Photo of the opening session of the workshop in the UN Conference Center Bangkok

By Omar Amach

BANGKOK, 18 December, 2018 – The Asia Pacific region needs to accelerate progress on increasing the number of national and local disaster risk reduction strategies if they are to reach the first target of the Sendai Framework by 2020. This was a key conclusion of a two-day workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, convened by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). 

The gathering brought over 115 participants from 20 governments, intergovernmental organizations, national and regional UN entities, stakeholder groups and international organizations to review progress to date on Target E of the Sendai Framework. Target E, which calls for a significant increase in the number of national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020, is the first milestone of the Sendai Framework, adopted in 2015. 

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana stressed the importance of DRR to achieving development goals, saying: “Disasters keep children out of school and adults out of work. They entrench poverty. Strengthening our response in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is essential in the world’s most disaster-prone region.”

An analysis carried out by UNISDR revealed that more than half of the countries in the region have developed national strategies aligned with the Sendai Framework, however, implementation and financing of these strategies is lagging. Participants were unanimous in their call for more local DRR strategies, but also noted that insufficient capacity and financial resources at the sub-national and local levels are hindering progress.

“Target E is the first milestone of Sendai Framework and this workshop is a call for collaboration, consolidation of efforts and commitment to ensure that all countries have national and local strategies to guide their actions to reduce the impact of and prevent disasters,” said Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief of the UNISDR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.