University of Leicester co-launches International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths

The Avoidable Deaths Network (ADN) has launched the first International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths today (13 March) in Izumiotsu, Japan.

International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths hopes to raise the visibility of disaster deaths. In particular, it aims to focus on indirect disaster deaths and missing persons.

The campaign hopes to shed light on the causes and circumstances that lead to disaster deaths so that interventions can be put in place, saving lives.

ADN believes that ‘Disaster Deaths Are Avoidable’ by putting preventable, amendable and risk governance measures in place.

The network hopes that the awareness day will lead to a reduction in the actual number of deaths from disasters.

ADN was founded in 2018 by Associate Professor in Risk Management at University of Leicester, Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennet alongside Dr Hideyuki Shiroshita, Associate Professor in Disaster Education at Kansai University.

It was established with the purpose to help policymakers, practitioners and researchers make better decisions

The network officially launched on 12 March at the Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI), Kyoto in 2019.

ADN has announced that from today, 12 March will annually mark International Awareness Day for Avoidable Death.

The global campaign has been launched at an event which will be headlined by a message from the Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms Mami Mitzutori.

Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennet from University of Leicester said: “12 March 2023 is an important day because it is ADN’s fourth birthday. On this special day, we launched the global campaign ‘International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths’ and the campaign slogan ‘Disaster Deaths Are Avoidable’.

“I feel we made history today. We made the impossible – possible. This global campaign, the first of its kind in the world amplifies the purpose of disaster risk reduction is to save lives from disasters, be they direct or indirect and immediate or delayed. I hope that this global campaign leads to fostering a culture of disaster preparedness to save lives.”   

More information about ADN and International Awareness Day for Avoidable Death can be found here.