2022 Sasakawa Award nominations are open

Geneva, 8 March 2022 - Nominations for the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, under the theme “Building resilience through a multi-hazard approach" are open. The Award will recognize selected candidates (individuals, groups, organizations, local authorities, etc.) through an award accompanied by a grant. The Award promotes importance of a more people-centered preventive approach to disaster risk, as well as inclusive and accessible disaster risk reduction practices, in line with the Sendai Framework. The deadline for nominations is 6 March 2022.

Since the 2019 Sasakawa Award, the world has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic, a global disaster of epic proportions, continues to affect millions of people, with devastating economic and social impact. Compounded by climate change, ecosystem degradation, and a range of other risk drivers, the crisis has shown how inter-connected disaster impacts cascade across geographies and sectors. We live in a multi-hazard world where disasters are affecting everyone, while exacerbating existing inequalities and disproportionally affecting the most vulnerable people. Managing complex and interconnected risks is a pressing global challenge of today.

“Covid-19 has shown us that the risks we face are systemic, meaning that one risk leads to another. Public health crises lead very quickly to socio-economic crises. The world that we face right now is a multi-hazard world. As we struggle now with Covid-19, the climate emergency has not gone anywhere. We need to have a plan which has a multi-hazard approach." said Mami Mizutori, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

To learn more and to nominate please go to the 2022 Sasakawa Award.

Together with the World Health Organization Sasakawa Health Prize and the UN Environment Programme Sasakawa Environment Prize, the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction is one of the three prestigious prizes established in 1986 by the founding Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa. The United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction is awarded to an individual or institution that has made active efforts to reduce disaster risk in their community and advocates for disaster risk reduction.