International Strategy for Disaster Reduction A/RES/69/219 strategies, in particular in developing countries, to achieve disaster risk reduction, reiterates the need to further develop regional initiatives and the risk reduction capacities of regional mechanisms, where they exist, and to strengthen them within national disaster management planning, where appropriate, and requests the regional commissions, within their mandates, to support the efforts of States in this regard, in close coordination with the implementing entities of the United Nations system; 5. Stresses the need to foster better understanding and knowledge of the causes of disasters and to build resilience and strengthen coping capacities, in particular in developing countries, through, inter alia, the exchange of best practices, the transfer of technology, as mutually agreed, and technical knowledge, the provision of educational and training programmes for disaster risk reduction and access to relevant data and information, the strengthening of institutional arrangements and the promotion of community participation, recognizing that women play a vital role in disaster risk reduction, ownership through communitybased disaster risk management approaches and a people-centred, holistic approach, in order to build an inclusive society and to protect livelihoods and productive assets, including livestock, working animals, tools and seeds; 6. Reiterates its appreciation to the Government of Japan for its generous offer to host the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and its generous pledge to cover the costs of the Conference, welcomes the voluntary contributions already made to facilitate the participation in the Conference of representatives of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, and invites those States that have not yet done so to make such voluntary contributions; 7. Expresses its appreciation to the Government of Switzerland for hosting and covering the costs of two meetings of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Third World Conference; 8. Welcomes the work of the ongoing preparatory process for the Third World Conference, which is being carried out in Geneva, and reiterates its decision that the Conference will result in a concise, focused, forward-looking and actionoriented outcome document; 9. Invites voluntary commitments by all stakeholders and their networks to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters10 and to support the development of the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction; 10. Reiterates its strong encouragement of and the need for effective coordination and coherence between the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction, the post-2015 development agenda and other relevant intergovernmental and United Nations processes, in order to build synergies; 11. Reiterates its invitation to Member States, all United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other relevant intergovernmental agencies and organizations, including regional development banks, to participate actively in the Third World Conference, and encourages major groups, as identified in Agenda 21,3 and other relevant stakeholders, to contribute further to and participate actively in the Conference, according to the rules of procedure agreed upon by its Preparatory Committee; 12. Recognizes in this context the importance of the contributions and participation of all relevant stakeholders, including major groups, parliaments, civil society, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental 3/4