The guide was prepared in a major inter-agency effort led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (formerly known as UNISDR), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with a substantive contribution from UNECE and several other key agencies and institutions. The publication was launched at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention (December 2018, Geneva).
The guide highlights the enormous costs and multiple impacts of disasters caused by man-made and technological hazards in various domains, including chemical and industrial accidents, nuclear and radiological emergencies, accidents in the transport sector and "NaTech" (Natural hazards triggering a technological disasters) events. It aims to help strengthen national and local disaster risk management plans, by inclusion of an all-hazards approach that covers man-made and technological hazards, and to raise awareness for better prevention, preparedness and response to the risks and impacts of these hazards.
The Guidelines provide important recommendations in line with the 4 priorities for action of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, namely: 1) understanding disaster risk, 2) strengthening disaster risk governance, 3) investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience and 4) enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to "build back better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The publication is available in English