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Minister, colleagues,
Good morning and to our visiting guest – welcome to Kabul and to Afghanistan. UNAMA is delighted pleased to be able to attend this important conference – one that affords us all a chance to reflect on the challenges we face in reducing disaster risk in Afghanistan, especially those posed by earthquakes.

Afghans and all who live in Afghanistan are accustomed to risk. It is part of the fabric of their daily lives, a series of calculations woven into habits and routines. Obviously these risks are not only from earthquakes. In this season many regions face great danger from flooding. But the discipline and planning incumbent on thos who live with security risks affords an opportunity for innovation and creativity in preparing for natural disasters such as earthquakes.

It is not enough to provide humanitarian relief when human settlements are destroyed by seismic shocks. We must all strive to reduce the overall risk. If we can prevent disaster from occurring at all, we are duty-bound to do so for humanitarian reasons. If we cannot completely prevent it, we are also bound to mitigate its effects. When we cannot do even this, we must prepare for effective response.

We cannot prevent earthquakes. Nor can science at present provide us with reliable warning. The reality is that Afghanistan suffers many earthquakes, some of them quite severe, and we must strive to do as much as possible to reduce the impact that they can have.

Again, the legacy of conflict in Kabul and elsewhere has opened the door to new approaches. As Urban Development and Housing Minister Pashtun has mentioned, building materials, codes and techniques now being developed can meet the challenge of disaster preparedness.

The United Nations in Afghanistan is deeply concerned with disaster risk reduction strategies and activities. In 2003 the UN assisted Afghanistan to develop a National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), which outlined roles and responsibiities for disaster risk reduction, and formed the official disaster management structure.

Frequent meetings and concrete outcomes have shown this plan is being implemented at national and provincial level. But much remains to be done. While it has only been two years since the NDMP was officially endorsed, so much has occurred that it is now probably an appropriate time to up-date its contents.

For example, does the NDMP now reflect the enhanced capability of the Afghan national police and army? Are coordination arrangements between ministries sufficient to ensure effective use of resources, separately and in combination? Does the NDMP address the need for “bottom-up” approaches – the principle that all response efforts start within the affected community, with effective response based on a foundation of self-help?

The October 8, 2005 Kashmir earthquake saw Afghan government agencies and officials among the initial wave of first responders – a gesture that spoke to the quality of the Department of Disaster Preparedness and the solidarity of Afghans with their neighbours. The Afghanistan Compact lays out an ambitious agenda for reform and institutional development over the next five years: but it cannot provide for the unexpected. Afghanistan must use the time now available to develop robust plans. It should also draw upon the experience of its two neighbours – Iran and Pakistan – that have suffered major seismic devastation in the past decade. This forum will provide the perfect opportunity for this dialogue.

This conference is timely. We do not know when or where in this country the next large earthquake may occur. We only know that it will certainly happen – as the legacy of Ai Khanoum and Babur’s descriptions in the Baburnama remind us. We at UNAMA look forward to this exchange views. I wish you good fortune in your discussions and deliberations over the next two days.

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