant number of victims and high socio-economic costs but also hinder the development processes in which the European Union plays a role,

C. whereas the European Union's contribution to development represents 44 % of the world total and whereas ECHO contributes 40 % of total European aid,

D. firmly believing that devoting greater attention to the prevention of natural risks in the drawing up and implementation of development strategies would make a major contribution to achieving the priority objective of sustainable development,

1. Draws the attention of the Commission, the Council and the Member States to the topic of disaster prevention and preparedness with a view to securing greater protection of human lives, preventing suffering and limiting the economic consequences of disasters;

2. Firmly supports the work done by ECHO in south-east Asia, Bangladesh, Central America and the Caribbean by means of an approach involving the Dipecho programmes;

3. Calls for such an approach to be extended to other parts of the world, without excluding the implementation of selected initiatives in areas which are not covered by the Dipecho programmes;

4. States once again its firm belief that disaster prevention should be systematically taken into account in its development cooperation policy, particularly in the preparation of a new agreement between the ACP States and the European Union and in any new or renewed cooperation agreement;

5. Insists that the various aspects of disaster prevention (prevention itself, mitigating the consequences of disasters and preparing for disasters) should be regarded as a fully-fledged component of development and development cooperation policies as regards both general programmes and specific projects within those programmes, and calls in particular for any humanitarian operation financed by ECHO to include a prevention aspect;

6. Calls for greater account to be taken of the high socio-economic costs of disasters and the benefits of disaster prevention in the environmental assessment of the development policies, strategies, programmes and projects conducted by the European Union;

7. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the Commission.

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 14 October 1999 in Nassau (Bahamas).