Last year, one of the most destructive hurricane seasons on record in the Caribbean killed hundreds of people and left millions homeless or displaced. The Cartagena meeting offers the first opportunity for a multi-stakeholder regional discussion of the hurricanes, which provided a deadly reminder of the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather events. The Platform will look at the extent to which the hurricane death toll was initially underestimated by not taking account of victims whose medical care was interrupted by transport failures or power outages.

The Americas is one of the regions most exposed to natural hazards, but it is also one of the most active in seeking to respond. It has agreed a regional strategy for implementing the Sendai Framework. The Framework should make a crucial contribution to meeting the United Nations’Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to eradicating poverty, building resilient communities and action on climate change.

The regional plan aims to strengthen disaster risk information systems, including monitoring and recording of existing and potential disaster risks, strengthen disaster risk management strategies, enhance and mobilize investment in risk reduction and strengthen coordination in disaster preparedness and response.

It also recognizes the key role of civil society, academia and the scientific community in policy formation and the importance of involving women, indigenous groups and disabled people in building local resilience.

A key step in building preparedness and effective responses is measuring the impact of disasters when they occur. Sound data are essential to monitoring progress against the Sendai Framework’s seven targets, including reducing mortality, reducing the numbers of people affected by disasters, reducing economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure.

This is the first regional platform to take place since the launch in March of the Sendai Framework Monitor, which is designed to capture UN Member States’ achievement of the targets. It is also the first time that national statistics offices are sending experts to take part in a regional disaster reduction conference.

The conference hopes to trigger a significant increase in the number of countries developing both national and local strategies for disaster reduction by 2020 – a Sendai Framework target.

Nearly 2,000 cities and towns across the region are already taking part in UNISDR’s ‘Making Cities Resilient Campaign’. Enthusiasm at the local level was reflected in the success of a knowledge-sharing workshop ‘Making cities sustainable and resilient in the Americas’, held ahead of the formal opening of the Platform.

Date:

20 Jun 2018

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas (UNISDR AM)

Themes:

Community-based DRR, Early Warning, Advocacy & Media

Hazards:

Earthquake, Storm Surge, Volcano

Countries:

Colombia