UNISDR head, Mami Mizutori, speaking at the opening of the 6th Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas

By Richard Waddington

CARTAGENA, 20 June, 2018 – Effective disaster risk management requires an “inclusive, all-of-society approach” that reflects the views of those who suffer most from such events, the head of the UNISDR told a regional conference on disaster risk reduction.

Policy makers must heed the “voices of those who suffer disproportionately in such events. People living with disabilities, older persons, women, children and indigenous groups need to be consulted and engaged,” said Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Mizutori told the opening of the three-day Vl Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas that the issue of inclusion will be a significant area of discussion at the regional platform, the first she has attended since her appointment in January.

Carlos Kaiser, Executive Director of Inclusive NGO and Representative of the Inclusive Risk Management Network for Disasters and Disability in Latin America and the Caribbean (GIRDD-LAC Network), told the opening plenary that people living with disabilities are between two and four times more likely than others to suffer in natural disasters. “Society is not complete if it excludes many who are not considered to have the same rights,” he said.

A key topic at the conference will be implementing a target of the global plan for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, calling for a substantial increase in the number of countries with national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction by the year 2020, the UNISDR chief said.

“Regional and global platforms play a pivotal role in advancing the implementation of the Sendai Framework by offering privileged spaces for assessing progress and learning from each other,” she said.

The conference is taking place at a difficult time for millions of people across the region whose lives continue to be affected by catastrophic events. “In particular, my thoughts are with the people of Guatemala who are still coming to terms with the loss of possibly hundreds of lives in the Fuego volcanic eruption earlier this month.”