Daily report for 26 May 2022

The seventh Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 (GP2022) continued its work with another dense day, which included two plenary sessions on the Mid-term Review of the Sendai Framework (MTR SF), a high-level dialogue, a ministerial roundtable, six thematic sessions as well as side events, learning labs, and a special session.

Mid-term Review Plenaries

The plenary sessions on the MTR SF enabled delegates and participants to: take stock of progress in implementation; address emerging issues and changing circumstances; and examine renovations to risk governance and risk management. The outcomes will guide a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the MTR SF to be held in New York from 18-19 May, 2023.

The first MTR SF plenary focused on global financing frameworks and macro-economic governance, specifically in relation to addressing risk and building resilience, co-chaired by Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and Suharyanto, Minister of National Disaster Management Authority, Indonesia.

Keynote speaker Febrio Kacaribu, Head of Fiscal Policy Agency, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia, outlined global economic challenges and risks, and discussed progress in integrating DRR at all levels. He focused on the Indonesian DRR-related experience, outlining the national disaster risk financing strategy, and the Disaster Risk Finance Pooling Fund. He underscored the fundamental importance of multilateral cooperation and of inducing innovation tailored to country-specific needs.

The Dominican Republic said that financial instruments for least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) needed to focus on disaster mitigation, resilience strengthening, and technology transfer. Guinea highlighted progress in establishing national processes, strategies, and applications for DRR, but cited capacity building and resource mobilization gaps. Yemen referred to the challenges of implementing the Sendai Framework while stricken by war, and called for consolidated capacities that help achieve resilience.

Ecuador underscored the need to update regulations according to new needs, strengthen scientific institutions, and update national and local agendas. Costa Rica focused on its national risk management plan, and stressed risk management sovereignty should be included in national budgets. Guatemala discussed necessary investments to reduce loss and damage, addressing climate change-related risks, and the need for public investment to strengthen resilience.

The Philippines underscored DRR financing should be institutionalized in development plans and relevant investments be informed by risk and be part of broad socioeconomic planning. Brazil underscored the need to strengthen partnerships among UN agencies to support international cooperation, resilience building, emergency response, and post-disaster recovery. Tunisia referred to climate change and COVID-19 which have changed the world since the adoption of the Sendai Framework in 2015, seconded by Egypt who offered that UNFCCC COP 27 would provide an excellent opportunity to strengthen cooperation.

Japan highlighted the importance of pre-disaster investment in DRR, noting that private finance cannot always replace public sources. Canada highlighted the need to address the vulnerabilities of LDCs and SIDS to climate-related disasters and ensure meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, and women and youth in decision making. Sweden raised awareness for economic shortcomings when external costs are not priced into public and private goods, which leads to a misallocation of resources, a lack of transparency, and mistrust.

The UN Office of the High Representative for LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries, and SIDS stated more innovative finance is needed to support the 91 most vulnerable countries to achieve DRR, including grants, debt swaps, green and blue bonds, and disaster clauses in debt contracts. The UN International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre hoped attention for groundwater as a precious but overused resource would increase in the lead-up to the 2023 UN Water Conference. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) outlined support for early warning systems (EWS) in agriculture, and explained that integrating DRR in agricultural practices leads to doubled performance.

The Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction reiterated the importance of involving local communities in DRR efforts, and offered that civil society organizations can help mobilize communities. The Disaster Risk Reduction Center, Universitas Indonesia, called for a pentahelix collaboration approach in DRR, which brings together government, academia, communities, business, and the media. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia, called for affirmative policies and innovative funding mechanisms to stimulate DRR. Saini Yang Beijing Normal University spoke on the need for an integrated governance approach using appropriate indicators for measuring progress.

The African Forum for International Relations in Research and Development, Uganda, referred to the enormous resource need to implement the Sendai Framework, and called for further investment in EWS. Disaster Map Foundation called for a planetary health framework, accounting for externalities and incorporating traditional and local knowledge. The Group on Earth Observations lauded the benefits of rapidly advancing earth observation tools for DRR, and presented practical examples for their application.

The International Disability Alliance, the European Disability Forum, and the National Union of Disabled persons of Uganda called for data on, systematic financing for, and full participation of persons with disabilities. The Association of Schools of Social Works called for sustainable financing that help the most vulnerable prevent and mitigate risks. Caneus Organization called for ecosystem-based DRR, pointing to the relevant in-depth knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The Women and Gender Constituency and Shifting the Power Coalition urged mainstreaming the resilience, safety and protection of women and other vulnerable people into DRR and its financing mechanisms.

The second MTR SF plenary focused on the multi-hazard nature of risk that governments and stakeholders must contend with in order to realize global goals, including those of the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for DRR, opened the second plenary, which addressed the multi-hazard, systemic nature of risk that governments and stakeholders must contend with in order to realize global sustainability goals.

Co-chair Dwikorita Karnawati, Head of the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG), Indonesia, noted the need for DRR approaches that apply to the full range of global catastrophic disasters.

Abdulla Shahid, UNGA President, said significant preparedness is required to manage ongoing and emerging disasters. He noted the importance of innovation and urged for increased ambition to ensure risk information is applied in sustainable development.

In a keynote, Puan Maharani Nakshatra Kusyala Devi, Speaker of the People’s Representative Council, Indonesia, said even after 64 years since the1955 Bandung Declaration, many countries are far from becoming the envisioned free and prosperous nations. She noted the commitments made in the recent 144th Inter-parliamentary Union Assembly provide opportunities to achieve progress, including on net-zero emissions.

Antigua and Barbuda, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, drew attention to the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index for SIDS, which has revealed great vulnerability in the region. Switzerland underlined need to invest in subnational entities as first responders to disasters. Sweden reported regulations for national and local government agencies to carry out risk and vulnerability assessments.

Brazil said disaster risk assessments will enable global risk modelling. Ecuador said tools for sharing good practice are essential for DRR implementation. Canada highlighted the need to engage with civil society partners to enhance preparedness and capacity to respond to climate change events. Japan underscored the importance of strong institutional capacity to understand and mitigate disaster risk.

Indonesia noted a widening gap in climate adaptation as communities start to face intensive and fluctuating disaster threats. Liberia suggested effective coordination also depends on pre-existing plans and pillars, and arrangements to bring together all stakeholders in a comprehensive way. Costa Rica underscored the importance of accountability in the context of DRR. El Salvador said they are constantly updating their communication and early warning protocols.

UN Economic Commission for Europe highlighted campaigns to restore seven million hectares of forests by 2023 to restore ecosystem functions and combat multiple hazards. FAO urged application of community-based risk management to promote localization. University of Cambridge highlighted Gato, a new artificial intelligence model hailed to exhibit human-like intelligence, noting that policies are far behind technological advancements. German Agency for International Cooperation called for prioritizing capacity building for risk-informed decision making.

EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement, Council of Europe, highlighted recommendations of the 2021 European Forum for DRR to protect persons with disabilities, migrants and asylum seekers against risks. The Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction highlighted the need to prioritize communities at risk by listening to their experiences.

Interventions were also delivered by the Group on Earth Observations; University Student Chamber International; Friendship NGO; Open Knowledge Kit; DRR Center Universitas Indonesia; the International Association of Schools of Social Work; Simon Institute for Long-term Governance; the Network of Francophone NGOs working on DRR; Mainstreaming RSA Practitioners Network; and Everbridge. They stressed, inter alia, the need to break silos, exchange information, and align major stakeholder groups on DRR with those on SDGs. They further called for capacity building, effective global monitoring, and taking into account the differentiated experiences of vulnerable groups.

High-Level Dialogue

The dialogue started with a video portraying the negative impact of COVID-19, especially on the poorest and most vulnerable, focusing on Latin America. Moderator Valerie Nkamgang Bemo, Deputy Director, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, introduced the event, stressing that the multiple cascading socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic have affected entire societies, exposing vulnerabilities of social protection systems around the world.

Michael Ryan, Executive Director, World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, emphasized that the four Sendai Framework priorities for action are central to address systemic risks, calling for effective leadership, coordination mechanisms, leveraging good practices, and increasing relevant investment. He noted that COVID-19 has transformed our world, underscoring that people are not only vulnerable, but also more resilient, holding many solutions that need to be taken on board.

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), highlighted inequity among and within nations all the way to the community level. Pointing to the three Cs (COVID-19, climate change, and conflict) affecting our world, he called for multi-hazard, multi-sectoral responses. He urged combining planning and action, recalling a Japanese proverb: “a plan without action is a daydream, action without plan is a nightmare.”

Bill Blair, Minister of Emergency and Preparedness, Canada, noted our world’s interconnectedness is a double-edged sword as it facilitates the pandemic spread, but also enables mitigation efforts through concerted endeavors on vaccines and treatments. Blair urged for preparedness, stressing that investing in mitigation returns ten times the investment in recovery.

Thembisile Simelane-Nkadimeng, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, South Africa, highlighted the importance of Indigenous systems and traditional leaders,  institutional arrangements and partnerships, adaptive and anticipatory governance and putting words into practice, including by committing the necessary funding.

Pratima Gurung, President, National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal, underscored the disproportionate psychological and psychosocial stress brought upon the most marginalized by the COVID-19 pandemic. She called for a system-wide, inclusive action approach, pointing to the central role of civil society and Indigenous Peoples.

Ministerial Roundtable

Ministers, other high-level government representatives, and officials from intergovernmental organizations met to look at finance under the Sendai Framework. They discussed experiences, solutions, and strategies to meet the growing cost of both DRR and disaster recovery.

Strategies outlined for enhanced DRR financing included: mainstreaming resilience finance across government to include all levels and portfolios; making finance smart by leveraging multiple funding sources and opportunities; engaging with the private sector and de-risking its investment; incentivizing the transfer of innovative technologies to address DRR; and taking cascading effects of crises into account.

Ministers and officials suggested innovative elements for effective DRR financing. One representative proposed to reserve a specific proportion of every country’s gross domestic product for DRR funding, alluding to the 2% benchmark often applied to the national defense budget. A second explained how a DRR analysis should be made a precondition for public investment. And a third held that all finance should be forecast-based since “short-termism” will not work in DRR.

Representatives from developing countries urged breaking down barriers to multilateral disaster and climate finance to make funding proportionate to their vulnerability. They held that multilateral funding mechanisms need to be more flexible and pragmatic by integrating disaster recovery, DRR, and development considerations. One representative pointed to his country’s high dependence on revenue from international tourism, which only flows if the natural environment is intact, which again depends on respective DRR strategies.

Thematic Sessions

Data challenges and solutions for disaster risk management: This session aimed at highlighting the importance of risk information in providing timely and reliable data, statistics, and analysis for developing and implementing DRR strategies. Letizia Rossano, Director, Asia and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management, moderated the session, which began by addressing how to ensure risk information can be translated into actionable strategies.

Raditya Jati, National Disaster Management Authority, Indonesia, highlighted his organization’s efforts to provide disaggregated and georeferenced data for local and national-level policies.

Renato Solidum, Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines, presented his country’s GeoRisk initiative and other relevant information platforms seeking to centralize data on natural hazards and risks, and make it widely accessible.

Rhonda Robinson, Deputy Director, Disaster and Community Resilience Program, the Pacific Community, said early warning and early action during the Tonga volcano disaster is an example of translating data into lifesaving information.

Jakub Ryzenko, Polish Academy of Sciences, emphasized the importance of georeferencing and pointed to the EU minimum standards that, inter alia, support comparability of data for modelling and mapping the extent of flood risks.

Kassem Chaalan, Lebanese Red Cross, reported on a hub created to collect data on disaster risk mapping and vulnerability. He said, to save lives, data needs to be generated with specific focus on the purpose and users’ needs.

Sithembiso Gina, Southern African Development Community Secretariat, noted the need for data policies, data coordination institutions, data infrastructure, and monitoring capacities.

Financing Local Investment Through Risk Informed and Bankable Strategies: This session explored practical solutions for developing risk-informed and bankable resilience projects. Maruxa Cardama, Secretary General, Stichting Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport Foundation, moderated the session.

Alessandro Attolico, Province of Potenza, Italy, said the main challenge is how to build back better and be truly resilient to shocks and stress. He called for innovative mechanisms that have a clear vision and risk-informed strategy.

Sameh Wahba, Global Director, Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, World Bank Group, said to scale up action on the Sendai Framework, cities must integrate risk into planning and decision-making processes.

Tiza Mafira, Associate Director, Climate Policy Initiative, called for local governments to have access to adaptation and resilience metrics, underscoring that funding for mitigation depends on those metrics.

Godavari Dange, Secretary, Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Grassroots Women’s Federation, stated women’s initiatives are key to building resilience in local communities. She said through this, they have been able to partner with local governments and access government programmes not available to them before.

Strengthening Governance to Reduce Disaster Displacement Risks: This session discussed inclusion of disaster-displaced persons in DRR strategies and policies, and explored challenges and good practices. Sarah Charles, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, moderated the session. She highlighted USAID work in this area including supporting displaced persons in Indonesia in business continuation and start-ups.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, said pastoralist migration is purposeful and predictable, lamenting disaster displacement disrupts cultures and identity.

Crispin d’Auvergne, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, said his region has a free movement policy allowing voluntary movement for work and indefinite resettlement. He noted that the upsurge of displacement due to disasters necessitates improved tracking of migration to provide crisis recovery support.

Visiti Soko, Director, National Disaster Management Office, Fiji, said the aftermath of the tropical cyclone Winston triggered improved emergency response mechanisms, with increased community participation. She reported on relocation guidelines, which support minimizing displacement and tracking movements.

Luísa Celma Meque, President, National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Mozambique, discussed her organization’s implementation of policies, strategies, legislation and operational plans for prevention, mitigation, and rehabilitation of disaster-related displacement.

Luis Doñas, Foreign Affairs Liaison, National Emergency Office, Chile, said data is an important enabler of inclusion and highlighted the need for, inter alia, migration information on routes and demographics. 

Saut Sagala, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia, said information on what is happening on the ground is key as it provides the perspectives of displaced persons.

Three further thematic sessions were held. A first session discussed examples of how nature-based solutions can reduce systemic risk, help address socioeconomic inequalities, and re-establish relationship with nature. Another session on inclusive and resilient recovery in urban contexts focused on how cities can address increasingly complex risks, driven by rapid and often unplanned urbanization, climate change, poverty, and rising inequalities. A last session thematized how recovery actions can prevent the creation of new risks, reduce existing risks, and build resilience to future shocks, crises, and pandemics.

Side events, Learning Labs, and Special Session

The following events were held on the margins of the fourth day of GP2022:

• seven side events, which discussed leaving no one behind, child and youth engagement, disability inclusion, using art to inspire change, nature-based solutions, biological hazards, and learning from award winning projects;
• four learning labs, which focused on the online platform for voluntary commitments, disaster management training, disaster loss accounting, and shared risk analytics; and
• one special session on the Centre of Excellence on Climate and Disaster Resilience established by the UN Office for DRR and the World Meteorological Organization.

IISD’s Summary: The IISD summary of GP2022 will be available on Monday, 30 May 2022, on this site.