“I hope that these partnerships you have created in the Region will support a substantial increase in national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction to be established by next year, the deadline set out in the Sendai Framework under target (e).”

Ms. Mizutori also said how delighted she was to meet yesterday with staff members of the Saida Governorate “who in addition to their paid jobs are voluntarily engaged in disaster management activities…and interestingly the majority of them seem to be women.”

Earlier in the week, Ms. Mizutori paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Mr. Saad El Hariri, and thanked him for his visible commitment to the Sendai Framework as his office is also home to the country’s Disaster Risk Management Unit.

Mr. El Hariri acknowledged the need for Lebanon to step up its efforts and invest more in capacity building for resilience to disasters and the government is open to advice from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ms. Mizutori also spoke yesterday at a workshop to kick off the “CubeSat Technology Project” which envisages the launch of Lebanon’s first NanoSatellite.

“The development of Lebanon’s first Nano Satellite will give a major boost to space based programmes in your universities and will have many applications of benefit to the country’s commercial activity especially in the area of telecommunications. This in turn can be of great use in strengthening early warning systems through mobile phone networks and other channels,” she said.

Date:

10 Apr 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Countries:

Lebanon

Regions:

Africa, Asia