Sustainable development requires that disaster risks are reduced and communities are better prepared for response and recovery. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) is the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. As part of its mission, UNV supports global efforts to reduce the impact of disasters by working at national and community level to support disaster prevention and risk reduction strategies. UN Volunteers actively support governments and local communities with disaster risk reduction and prevention efforts.

It was like a "battlefield from a scene in a war movie," is how one disaster management officer described villages after the tsunami of 2009, the worst natural disaster for Samoans in living memory. Despite the challenges that natural disasters present in terms of progress towards the MDGs, an incredible surge of post-tsunami volunteerism has surfaced to help communities recover and ensure that they could protect themselves against future calamities.