Background

In the aftermath of the Bam earthquake in 2003, the United Nations Secretary- General called upon the international community to utilize the experience of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a learning experience at the regional and international level. Following the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, in 2005, Iran informed UN/ISDR of its interest and support for exchange of information, knowledge and expertise and hosting a Specialized Regional Collaborative Center on seismic risk reduction for the Asian and Pacific region.

During the preparatory process and the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, the establishment of Regional Specialized Collaborative Centers on different types of hazards and disasters was suggested by the Iranian delegation as one of the key measures and was approved to be included in the Hyogo Framework for Action. This has been stipulated in Para (d), Section C of chapter IV of the document. 

The secretariat of UN/ISDR was notified by the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 2005 of its readiness for hosting a Regional Specialized Collaborative Center on Seismic Risk Reduction for the Asia and Pacific region. Following this letter, UN/ISDR dispatched an expert team on 4-7 February 2006 to verify the capacity, facilities and experience of Iran for hosting such a center and consequently endorsed the plan for the establishment of this regional center in Iran.

 This Regional Seismic Risk Reduction Center will focus on Asia and Pacific region and will also promote cooperation with other regions as appropriate.

Besides, the needs and priorities of the region and potentials for regional and inter-regional collaboration through a seismic risk reduction centre in Iran were verified in several occasions such as:

a.     Central Asian Risk Reduction Consultative meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, May 2006

b.    International Expert Meeting for Drought Risk Reduction, in Beijing, China, June 2006

c.     UNESCO IOC Mission to Iran for establishment of national early warning system in Iran in September 2006

d.    Mission to Pakistan to support the earthquake recovery programme in October and November 2006

e.     The First Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Interior Ministers Meeting ( Tehran, 1st  November 2006)

Recent studies show that the Asia and Pacific region is the world's most disaster-prone region which has the highest vulnerability to disasters triggered by natural hazards. The region, based on the report of the United Nations, accounts for 91% of deaths toll from natural disasters in the past century and 49% of the resulting economic damage. Over the past 15 years, however, only 41,000 people, on average, have died annually as a result of natural disasters, but the amount of damage has nearly tripled, to $29 Trillions annually. (Please see fig. 1 to 3)

Earthquake is the cause to 73% death tolls of disasters caused by natural hazards and 51% of economic damages in the Southwest and Central Asia . The pattern of natural disasters in this region is different from the rest of the Asia-Pacific. According to UNDP's global report “Reducing Disaster Risk – a challenge for development” in 2004, Islamic Republic of Iran has the highest earthquake death toll in the world. Some neighboring and surrounding countries of Iran such as Armenia , Turkey , Afghanistan , India , Russia , and Georgia , have also experienced a higher number of deaths between 1980 to 2000. (Fig.4)

E SCAP's report on natural disasters in Asia and Pacific in 2005.

-ADRC` report in 2005.

-E SCAP's report on natural disasters in Asia and Pacific in 2005

-UNDP's global report “Reducing Disaster Risk – a challenge for development ” in 2004.