UN and HelpAge call to reduce death toll among over-60s in disasters
This year’s IDDR celebration calls for greater involvement of older persons in disaster management worldwide.

13 October 2014, GENEVA – The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and HelpAge International today issued a joint call for greater involvement of older persons in disaster management efforts worldwide in order to bring down death tolls among those over 60…

A survey conducted for today’s International Day for Disaster Reduction demonstrates that older persons are often excluded or marginalised when disaster management plans are being drawn up at community level. 58% of respondents said they did not know who was responsible for disaster preparedness in their communities and 68% do not participate at all in such activity…

UNISDR and HelpAge International are calling on governments to sign up to Charter 14 for Older People in Disaster Risk Reduction and commit to specific inclusion of older persons in all facets of disaster management planning with a strong emphasis on early warnings and evacuation procedures (http://www.unisdr.org/2014/iddr/documents/Charter14.pdf).

UNISDR Head, Margareta Wahlström, said, “The world needs to become more acutely aware of how to protect older persons as the climate changes and the ageing population is exposed to more extreme events. For instance, thousands of people die every year in heat waves and older persons living in poverty are among the most vulnerable. Inclusion of their needs and social protection measures are vital to the success of disaster management in the years ahead.”