Session 29

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1 Joint Summary Outcomes Global Platform and WRC

Joint Summary Outcomes Global Platform and WRC

UNISDR - Plenary, 10 May 2011, Photo: V. Krebs

Session Information

Date and Time: Thursday, 13 May 2011, 09:00-11:30

Chair/Moderator/Facilitators: Ms. Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Reduction; Ms. Zoubida Allou, World Bank

Reporters: Daniel Sekarski (summary), Marielle Guirlet (key words), ICVolunteers.org

Editors: Poppy Willard, Sarah Webborn, ICVolunteers.org

Description

The Joint Summary Outcomes session reviewed the results and proceedings of the Global Platform and the World Reconstruction Conference. Representatives from key groups and delegations were asked to comment on discussions during the week.

Summary

Ms. Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Reduction (Co-Chair) began the presentation with a brief outline summarizing the four day’s presentations and discussions. She gave 20 minutes for delegates to read over the Draft for the Closing Session that they had worked on till 6.00am that morning. Ms. Wahlström believes there needs to be more engagement of all stakeholders in the proceedings that will follow in the next few years. Each year has brought progress toward our goals: 2005, 2007, 2009 and now 2011. Though gains have been made each time, more is needed. What is to be the turning point toward success? How can the next two years be optimized? This is the first time that the private sector has been engaged in the conference deliberations, and their responsible commitment sought. Children’s groups have come and made their presence known and felt. Gender issues have been raised and responded to; reconstructive ideas have been considered at the highest and lowest levels, with the partnership of The World Bank and local community groups. Calls for political leadership have been heard by Parliamentarians and local governmental agents attending the conference. They have given support and invaluable knowledge of their positions and needs. The vehicle has been assembled and now it needs to be driven it its destination.

Ms. Zoubida Allou (Co-Chair) welcomed the concrete commitments made in efforts to combat disaster related tragedies throughout the world. By combining the studies and resources of those represented at this conference, strength and time in the fight against disasters has been gained. Five years after a disaster occurs the affected areas still struggle to get back to pre-disaster levels of economic stability. We are falling behind. Now is the time to agree and come together to create an opportunity for sustainable development in the stricken and not yet stricken areas of the world. Stern choices need to be made in investment planning, trying to put the countries affected in the driver’s seat while helping them with guidance and fuel for the journey. Reliable ways of accumulating and analyzing data must be found to form baselines to judge the distance travelled along the course towards reconstruction. The World Bank is firmly committed to donating research and time to bring private sector resources to local and regional needs. Google is a good example of private sector help. They have contributed time and resource knowledge with geographical satellite data that they assembled and made accessible to scientific and governmental studies of regional weather and disaster data areas. Now we must reach a new improved global framework for the 4th congress.

After the pledge and report from the World Bank Representative, Ms. Wahlström went over the draft for the Closing Session (Chair’s Summary) point by point. The recovery framework would aim to prioritize these points:

Better define roles and responsibilities within clear institutional arrangements;
Effectively capitalize on the strengths of each shareholder;
Clearly place countries in the driver’s seat on decision-making and resource allocation;
Provide in-time relevant knowledge and lessons learned;
Assist in establishing robust and transparent quality and result monitoring systems.

Participants committed to developing improved systems and instruments for recovery and reconstruction finance, and welcomed the World Bank’s leadership in this effort.

Eleven presenters participated in comments and commitment statements. They included Janet Edwards of National Platforms, recommending:

Measuring points;
Decentralization;
Local involvement;
Better links between Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation;
Better private sector and public sector promotion;
National commitments and continued cooperation.

The Parliamentary group representative observed that there is an enormous amount of work to be done and we need to all act as one.

Session participants highlighted key points arising from the conference. Mr. David Cademan, representing Major Cities (Mayor of Toronto), noted that 67% of the world’s population resides in 2% of its surface area. It is essential that we work together to make our cities resilient to disasters.The IGO’s representative thought regional and sub-regional groups would be empowered by cross regional coordination. A scientific expert, Dr. Virginia Murray, said scientific and technical knowledge should be pooled into an expert data base. Meanwhile a community representative from the Philippines identified that local grassroots organizations are at the heart of DRR. It is in everyone’s interest to work together, but not just from the top down. More of the total budget should be directed to local levels.

The representative of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent endorsed the draft, as well stressing local-level needs and humanitarian aid while the representative from the Private Sector Advisory Group said “We need to go from RE to PRE. We need to change our thinking from response to pre-response analysis.” The private sector will continue to give support by sharing experiences and burdens. There is a need for micro-resilience.

The representative for women’s interests wanted to raise awareness of the power and knowledge that women offer to the alliance, and raised the issue of gender discrimination in platform formation, but not in disaster risks. Participation is important for all stakeholders, especially women and children.

Andre was the last participant, representing the children of the world for Disaster Risk Reduction. “We are attending this conference to be heard and to participate in this process that will affect us so very much. Our future depends upon your action today and your actions tomorrow.”

In conclusion, after the open floor discussions, Ms. Wahlström responded to all the input over the past few hours. “We have the data now. Do not go home and put it on your shelf, but pull it out and look at it, examine it to make use of it. It is a turning point in our agenda and we are ready for the next leap.”

Use of Key Words

Disaster Risk Reduction: A young boy named Andre, the last participant, represented the children of the world for Disaster Risk Reduction. “We are attending this conference to be heard and to participate in this process that will affect us so very much. Our future depends upon your action today and your actions tomorrow,” he appealed.

Recovery: Participants committed to developing improved systems and instruments for recovery and reconstruction finance, and welcomed the World Bank’s leadership in this effort.

Sustainable Development: Now is the time to agree and come together to create an opportunity for sustainable development in the stricken and not yet stricken areas of the world. (Ms. Allou)

Other Key Concepts

Children and women's role: Ms. Margareta Wahlström stated that children as a community are becoming a very influential group in UNISDR partnership. Andre, representing the children of the world for disaster risk reduction, emphasized that they already take an active role in local actions and thus that they should be further involved in planning for preparation and reconstruction. The role of women in monitoring, reconstruction and spreading information on a local scale was recognized by the community representative from the Philippines as a crucial one. The representative of NGOs and civil society called for the support of local women communities. Women should not be reduced to victims and efforts to raise their awareness and their capacity building should be reinforced, recommended the representative from Guatemala. This was supported by the Ministry of Women from the Solomon Islands: women have the potential, knowledge and skills, and as such, must be seen as potential active agents instead of only passive agents of disasters.

Education: The Community representative from the Philippines insisted on the crucial role of teaching and training the local communities. The representative from UNICEF made the point of the importance of the fundamental right of children to be safe and receive an education even in a context of potential Disasters and Risks. Andre, representative of the children of the world for disaster risk reduction, commented that children are the most vulnerable to disasters. Disasters have the capacity to violate the rights of children to education. He called for practical measures preventing the interruption of school in case of disasters. Education is the most effective tool to protect children and local communities.

Funding and investment: Several delegates or representatives recommended more stress on the crucial aspect of investment. The representative of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent insisted that developing adaptive capacity needs an increase in investment; and that new financing mechanisms are needed to support local action in favour of the most vulnerable populations. The representative from Gambia remarked that resources and financing mechanisms for reconstruction are very difficult to find, and that more funding should be directed to prevention. The Community representative from the Philippines assessed that about 10% of the budget allocated to DRR should be redirected to the local level in order to better support reconstruction and resilience. The representative from Brazil recommended highlighting that spending $1 now avoids spending $4 or 5 in the future. The Parliamentary group representative recommended securing further funding by collaborating more with the Private Sector. The representative of Munich Re Foundation mentioned funding for the implementation of early warning systems. Ms. Zoubida Allou stated that there is not necessarily a need for more money, but better investment of existing funds.

Private sector: Ms. Margareta Wahlström and Ms. Zoubida Allou both stressed the now very strong engagement of the Private Sector, in terms of providing funds and volunteering time. It is the first time that the Private Sector is joining the discussions of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and World Reconstruction Conference to such a large extent. The Private Sector is now expected to join the Global Platform as a key actor. It was also recommended by some delegates to work to integrate the Private Sector further in DRR, in order to strengthen partnerships and to secure funding. The representative of the Private Sector Advisory Group made strong recommendations and stated the Group Tasks, emphasizing the involvement of the Group members.

Science and technology: The delegate from the Russian Federation stressed the importance of scientific and technology and advocated a high level expert group dedicated to technology and sciences. Several delegates expressed some frustration about not having sufficient access to technology and stated their need of more support for advances in technology (Guatemala, Vanuatu). Objectives of the ISDR Scientific and Technical Committee as reported by its representative Prof. Virginia Murray, include to support the review of the status of science and technology in DRR, as well as to make science and technology more accessible, for instance by advancing DRR knowledge based on IPCC ISREX report, and by promoting best practice.

LIST OF KEYWORDS