Shanghai Declaration of
the 5^th International LACDE Conference

Approved by the LACDE General Assembly on October 17^th, 2002

Assembled at the 5^th International LACDE Conference in Shanghai, China from October 15^th to 17^th, 2002, We, ____local government officials, representatives of international institutes and organizations, experts, scholars and engineers in the vast field of disaster management came from ____countries by invitation of Shanghai Municipal People's Government，the People's Republic of China.

Following in-depth discussions and exchange of views among all participants on the subject of global opportunities and challenges in reducing risk & vulnerability through sustainable urban development, we all agree to issue our declaration as follows:

1. Disaster and Emergency

Disaster and Emergency have become an important public problem to the human society. With the remarkable progress in science and technology and great improvement of social productivity achieved in past decades, our society has created unprecedented resources of material wealth and accelerated the process of civilization. Meanwhile, mitigation of natural and man-made disasters has become a prominent issue for the city’s management and infrastructure. These disasters hamper the progress of economic growth and jeopardize the quality of life for the people around the globe. Furthermore, they pose a threat to the future survival and development of next generations.

2. The 5^th LACDE International Conference
The 5^th International LACDE Conference in Shanghai has increased our in-depth understanding of the risk and vulnerability in the city's sustained growth. We agree that stronger focus on the city’s infrastructure and management represents effective means to mitigate risk and control vulnerability with the development of the urbanization. Local governments need to play an important role in this regard, and should be responsible for coordinating the emergent services and providing high quality management.

3. Urban Disaster Mitigation

Improving the disaster management system of the urban community is a huge and complex project.
We agree upon the importance of a close cooperation between local authorities and the public. We need to rely on the mutual efforts of different municipal departments and multidiscipline experts to ensure that the local authority and the public as a whole will be able to take effective measures to reduce disaster.

4. Proper Scientific Disaster Information

Proper scientific disaster information is the basis of disaster reduction. Given the imbalance in economic growth in different parts of the world, the lack of basic information on disasters threatening the cities in developing countries is a serious problem. We propose to create a mechanism to share available information on disaster management, prevention & mitigation for the equal and mutual benefit of all countries around the globe.

5. Disaster Mitigation Planning

Urban disaster mitigation planning is an important part of the city’s safety strategy. Development and implementation of the city’s mitigation plan has to go hand in hand with the city's ecological and cultural level. It should satisfy the principle of social equity and always consider the specific needs of its citizens.

6. International Initiatives
The international initiative for disaster reduction should derive from the interest and needs of all nations, giving priority to the needs of developing countries, as they are in general more vulnerable to disastrous events.

7. You Are Not Alone
For the sake of improving global partnership, we urge all participating countries to carry out broad international exchanges and strengthen official and people-to-people cooperation and among nations and cities. We suggest conducting joint researches on disaster reduction and sharing results for the benefit of all partners. We hope that our cooperation and academic exchanges in the field of disaster reduction will serve as a model for future international forums.

8. LACDE
LACDE as an association can serve as organizational model for how to confront disasters via local authorities. Its aims and activities are in line with the global trend of promoting peace and security, mutual cooperation and economic development. We hope that the international community will give more attention to LACDE’s consolidation and development.