October 2003

The 2003 Laureate and recipients of Certificates of Distinction and Merit for the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction were announced on 8 October, the International Day for Disaster Reduction. Their names and a brief description of their achievements appear below.

The Award Ceremony will take place on Thursday 16 October coinciding with the Second International Conference on Early Warning (EWC-II) to be held in Bonn, Germany.

To access the press release and further information on the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org

2003 LAUREATE

Mrs. Tadzong, née Esther Anwi Mofor
Global Centre for Compliance, Hazard and Disaster Management (GLOCECOHADIM)
Bamenda, Cameroon
Mrs. Tadzong's personal long-term commitment and dedication to disaster risk reduction has made a significant contribution towards preparing local communities for imminent disasters. As the driving force behind GLOCECOHADIM (a Cameroon-based NGO), she has worked tirelessly to advocate the importance of environment-friendly practices that mitigate disaster risk.

CERTIFICATES OF DISTINCTION

Fundación para la Prevención del Riesgo Sísmico (FUNDAPRIS)
Merida, Venezuela
Active in seismic risk reduction since 1979, FUNDAPRIS is recognised for its contribution in promoting school security programmes in the event of natural disasters in Venezuela. One of FUNDAPRIS's notable achievements in disaster reduction was its success in convincing national educational authorities to adopt a permanent community preparedness programme in cases of earthquakes.

Mr. Meda Gurudutt Prasad
Coastal Area Disaster Mitigation Efforts (CADME)
Andra Pradesh, India
Mr. Prasad has been involved in disaster preparedness activities for the better part of his career. Currently Disaster Manager/Trainer with CADME, he organises a range of activities to reduce the socio-economic impact of disasters in villages along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

Mr. Rafi Ahmad
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica
Mr. Ahmad is recognised for his contributions to the Jamaican Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPDEM) which include the study of natural hazards in Jamaica and the development of hazard maps. In July 2003 his expertise on landslide hazard reduction in the Caribbean was recognised and rewarded by the International Landslide Research Group.

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT

Association Prévention 2000
Tours, France
Established in 1997, Association Prévention 2000 aims at raising awareness and promoting education on natural hazards. Many of its activities revolve around disaster mitigation, exploring innovative uses of information technology to raise awareness and educate schoolchildren about disaster reduction. Its website (http://www.prevention2000.org) is considered to be the primary portal for French-language information on natural disasters.

Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA)
Gujarat, India
Created in the wake of the deadly Bhuj earthquake of January 2001 in Gujarat, India, GSDMA has acquired a solid reputation following the massive reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the disaster. GSDMA launched a rehabilitation programme which not only dealt with serving the immediate needs of those affected by the earthquake, but also took a longer-term approach to reducing the impacts of natural hazards faced by Gujarat.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Massué
Council of Europe
Strasbourg, France
Mr. Massué's commitment to the implementation of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement has led to the expansion of the initial agreement to cover 25 member countries throughout Eastern and Western Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and North Africa. He is actively in numerous disaster reduction-related programmes, dealing with the potential application of space technologies to risk management as well as information and training programmes for risk reduction.

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