UN Warns Mekong River Is A Disaster Hotspot
The Mekong River basin was identified as a major disaster risk hotspot by the United Nations today.
Poor people living close to the river suffer high exposure to flood and drought, according to a report released today. A UN official also called for the nations in the region to work and mitigate the risks together.
“The flow of river is a transboundary issue,” Tiziana Bonapace, an official from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, or UNESCAP, said at a news conference.
She also said her agency is willing to facilitate cooperation between Thailand, other Mekong sub-regional nations, and China.
The report, titled “The Disaster Riskscape Across the Asia-Pacific,” warned that numbers of people living in extreme poverty in the Asia Pacific could double by 2030 if natural disasters are not prevented.
