“Thailand is in the midst of an economic transformation. However, unplanned development, climate change, and hazards like earthquakes, are all risks that Thailand faces. Countries must invest to protect against the disaster risk or pay an even heavier price later. The benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure outweigh costs by a ratio of 4 to 1. Yet, resilience is not an add-on to development – we cannot construct a building and then make it resilient. For the resilience dividend to be realised, risk must be embedded into the development planning and processes,” said Dr Animesh Kumar, Deputy Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office and one of the key speakers at the event.

To accelerate this, UNDRR highlighted the potential role of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, led by the Government of India with support from UNDRR and other organisations. Launched at the Climate Action Summit this year, the Coalition will function as a multi-country and multi-stakeholder partnership on thematic areas like risk assessments, infrastructure resilience standards, financing and recovery and reconstruction.

The event featured various activities organized by partner organizations, such as a knowledge exchange forum, several quiz games, a room-sized earthquake simulator, a virtual reality simulator, and Bangkok Metropolitan’s mobile disaster knowledge car.

Sponsors and organizers of the event included the Thai Red Cross, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Thai PBS Television Station, Thai Insurance Association Civil Society, UNDRR, the UN Development Programme, World Vision Thailand, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Plan International, Stockholm Environment Institute, and the School Road Safety Club.

Date:

12 Oct 2019

Sources:

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

Themes:

Advocacy & Media, Critical Infrastructure

Hazards:

Earthquake

Countries:

Thailand

Regions:

Asia