Daily report for 4 June 2025

Everyone agrees that data is important for planning—but collecting data, making it available to the people who can use it, applying it in decision making, and financing these processes are ongoing challenges for most countries. Data for resilience will take even more effort. As one expert in risk information management advised, “Data sharing is old school. We need to go for data interoperability. In addition, we need to aim for data that is ‘just-in-time,’ not ‘just what is available.’ Importantly, if information was not negotiated prior to a disaster then the information will not be shared among actors on the spot.”

Discussions on the first day of the Eighth Global Platform’s official programme tackled many of these issues in high-level dialogues and a ministerial roundtable event. International organizations, academics and civil society organizations also offered their perspectives in a multistakeholder plenary that took stock of progress on implementation of the Sendai Framework. Three thematic sessions, a special event on financing disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Africa, and many side events and ‘learning labs’ also took place during the day.

High-Level Dialogues

Harnessing Risk Understanding for a Safer Future—Are we keeping up?: Haya Al-Kubaity, Regional DRR Focal Point for Arab States, Major Group for Children and Youth, moderated this session.

In a keynote, President Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr., Palau, described recent disasters affecting Palau, which, he said, are becoming more frequent and intense. Warning that risks are growing faster than the capacity to address them, he called for relevant metrics and a shift from once-off projects to long-term resilience building.

Leon Lundy, State Minister for Disaster Risk Management, The Bahamas, cautioned against focusing only on numbers when talking about disaster impacts, as they do not capture the ongoing impacts on people’s health, livelihoods and infrastructure.

Raditya Jati, Deputy Minister of Systems and Strategy, National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), Indonesia, described Indonesia’s open data risk platform, saying sustainable resilience should take a people-centred approach, and should bridge national and local divides to ensure open communication.

Dmitry Mariyasin, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, mentioned a common statistical framework under development with UNDRR, which will develop standards for disaster-related data and statistics, ensuring data integration across sectors.

Najla Bouden, Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG), Tunisia, called for better data governance, making scientific data available, and co-create with communities decentralized practices for risk reduction.

Nadia Rehman, Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Pakistan, via video, said digital data governance should be the bedrock of a disaster risk management framework, and recommended that countries use legal instruments, such as the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan, to enable data sharing across borders.

Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance for Transformative Action and Outcomes: Achim Steiner, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through a video message, urged all to act boldly and collectively and to forge new partnerships to build resilience.

Regarding good practices in national risk prevention, Valder Ribeiro de Moura, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, Brazil, highlighted investment in prevention and inclusion, and coordination among all levels, sectors, and actors. Niels Annen, State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, suggested increasing dialogue with insurance companies as one way donors and the international community can better support resilience building. Rhonda Robinson, The Pacific Community, spoke about the integration of DRR and climate change agendas in the Pacific region, noting it requires coherence and coordination.

Ahmed Amdihun, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Kenya, described the integrated approach used in the Horn of Africa to address drought. He stressed that bold decisions made a difference and warned that conflict and insecurity can rapidly undo years of progress. Ghada Ahmedin, Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), Egypt, emphasized how the conflicts in the region are affecting DRR, development planning, and increasing displacement. She highlighted the role of civil society in leading localized actions, amplifying community voices, facilitating dialogue, and providing informal education on DRR.

Ministerial Roundtable

Financing for DRR: Patricia Danzi, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), moderated the event, which convened 43 ministers along with the World Bank and UNDP. Many countries recognized the financing deficit for preparedness and sought to reframe disaster risk financing not as an expense but an investment. Many countries emphasized the importance of regional partnerships, frameworks, and roadmaps as well as the parallel efforts by the G20 Dialogue on DRR, and the need to enable local development of DRR frameworks. The Philippines, South Sudan, Fiji, Barbados, African Union, China, Slovenia, Norway, Germany, Chile, Czechia, Nepal, Brazil, Sweden, Ecuador, Canada, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Sudan, Serbia, Zambia, Saudia Arabia, and the UK drew links between financial planning to manage disaster risk, and financing for climate change and other environmental crises, with some mentioning the Adaptation Fund, Green Climate Fund, and Loss and Damage Fund as relevant sources. World Bank highlighted its City Resilience Program providing technical and financial resources to 196 cities.

On innovative financial tools, many countries described insurance strategies. Thailand discussed property insurance. China described agricultural insurance and its investment of USD 154 billion in property insurance. Kiribati described its community-based insurance for drought programme with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification that provides payouts to farmers and fishers. Norway highlighted parametric insurance schemes. The Bahamas discussed their disaster-related expenditures tracking tool that maps pre-disaster investments and post-disaster costs.

In terms of financial policies, India highlighted pre-determined, rule-based allocation to flow from national to district levels, with dedicated financial windows for different elements of community need. Japan and Norway highlighted mainstreaming DRR in the private sector, with Norway encouraging legal frameworks to require businesses to incorporate DRR measures and the integration of DRR into corporate social responsibility strategies. UNDP highlighted its resilience trainings with ministries of finance. Philippines said a global financing mechanism was needed. Brazil, as president of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP30), called on countries to join a global task force for effective finance and to support a global fund for tropical forest conservation for more resilient global governance.

Some countries flagged social aspects of investment. Cambodia highlighted their gender-responsive approach. Paraguay described reinforcing social protection programmes for the elderly. Montenegro highlighted health and cultural resilience. Jordan advised integrating finance for prevention into social programmes. Czechia advocated for DRR funding to be integrated across the humanitarian-development nexus. Brazil underscored that BRICS countries recognized the negative social impacts of disasters, such as poverty, and social injustice.

Kamal Kishore, UNDRR Head, called on countries to develop comprehensive financial strategies that are underpinned by good regulation, based on evidence, and systematically tracking where the money is going.

Multistakeholder Plenary

Regional Progress: Kishore and Danzi co-chaired this session in which delegates described their actions toward implementation of the Sendai Framework and its Mid-Term Review recommendations.

Reporting on the work of the Regional Platforms on DRR, Natangwe Paulus Ithete, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industrialisation, Mines, and Energy, Namibia, highlighted the commitment to implementing Early Warning Systems (EWS) across Africa. Renato Umali Solidum Jr., Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines, emphasized the need for “integrated governance” to manage disaster risk in the Asia-Pacific region. Danilo Šaranović, Minister, Ministry of Interior, Montenegro, stressed the need for Europe and Central Asia to focus on reducing and preventing new risks.

Glenroy Blanchette, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of National Security, St. Kitts and Nevis, highlighted the need to prioritize resilient infrastructure and housing in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Talal Mohammad Al-Roumi, Chief of the Fire Force, Kuwait, called for unifying efforts across the Arab region and working in a more urgent manner.

Many regional organizations also shared their progress and challenges implementing the Sendai Framework.

Leaving No One Behind: Paola Albrito, UNDRR, and Christian Frutiger, SDC, co-chaired the session, in which governments and international organizations presented how they are implementing the Sendai Framework’s guiding principle of integrating diverse perspectives in DRR policies and practice.

Sakiasi Ditoka, Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Fiji, expressed Fiji’s commitment to including Indigenous knowledge for resilience. Francisco da Costa Guterres, Minister of Interior, Timor-Leste, highlighted improvements to the country’s data system to ensure that efforts are informed by “the lived experience of all people.” Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Thailand, reported that Thailand has engaged more than 70,000 communities in community-based disaster risk management through training of trainers. Ministers from Paraguay and Slovenia also spoke, followed by many vice-ministers and other high-level representatives.

Finland emphasized its policy of “open data, open science, and open source,” noting, as an example, installation of the Finnish-developed SmartMet hydro-meteorological system in 30 countries. Representatives of Austria, France, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Tajikistan, Tonga, Romania, the Pacific Islands Forum and many international organizations also took the floor. Romania announced it will host the Regional Platform for DRR for Europe and Central Asia in 2027.

GNDR called for giving attention to fragile states, making some elements of DRR legally binding, and working better with faith-based organizations so as to use their networks of trust.

Delegates also heard testimonies from grassroot champions of rural women, people with disabilities, and marginalized communities. Nayyab Ali, transgender rights advocate, recounted a post-disaster situation for transgender women in Pakistan, who could not access an evacuation shelter because there was no category for them on the admission form. She emphasized “the right to be seen and survive.”

Special Event on Africa

Investing in Resilience for Africa: Tools, Strategies and Partnerships: International journalist Mayowa Adegoke moderated the session.

Vice-President Mutale Nalumango, Zambia, in a keynote, reported that the African continent is warming at a 0.3% rate faster than the rest of the globe, with extreme weather putting billions of people and livestock at risk. Among impacts from past and future disasters, she noted loss of life, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and human displacement. She stated that resilient infrastructure can only be achieved through compliance with robust standards built on continuous learning and principles of shared responsibility and social engagement.

Moses Vilataki, Africa Union Commission, said the greatest challenge is finding the investment needed in resilience planning, as well as undertaking upgrades to infrastructure.

Panelists from Ghana and Kenya shared experiences from their countries, stating that future-proofing roads, ports, water and other infrastructure is imperative. They proposed screening public investment proposals for climate risk, resilience co-benefits and environmental safeguards, and ensuring the bankability of climate resilience projects.

On financial investments, panelists highlighted: existence of multiple opportunities to implement innovations within Africa building on global experiences in resilient construction; understanding the infrastructure challenges in African contexts; the sevenfold return on investment for any infrastructure developments in Africa; embedding climate and risk resilience principles at every stage of the project life; and utilizing the global model of risk to understand the scale of infrastructure risks.

Thematic Sessions

Understanding Systemic Risk in the Age of Polycrises: Moderator Manal Bernousi, Leaders on Purpose, opened the session. Brendan Moon, National Emergency Management Authority, Australia, described Australia’s multistakeholder coordination mechanism for considering sectoral impacts, responsibility, and communication.

Carlos Picado Rojas, National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Response, Costa Rica, called for greater attention to assessing the future vulnerability and the anticipated burden to the economy.

Ahmed Burqibah, Dubai Global Resilience Center, described strategic drills conducted to assess the preparedness of electricity, health care centers, and transport under different hazard scenarios. Sripana Sil, GRRID Corps, advised blending Indigenous insights with science. Ruth Richardson, Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment, described the Facing Global Risks with Honest Hope project that acknowledges the severity of challenges alongside opportunities for innovation.

Katherine Sotomayor, Regional Focal Point, Major Group for Children and Youth, Mexico, advised including youth in strategy and implementation, saying they are already working with a systemic lens. Mirianna Budimir, Practical Action, noted the need to move beyond natural hazard risks to include social risks such as health and food security. Jeff Schlegelmilch, Columbia University, recommended addressing how to optimize the use of disaster expertise during crisis, observing that politics can interfere with the operationalization of science, as had occurred during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Infrastructure for a resilient, inclusive and sustainable future: Corneliu Cirimpei, State Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Moldova, described how Moldova had sparked the rise of small alternative energy producers by fixing the price at which government would buy the energy. He emphasized the central importance of creating a legal framework to enable predictability, and the government’s provision for affordable energy in poor rural areas. Alicia Cebrian López, National Director, National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED), Chile, and Bako Nirina Rabevohitra, Executive Secretary, Emergency Prevention and Management Unit (CPGU), Prime Minister’s Office, Madagascar, offered further perspectives on regulation.

In response to questions about corruption and organizational culture, speakers emphasized the need to strengthen governance, create space for capacity building with stakeholders, develop legal frameworks for transparency, and use the democratic system to advocate for people’s needs to political representatives.

Sinéad Burke, CEO, Tilting the Lens, said universal accessibility is a non-negotiable criterion and called for developing a global toolkit and international standards to better understand what disability is. Alicia Montalvo, Head of Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), drew attention to incentives for collaboration. Amit Prothi, Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, noted the lack of regulation for new industries as an opportunity. Chris Hullat, Founder, Octopus, highlighted the crucial role of raising awareness about the importance of resilience. In response to ways to better involve the private sector, speakers pointed to improving financial risk and regulation, and promoting innovative, inclusive, and nature-based solutions.

Side Event

Displacement in Disasters—Participation and Innovation for Resilience: Jean Rea, Centre for Reworlding, in her keynote address, discussed how activating imagination and sensorial experiences helps drive social change by making the invisible visible.

Speakers described: how the annual average number of displaced people in 2024 nearly doubled that in the past decade; ways to address mental health alongside physical safety during evacuations and displacement; and the need to better link bottom-up and top-down approaches for DRR.

The audience then had a cultural immersion in performers’ memories of disaster. Makelei Ngata, Pacific Women’s Representative DRR champion and performer, referred to the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in 2022, and performed a traditional dance. Chimwemwe Sakunda, Caritas Malawi, declaimed a poem, “Daughters of the soil, regardless they stand.”

Attendees heard real-life cases of displacement in Bangladesh and transformative resilience efforts in Chile’s communities. They also watched videos on community-driven initiatives to improve resilience against future hazards in the Philippines, and the work of volunteers at the frontline of preparedness and response to disaster at the Rohingya camp, Bangladesh.