Calls for closer partnerships at disaster risk negotiations

United Nations top official in Asia-Pacific to call for closer partnerships at disaster risk negotiations

Bangkok (ESCAP News) -- Regional cooperation has a unique place in achieving the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction, urges Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), ahead of her participation in the 3rd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan between14 – 18 March.

Leading a team of ESCAP experts, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, and top official in Asia-Pacific, will raise the voice of the world’s most disaster-hit zone as the international community negotiates the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. The message they carry is clear and quantified in the report, Overview of Natural Disasters and their Impacts in Asia and the Pacific 1970-2014, just issued by ESCAP. As Asia-Pacific has suffered $1.15 trillion of disaster-related losses in 45 years, there is no sustainable development without disaster risk reduction being integrated in all development sectors.

“The diversity, frequency and scale of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific is staggering. Over the last four decades, more than two million people have lost their lives. Our economies have faced cumulative losses of US1.15 trillion in real terms. All segments of society in the range of disasters were affected, but micro, small and medium enterprises, that constitute 90 per cent of all business, bore the brunt of the economic fallout. We now know that natural disasters reverse socio-economic gains, disrupt long term growth paths and pose phenomenal challenges to government and the private sector,” Dr Akhtar explained.

During her visit, she will advocate for the unparalleled ability of ESCAP as the only organization able to convene countries to discuss and agree on common solutions, facilitate access to innovative technologies and share best practice on bringing disaster risk management into policymaking at all levels. In this vein she will speak on risk-sensitive investment during a High-Level Partnerships Dialogue and call for a sustained relationship between the private sector, governments and civil society in disaster risk reduction within the overall remit of sustainable development.

“Experience from across the region shows that resilience cannot be built an institutional vacuum at the national level. To be successful, disaster risk management must be mainstreamed into long-term development strategies and plans, budgets and public investment programmes across all relevant ministries, including especially the ministries of finance and planning. Disaster risk reduction frameworks will benefit tremendously from focused and well-structured, risk-sensitive investment. It must be the joint responsibility of both the public and private sectors,” continued Dr. Akhtar.

Her agenda also includes high-level meetings with heads of delegations from member States and partners to underline the role of ESCAP in the implementation of the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. In this Dr. Akhtar will highlight that regional cooperation brings access to innovative technologies - early warning systems, space applications, navigation systems and geo-spatial information infrastructure, and bridges the gaps in science, technology and knowledge for disaster resilience.

Notes to editors:

Unlike other actors in the region ESCAP can play a critical role in addressing cross-border disasters, including the subsequent shocks on development, and as the formal regional platform of the United Nations, provide the avenue for putting the context of Asia-Pacific regional level multi-sectoral policy making and cooperation to the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. ESCAP also facilitates member States’ collective actions in disaster risk reduction through developing the ability of national institutions to respond and regional cooperation.

There is also a unique space for ESCAP in establishing and strengthening regional cooperative mechanisms on hazards monitoring and early warning systems (tsunami, climate and coastal hazards, typhoons/cyclones, drought monitoring) and facilitates the use of science and technology through innovative applications of space technology to support efforts for disaster risk management of vulnerable developing countries.

ENDS

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