“We have to come to a single conclusion that development is impossible without eliminating risks,” noted Feliks Tsolakyan, Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia.

Despite the grim reality, speakers advocated optimism. “There is a surge of youth activism, reminding us that the future is theirs and that they will fight for it,” Ms. Mehra noted.

The Sendai Framework, the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement have shifted the political context in response to socioecological and socioeconomic crises. They are hard fought achievements that call for the transformation of our world.  Member States were making greater effort to measure the disaster losses in order to have a benchmark and measure progress in the next 11 years in reducing losses, whereas the UN reforms for the 2030 Agenda mark important institutional reforms geared at multi-agency delivery. 

“The responsibility was no longer on Member States, but on all of us,” Ms. Mehta emphasized. “Risk is everybody’s business.  Goodbye to the old hazard-by-hazard compartmentalized approach; hello to the new system of a broad pluralistic approach.” 

The meeting also heard feedback from the 2018 regional platforms outcomes which were reported on individually in the news section last year. 

Date:

16 May 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)