Highlights for Thursday, 16 May 2019
Sasakawa Award winners pose for a “family photo” with the organizing team.
Discussions on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience continued at the 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2019) in Geneva, Switzerland, in two high-level dialogues, a ministerial roundtable, and many working sessions. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced its new Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management framework in the afternoon, and the Sasakawa Award ceremony took place in the evening.
Sessions on risk-informed investments suggested that DRR measures such as promoting energy efficiency, building resilient infrastructure, and addressing conflict and security threats make good business sense. In a two-hour roundtable session that ran over time, ministers shared examples of national actions, such as collaborating with the private sector on hazard mapping in Malaysia, establishing a post-disaster recovery and reconstruction office to assess losses related to two recent cyclones in Mozambique, and launching a multistakeholder resilience project following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand.
Working sessions on health and disaster-induced displacement focused attention on the human cost of disasters. In a session on health in disaster risk management (DRM), discussions among WHO, public health and humanitarian aid agencies highlighted the challenges of strengthening health systems in conflict-affected and fragile contexts, and the potential for DRR approaches to contribute to protection of health workers as well as providing support for the role of governments.
Panelists in a session on disaster displacement showcased examples of good practice, such as initiatives to enable researchers from neighboring countries to collaborate on data collection, and the engagement of displaced people themselves in policy planning in host regions. The session featured two young women, from the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively, who drew from their own experiences to make recommendations for accommodating displaced persons with special needs, and for respecting local customs in shelters.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary report from GP2019, which is available in HTML and PDF.
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High-Level Dialogues
Panelists at the High-Level Dialogue on risk-informed public and private investments (L-R): Davis Eades, Allday Media; Sylvia Chalikosa, Minister in the Office of the Vice-President, Zambia; Isidoro Santana, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Dominican Republic; Sandra Wu, UN Global Compact; Hans Sy, Chairman, SM Prime Holdings Inc; and Hiroshi Yamakawa, President, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Davis Eades, Director, Allday Media, moderated the High-Level Dialogue on risk-informed public and private investments.
Hans Sy, Chairman, SM Prime Holdings Inc
(L-R): Isidoro Santana, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Dominican Republic; and Sandra Wu, UN Global Compact
Participants capture views of the room during the High-Level Dialogue on risk-informed public and private investments.
Participants greet Isidoro Santana, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Dominican Republic, at the close of a session.
Panelists at the High-Level Dialogue on “Leaving no one behind: Investing in local action and empowering those most at risk".
An interpreter (left) provides simultaneous sign language interpretation as journalist Veronica Pedrosa addresses participants at the High-Level Dialogue on “Leaving no one behind.”
Nella Canales, Stockholm Environment Institute; and Mohamed Béavogui, Director, African Risk Capacity
Working Sessions
(L-R): Alex Mung, World Economic Forum; Kate Levick, CEO, Third Generation Environmentalism; and Shaun Tarbuck, CEO, International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF)
Panelists at the working session on unlocking the resilience dividend
Raed Arafat, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania (center)
Ciro Ugarte, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (left)
Panelists at the working session on disaster displacement and DRR
Ministerial Roundtables
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy Prime Minister, Malaysia (center)
Ministerial Roundtable participants discuss risk-informed investments and other issues related to the economics of DRR.
Kwame Letsa Achibald, Volta Regional Minister, Ghana (center)
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Civil Defence, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, New Zealand
Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Jamaica (left)
Laouan Magagi, Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Niger
Award Ceremony
Sasakawa Award winner, Pramod Kumar Mishra, India
Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for DRR; and Sasakawa Award winner, Pramod Kumar Mishra, India
Around the Venue
The Dominican Republic delegation poses for a photograph in between sessions.
The Theatre Breaking Through Barriers group performed for delegates throughout the day on themes such as gender and disability.
