IV. NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW-UP

    At the high-level round tables, ministers and other heads of delegations informed the conference participants on innovative initiatives in their respective countries to advance disaster risk reduction in the context of the HFA. These will be summarized in an annex of the conference proceedings.

    National governments are encouraged to formulate their respective Plans for Action according to the national priorities for the implementation of the Hyogo framework for Action and to put in place a national mechanism for periodic review of the implementation of the Plan of Action. Eventually, this should set in motion a process for the development of a commonly agreed set of indicators for measuring the progress achieved at local, national and regional levels.

    V. REGIONAL COOPERATION MECHANISMS FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW-UP

    In Asia, there have been a number of regional mechanisms and capacities available to support and facilitate disaster risk reduction and response at national and community levels. It has been acknowledged, accepted and appreciated in the region and beyond that these mechanisms contribute to the promotion of the concept of disaster risk reduction and enhance the capacity of National Government officials and community leaders. Some specialized disaster reduction oriented mechanisms have also been established, such as the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC),Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), Typhoon Committee and the Panel on Tropical Cyclones. And some sub-regional cooperation initiatives, such as the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), ICIMOD (International Center for Integrated Mountain Development), MRC (Mekong River Commission), SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), and also the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are working and willing to support national efforts in disaster risk reduction. 

    Asia hosts a number of regional offices of the UN, international and bilateral organizations. As it also is the most disaster-proneregion, many of these institutions are working vigorously to promote and support disaster risk reduction and to mainstream related programs at various levels of activity. National governments are encouraged to pursue further cooperation and wider¡¡collaboration with these organizations so that all available resources can be used in the most productive way. Asian countries may wish to work jointly with elements of the United Nations System, especially noting the regional offices of UNDP (UN Development Programme), ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) and OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) which have the combined mandate to coordinate disaster risk reduction, capacity building and response. Additional opportunities to facilitate the implementation of the "Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction" and the monitoring of its accomplishments can be realized through collaboration as may be applicable with ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and¡¡the Pacific) as a regional mechanism. 

    To implement the Hyogo Framework for Action, these existing mechanisms should be further strengthened, including expanding their service fields. Efforts should also be made to explore the possibility of establishing regional/sub-regional technical supporting capacities and facilities to help build the resilience of nations and communities. In these processes, national governments are encouraged to work closely with relevant international organizations, development, technical assistance and funding agencies, and to avail of the experience and opportunities presented by other existing mechanisms.

    It is recommended that Asian countries take advantage of the inter-governmental conferences on disaster risk reduction foreseen in the coming years, such as the meeting organized by ADPC, ADRC, ACDM and others, to discuss the progress made.

    The government of the Republic of India has offered to host the Second Asia Conference on Disaster Reduction some time in 2007 or some other date mutually convenient to the participating countries. This would provide a good opportunity to review the progress achieved in the further implementation of Hyogo Framework of Action and Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

    The participants of the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction express their appreciation to the Government of the People's Republic of China in hosting this ministerial conference. It has been a productive opportunity to affirm the political commitment of decision makers in Asia and the Pacific to advance disaster risk reduction processes in their respective countries through the collaborative exchange of information, experiences and their initiatives. The participants of ACDR value China's longstanding and extensive experience in understanding, assessing and mitigating disaster, and benefited from this opportunity to learn from this rich body of knowledge and experience.

    The participants noted proposals and suggested initiatives outlined by the host country and other participating countries for future regional cooperation endeavors that will advance disaster risk reduction for the people of Asia, and encourages further consideration of these proposals. Enditem

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