Re-stating the importance of the Delhi Declaration the Delhi Declaration – A South Asia Regional Consensus for Disaster Risk Reduction

The adoption of the Hyogo Framework of Action 2005-15, the Disaster Management in South Asia: A Comprehensive Regional Framework for Action 2005-2015 which was adopted at the Expert Group Meeting held at Dhaka in February 2006 set objectives and roles and lay out huge responsibilities on disaster management for governments and a wide range of other stakeholders across the South Asia Region in line with the rest of the world.

Countries of South Asia are bound together by shared natural resources and common geological and climatic features. The roots of civilization and socio-economic relationships between South Asian people transcend the geo-political boundaries between nations. The long-established trend of natural hazards and their manifestation as disasters have demonstrated time and again that many natural hazards cross national boundaries affecting multiple countries in South Asia . Drought, flood, cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, glacial lake outbursts among others have become shared risks for all countries in the region. National efforts to fulfill priorities under the Hyogo Framework of Action and the SAARC Disaster Management in South Asia : A Comprehensive Regional Framework for Action 2005-2015 has gained momentum. However regional initiatives and cooperation are still very limited, although the establishment of the SAARC Disaster Management Centre at New Delhi following the approval at the 13th SAARC Summit of Heads of States and Governments held at Dhaka in 2006 has heralded a new beginning.

New alliances, networks and initiatives have to be developed at the regional level for creating a regional movement for disaster risk reduction in South Asia . Currently the huge need and potential that exists to promote and strengthen regional cooperation among stakeholders within and outside governments are hardly being pursued.

The New Delhi Declaration was formulated to fill this gap and initiate a process of regional consensus building in the South Asia region, with the participation of wider stakeholders towards collective action on regional disaster risk reduction.