The Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities has been awarded a certificate of distinction at a prestigious United Nations awards ceremony.

It was among 88 nominations from 44 countries for the Sasakawa Award, with the winners announced at the UN World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan.

The group comprises the CEOs of IAG, Munich Re, Australian Red Cross, Investa Property Group, Optus and Westpac. It was founded in 2012 to support a national approach to resilience.

The roundtable is the first private sector organisation recognised by the Sasakawa Award in 29 years.

The overall winner was Americas-based risk reduction researcher and practitioner Allan Lavell. The Jeffrey Town Farmers Association in Jamaica was the only other group given a distinction certificate.