At the closing ceremony of the Global Platform, Marwa Elmenshawy, Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism, and Global Platform co-chairs, Mami Mizutori, UNDRR, and Manuel Sager, Secretary of State, Switzerland.

By Denis McClean

GENEVA , 17 May 2019 - The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction closed today with a warning that not enough countries are yet putting in place national and local strategies to prevent future disasters and reduce the existing level of disaster losses.

While 116 UN Member States are reporting against the seven targets of the Sendai Framework, the global plan to reduce disaster losses, just 92 countries have reported putting these strategies in place to meet the 2020 deadline set out in target (e).

Manuel Sager, Secretary of State for Switzerland and Global Platform co-chair, read out the Chair’s Summary which stated that “the current pace of implementation is not fast enough to meet the 2020 deadline for target (e) and may delay further progress on other targets.”

The other six targets include reducing disaster-related mortality, the numbers of disaster affected, economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure. There are also targets for enhanced international cooperation and increased availability of multi-hazard early warning systems.

The Chair’s Summary took up the conference theme “Resilience Dividend: Toward Sustainable and Inclusive Societies” and found that “the application of risk-informed investment and development decisions are still the exception rather than the rule.”

Marwa El-Menshawy, speaking on behalf of the stakeholders, said that the Stakeholder Engagment Mechanism was united in support of efforts to have national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction in place by 2020. 

In her closing remarks, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, expressed her gratitude to the government of Switzerland, the canton and city of Geneva and the staff and volunteers who had done so much to welcome the 4,000 participants throughout the week.

“I would also like to thank our partners who organized the successful preparatory day events including the World Bank, the World Meteorological Organization, UNDP, OHRLLS, the International Science Council and our many stakeholders,” she said.