Even though indigenous cultural values, practices and traditions lie at the heart of the social fabric of local communities around the world, these values are often overlooked or marginalized during disaster management initiatives. For holistic and sustainable disaster management and the positive recovery and growth of communities after a disaster, it is essential to integrate local cultural traditions and heritage into the overall framework of disaster management initiatives.
In this context, the Government of Bhutan proposes to host the International Conference on Disaster Management and Cultural Heritage to help fill in a crucial gap in the international initiatives on disaster management and offer a valuable opportunity for the world to discuss and address these concerns, share knowledge and experiences and increase the profile of cultural heritage and indigenous values and traditions for disaster risk management.
