Philippines to host international conference on disaster risk reduction

The Philippines will host the Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM) conference on disaster risk reduction and management from June 4 to 6, the Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA) said Wednesday.

The DFA said around 150 senior government officials, academics, and business leaders from Asia and Europe will gather here to discuss how to handle future "mega-disasters" such as super typhoon Haiyan.

The DFA said the conference is being held at a "crucial" time when the decade-old Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) adopted by the world community as the global paradigm on disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) is about to end in 2015.

The Philippines aims to contribute to the new global architecture on DRRM with the ASEM Manila Conference document to be called "The Tacloban Declaration," which will embody new policies and principles for disaster risk reduction and management. Enditem