From left: Marim Faria e Maya, Tony Blair Institute: Mami Mizutori, UNDRR; Geoffrey White, CEO, Agility Africa; Francisco Pereira, Mozambican Reconstruction Authority

By Denis McClean

MAPUTO, 11 September, 2019 - Reducing disaster losses in Mozambique were top of the agenda in Maputo today as the Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, undertook shuttle advocacy across the capital.

Her first port of call was to launch a two-day review with disaster management agency officials from INGC, of disaster loss data collection as the country aims to improve its reporting against the seven targets of the global plan for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ms. Mizutori then moved on to the Technical University of Mozambique where she received a standing ovation from students in a packed lecture hall as she encouraged them to take an interest in disaster risk reduction as a career option.

In the afternoon, she participated in the FT Mozambique Summit organized by the Financial Times which saw the participation of leading figures from politics, business and civil society. The UNDRR chief participated in a key discussion on resilient infrastructure, an issue which has come into stark relief following the back-to-back cyclones which partially destroyed the city of Beira and other parts of northern and central Mozambique in March and April this year.

Speaking at the FT Summith, Ms. Mizutori said housing and agricultural sectors were the worst affected and urged that infrastructure be built to last, in a resilient and risk-informed manner.