In 1989, the United Nations General Assembly approved the inauguration of the second Wednesday in October as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDR). The goal was to promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness. In 2009, the UN General Assembly specifically designated October 13 as International Day for Disaster Reduction with the ongoing goal of encouraging every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.

In 2011, 80 countries commemorated the day. The 2011 commemoration was also the first in the new “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction” initiative aimed at focusing on a different group of partners every year leading up to the World Conference for Disaster Reduction scheduled for 2015. The 2011 designated partner was Children and Young People. This year the designated partner will be Women and Girls. The 2013 partner will be the ageing population and the 2014 partner will be people with disabilities.

In a message commemorating the 2011 IDDR, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “Vulnerability to disaster is growing faster than resilience. [...] Disaster risk reduction should be an everyday concern for everybody. Let us all invest today for a safer tomorrow.”