SAMN
According to the global database on disasters, over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980 thousand people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$ 105 billion.
The Inter-governmental Meeting to finalise the text of the draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters concluded in Male on Thursday with a broad agreement on the issue that needed to be addressed.
According to the global database on disasters, over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980 thousand people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$ 105 billion. These totals are, by far, the highest among the recorded disasters in various geographic regions of the world.
Highlighting this, Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, Secretary-General of SAARC said in her address that every major earthquake in the Himalayas would affect more than one country; every cyclone in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea has the potential to affect two countries at a time; every major flood has its origin and consequence beyond a single country.
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(Thanks to Pritam Rohila)