To ensure this new national strategy is focused on reducing disaster risk and aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction - the global roadmap for reducing disaster losses by 2030 – the government organized a national workshop on 5 April in Phnom Penh with technical support from UNDP and UNISDR.

Highlighting the importance of adopting a systems approach to disaster risk reduction, Mr. Sanny Jegillos, Senior Advisor, UNDP Regional Hub, said: “We need a systems thinking approach to improve DRR investments to ensure that development activities build resilience and do not increase vulnerabilities. This calls for involving all relevant ministries early in the national strategy development process, through the formation of working groups or a joint governance structure, to ensure that DRR is also integrated into sector specific strategies."

“Having a national strategy that is developed in cooperation with all relevant ministries is critical to mobilizing a whole-of-government response,” said Ms. Loretta Hieber Girardet, Head of UNISDR Asia-Pacific, who is leading a joint mission with UNDP to Cambodia. “It is equally important to engage with civil society and stakeholders representing vulnerable groups, such as the poor, women and persons with disability, through an active national platform for DRR.”

Involving all relevant ministries early in the national strategy development process, through the formation of working groups or a joint governance structure, will help ensure that DRR is also integrated into sector specific strategies.

To promote resilience for all, the inclusion of different vulnerable groups in the development and implementation process of the DRR strategy is critical to meeting the needs of those most impacted by disasters. By fully participating in the process of developing and implementing the DRR strategy, representatives of vulnerable groups can convey their needs and concerns to national authorities, and at the same time, serve as conduits for the dissemination of risk communication and guidance to hard-to-reach populations. As a result, vulnerable groups, who are disproportionately impacted by disasters, become more resilient and better-prepared to deal with disasters, thus less likely to lose their livelihoods.

Date:

8 Apr 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)

Themes:

Economics of DRR, Disaster Risk Management

Hazards:

Drought, Flood, Heat Wave

Countries:

Cambodia