The 5th of November marks the World Tsunami Awareness Day.

Tsunami is among the deadliest and most devastating natural disasters. This natural phenomenon can cause enormous damage to coastal and island States: their population, economy, infrastructure.

Lives of millions of people living in coastal areas utterly depend on early tsunami warning and on the most prompt and coordinated response of all relevant State services.

Therefore, increasing tsunami preparedness should be a priority in the work of civil defense services. This work should include the installation of early warning systems for potential tsunamis, raising public awareness, putting in place evacuation and rapid response plans, smart infrastructure planning, and much more.

The International Civil Defense Organization assists in strengthening the capacity building of member states to respond to tsunamis. So, at present, the ICDO is implementing an international humanitarian project to create an early warning system for a tsunami in Nicaragua, designed to improve the provision of technical means for early warning of the population about the threat of a tsunami; commercial companies from Russia, Switzerland, the United States and Nicaragua are involved. In the event of an emergency, sirens installed on the coast can be activated both manually by operators (at their locations) and automatically from the National Situation Center of the Republic of Nicaragua. 

I take this opportunity call on all interested States, including donors, to actively engage, under the auspices of the ICDO, in the work to protect the population from the tsunami and to prevent the negative consequences of this destructive natural phenomenon.