知识拯救生命。提倡在减少自然灾害风险工作中发挥当地和本土传统知识的重要作用，本年的国际减灾日可谓正当其时。
The contribution of indigenous and local knowledge to resilience among vulnerable populations was highlighted when the tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004. The third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (14-18 March 2015) in Sendai, Japan, particularly emphasized the need to make this knowledge better known for the benefit of all. The Sendai Framework thus campaigns for greater cooperation between governments, local authorities, communities and indigenous peoples in the formulation and implementation of policies and standards for natural disaster prevention.
2004年印度洋海啸期间，当地和本土知识在受灾民众重建家园工作中的突出贡献有目共睹。2015年3月14日至18日在日本仙台举行的第三次联合国世界减少灾害风险大会，特别强调有必要更好地普及此类知识以惠及各国人民。正因如此，《仙台减少灾害风险框架》致力于推动各国政府、地方当局、当地群体及本土民众在制定和落实减灾政策和准则方面，开展更为广泛的合作。
UNESCO is firmly engaged in this process, through its scientific, educational and cultural expertise. UNESCO is committed to the widest possible dissemination of indigenous knowledge to meet the challenges of climate change and natural hazards, especially in remote areas such as small islands, high altitude zones and the humid tropics. UNESCO has launched an initiative in the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Indonesia to record local knowledge that helps to predict, mitigate and adapt to storms, cyclones and the effects of climate change. It all demonstrates the profound knowledge and mastery of the environment by the peoples who live there, which we must urgently include in natural disaster management policies.
教科文组织以自己在科学、教育及文化领域的专业特长，全身心投入到这一进程之中，并注重广泛传播各种本土知识，以应对尤其是在小岛屿、高海拔、湿热带等偏远地区出现的气候变化与自然灾害方面的各种挑战。教科文组织还在菲律宾、东帝汶和印度尼西亚发起了一项倡议，旨在收集有助于预防飓风暴雨并减缓和适应气候变化影响的本土知识。这些本土知识自始至终都体现了当地人民对自己所生活环境的深刻理解和透彻把握，极有必要将其纳入到我们所制定的灾害管理政策之中。
On the island of Ambae, in Vanuatu, UNESCO has helped to develop a participatory approach so as to integrate traditional and scientific knowledge in the management of volcanic hazards. On the occasion of this International Day, we are inviting Vanuatu schoolchildren recently affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam to write essays, poems and stories that depict the use of traditional and local knowledge. This traditional and indigenous knowledge also helps to protect the cultural heritage against natural hazards and UNESCO is committed to making the best use of it.
在瓦努阿图的奥巴岛，教科文组织协助开发了一种参与性机制，将传统知识与科学知识结合起来，用于火山风险管理。值此世界减灾日，我们特别邀请最近遭受强热带气旋“帕姆”侵害的瓦努阿图学生们拿起笔来，以作文、诗歌和故事的形式，讲述在灾害来临之际如何利用传统知识和本地经验加以应对。这些知识和经验也会推动自然灾害降临情况下的文化遗产保护工作，值得教科文组织认真加以总结和推广。
Effective and sustainable disaster risk prevention requires the combination of indigenous practices and knowledge with scientific expertise. We cannot afford to ignore the knowledge available to us; instead, we must expand on and integrate knowledge and expertise wherever they may be found. I invite all of our partners and governments to promote this global vision: it is the key to building societies that are all the more resilient when they are inclusive.
有效并可持续地预防自然灾害，意味着将本土的实践和知识与科学知识结合为一体发挥作用。我们不能允许自己对这些传统知识视而不见，我们应该加以提倡和弘扬，整合方方面面的经验和知识服务于防灾减灾工作。为此我请所有的合作伙伴和各国政府推广这种整体观，这是我们构建更具包容性和复原力社会的关键所在。