‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’ for Asia-Pacific to build resilience against disasters
Introduction:
The anniversary this month of two deadly natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region serves as a reminder for governments to build infrastructure—from roads to schools to hospitals—that can withstand future shocks.
It has been 10 years since Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar, killing 140,000.
Days later, nearly 70,000 people, including 10,000 school children, lost their lives in a massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.
Loretta Hieber-Girardet is the Asia-Pacific chief for the UN’s office working on disaster-risk reduction, UNISDR.
She spoke to Julia Dean during a recent visit to Australia.
It has been 10 years since more than 200,000 people lost their lives in two major deadly natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region.
Loretta Hieber-Girardet of the UN office that works on disaster-risk reduction, UNISDR, talked to Julia Dean about lessons learned since Cyclone Nargis and the earthquake in Sichuan province in China.