Speakers at the opening ceremony: Kirsi Madi, Director, UNISDR; Ambassador Josefa Sacko, African Union Commisssion; Dr. Riadh Mouakhar, Minister of Local Affairs and Environment, Tunisia; and Abdellatif Abid, Assistant Secretary-General, League of Arab States.

By Denis McClean

TUNIS, 11 October, 2018 - The focus at the opening today of the first-ever joint Africa-Arab Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction was on moving to action on reducing disaster risk and disaster losses across the two regions.

Representatives from over 60 countries packed the auditorium to hear UNISDR Director, Kirsi Madi, deliver the keynote address.

Noting the challenges of climate change and conflict, she said the two regions combined accounted for 10.4 million people internally displaced by conflict last year and that a further 1.3 million were displaced by weather-related hazards in the region.

Across the two regions, 20 countries have so far aligned their national strategies to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan for reducing disaster losses.

Ms.Madi said: “This is especially important as we near the 2010 deadline for achieving target (e) which seeks a substantial increase in the number of countries with national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction.”

The two regions have also started to embrace use of the Sendai Framework Monitor, she said.

To date, 18 African and Arab States have started to upload data on mortality, numbers of people affected, economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure.

She stressed the need to strengthen implementation of the Sendai Framework in a manner which recognises the links with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ambassador Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union, urged participants: “We have a lot of papers on our shelves but  need to pass to action.”

Ambasador Sacko added: “The event provides a unique opportunity for governments to reaffirm their political commitments and increase domestic investment to implement the Sendai Framework.”