On Tuesday (11 June) Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will open the Conference on Preparedness at the Federal Foreign Office together with the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Baroness Valerie Amos. More than 120 participants from 39 states and 22 German and international organizations are expected to attend. Together they will debate questions such as how to improve disaster preparedness and deal with humanitarian crises more effectively.

The rising need for assistance around the world is threatening to exceed the capacities of many donor countries. It is therefore absolutely vital to use the existing resources as effectively as possible. Improving disaster preparedness can greatly contribute to achieving this aim. This calls for enhanced prevention measures by states at risk from disasters as well as better preparation by aid organizations.

One and a half years ago, the Federal Government launched an initiative to promote a more effective implementation of measures in the field of disaster preparedness. Together with Poland, it organized a series of meetings and seminars on the subject in Geneva where a set of principles and recommendations on preparedness was drawn up. These will now be presented at the conference.

Furthermore, the conference is intended as a forum to prepare the World Humanitarian Summit and the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, both taking place in 2015.