Bali, 26 May 2022 (TDI): On Wednesday, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed addressed the opening ceremony of the Seventh Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Forum in Bali, Indonesia.
The Seventh Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2022) is an important forum to discuss the progress made related to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The Government of Indonesia is co-chairing this forum with UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). The forum will continue from 23-28 May 2022.
While speaking on the occasion, she has remarked that the world will experience 1.5 medium to large scale disasters every day by the end of the Decade.
World Meteorological Organization (WHO) should present an action plan at the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Egypt. The devised action plan should ensure that Early Warning Systems cover every person within five years.
The event is the first international forum on Disaster Risk reduction, mitigation, and prevention since the start of the pandemic Covid-19.
Government officials, the UN, and other stakeholders have come together to propose action plans to mitigate the impact of these disasters.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed further emphasized the active and timely participation of world leaders to find solutions to this crisis. “The decisions you take can play a significant part in preventing another calamity like the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
“We can – and must – put our efforts firmly behind prevention and risk reduction and build a safe, sustainable, resilient, and equitable future for all.” She added.
Outcomes of the meeting
Disasters are one of the biggest challenges in implementing SDGs worldwide and require stringent mitigation measures to reduce their overall impact on the people.
The three-day meeting focuses on enacting the 2015 Sendai Framework, 2015 which aims to achieve a sustainable reduction in disasters by ensuring minimum life and economic losses.
The UN deputy Secretary-General stressed the immediate actions and outlined four areas for action.
As her first point, she quoted the emergence of COVID-19 and stressed securing better “coherence and implementation of the humanitarian-development nexus” through improving risk governance.
She highlighted a lack of governance frameworks for risk management and mitigation. She said that despite our efforts, risk creation is outpacing risk reduction.
For the second point, she emphasizes improving data capabilities through investment in ‘new multilateral instruments.’ She highlighted the scope to improve data ecosystems to prevent and respond by using the UN’s Complex Risk Analytics Fund.
She added that such investments would help us navigate complex risks earlier, faster, and in a more target-efficient manner.
Thirdly, Mohammad stressed focusing on the least developed countries and Small Island Developing States. She said that disasters in vulnerable countries could erase decades of development progress and economic growth. She emphasized the provision of Early Warning Systems to provide a considerable return on investments.
Finally, the UN Deputy Secretary-General emphasized ‘Risk proofed’ public and financial sectors to promote resilience. She stressed accounting for the actual cost of disasters and incentivizing risk reduction to cease the magnitude of disasters.
Resilience as Mantra of humanity
The President of the UN General Assembly, Abdullah Shahid, underscored the lessons learned from the climate crisis and pandemic Covid-19 and emphasized strengthening vulnerable communities.
Moreover, he said those who are the furthest behind and who suffer the most are “far too often, wiped away by whatever crisis comes their way.”
Likewise, he emphasized reflecting knowledge from recovery from the pandemic and stressed making resilience our ‘mantra.’
