A/RES/72/218 Disaster risk reduction and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery and thus strengthen resilience; 4. Stresses the importance of the continued substantive consideration of the issue of disaster risk reduction, and encourages countries, the relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, programmes and funds and other relevant institutions and stakeholders to take into consideration the important role of coordinated disaster risk reduction activities for the achievement of sustainable development and, inter alia, strengthening the effectiveness of disaster relief efforts; 5. Encourages focused action within and across sectors by countries at the local, national, regional and global levels in the four priority areas of the Sendai Framework, namely, understanding disaster risk, strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk, investing in disaster risk reduc tion for resilience and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and in order to “build back better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction; 6. Acknowledges the work of the agencies, programmes and funds of the United Nations system in disaster risk reduction and the updated United Nations Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience: Towards a Risk -informed and Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development, and encourages the relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes and other relevant institutions and stakeholders to continue to align their work with the Plan of Action in order to enhance the coordination, coherence and efficiency of support to countries on disaster risk reduction, guided by the Senior Leadership Group on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience convened by the Special Representative of the Secretary -General for Disaster Risk Reduction, according to the Sendai Framework; 7. Calls upon all relevant actors to work towards the achieveme nt of the global targets adopted in the Sendai Framework; 8. Recognizes progress made in achieving target (e) of the Sendai Framework; 9. Also recognizes in this regard, given the shorter time frame for achieving target (e) of the Sendai Framework by 2020, the scale of action needed for the development of national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, and thus encourages States to continue to prioritize and support the development of inclusive national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, promoting synergies with existing national policies and plans, including national climate change adaptation plans, where relevant, and to establish and strengthen national disaster loss databases, risk profiles and available capacities, as well as the conduct of risk assessments, and reaffirms the need for the enhancement of the implementation capacity and capability of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and African countries, as well as middle-income countries facing specific challenges, including the mobilization of support through international cooperation, for the provision of means of implementation to augment domestic efforts in accordance with their nati onal priorities; 10. Encourages the incorporation of disaster risk reduction measures, as appropriate, into multilateral and bilateral development assistance programmes within and across all sectors related to sustainable development, including poverty reduction, agriculture, natural resource management, the environment, urban development and adaptation to climate change; 11. Recognizes the important contribution of healthy ecosystems to reducing disaster risk and building community resilience, and encourages all States, United 4/8 17-23287