SRSG Mizutori's remarks at IDDR- High-Level Dialogue on International Cooperation to Scaleup Financing for DRR: Build Back Better

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction Commemoration @ Expo 2020 Dubai

High-Level Dialogue on International Cooperation to Scaleup Financing for DRR: Build Back Better

Remarks by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori

Wednesday 13 October 2021 | 13:00 – 14:45 Dubai time

Esteemed Senator. Adel EL-Lamei,

Esteemed speakers and participants,

I am very pleased to contribute to this celebration of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab Region and especially in Dubai, a city that reflects the United Arab Emirates’ commitment towards disaster risk reduction and the importance of urban resilience for the well-being of citizens.

International cooperation to developing countries to support their implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk is the focus of this year’s International Day.

The Sendai Framework is the global blueprint adopted in 2015 by all UN Member States including the United Arab Emirates to reduce disaster losses and disaster risk.

Enhancing international cooperation is one of the seven global targets of the Sendai Framework, and now is an excellent moment to reflect on this target when the world is trying to cope with planetary emergencies triggered by risk drivers such as global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, drought and desertification, and increasing poverty in all parts of the globe.

The world is fast approaching the stage when the impacts of systemic risk and disasters could surpass our ability to manage them.

The low level of investment in prevention, in disaster risk management, in early warning and early action, is evident from the fact that there have been almost 5 million deaths from a pandemic which could have been mitigated if we had acted on the warnings. A disaster, that could have been prevented with an investment of billions is now costing trillions.

International cooperation to developing countries can come in many forms.

The climate emergency is at the forefront of all our minds as preparations continue for COP26.

Low and middle-income countries will continue to bear the brunt of disaster losses, unless more is done to build their capacity, provide technical support and finance for their efforts to adapt to climate change. And at the end, only a steep reduction in greenhouse gas emissions can truly prevent a devastating climate catastrophe.

The Arab region is prone to a wide range of hazards, some of which are amplified and affected by climate change. During the past 30 years, the region was affected by more than 270 disasters, resulting in more than 150,000 deaths, and affecting 10 million people.

Direct economic losses are also significant, amounting to at least $59 billion in recorded losses, but the true figure is much higher, as less than half of Arab countries have national disaster loss databases that are regularly updated.

This is unfortunate as it is really not possible to manage what you are not measuring. It is difficult for policymakers and governments to decide on risk-informed investments if they are not tracking their disaster losses and identifying weak points in critical infrastructure and geographical locations.

One form of international cooperation that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction provides, is our support to countries for developing and maintaining these disaster loss databases. They provide a solid foundation for strengthening risk governance, and are key to developing robust national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction.

We believe that risk can be reduced. We believe that we can avoid the creation of new risk. We believe that natural and man-made hazards do not have to become terrible disasters resulting  in great loss of life, livelihood and economy.

We know that every $1 invested in risk reduction and prevention can save up to $15 in post-disaster recovery, and that every $1 invested in making infrastructure disaster-resilient saves $4 in reconstruction.

We know that just 24 hours warning of a coming storm or heatwave can cut the damage by 30 percent.

These are the evidence that we need to base our policies on so that they become risk-informed.

The Arab Region has solid foundations on which to build disaster resilience for the challenges that the climate emergency and the next pandemic will bring.

I would like to draw your attention to a very important milestone for the implementation of the Sendai Framework that we have just  now started the process of the mid-term review of the Framework.

And allow me to urge all countries in the Arab region to start your participatory and inclusive national review on the implementation of the Sendai Framework to be part of this process.

This process itself will accelerate the  implementation of the Sendai Framework in the Arab region through many different conduits.

By reviewing and revising your national and local disaster risk reduction plans, they will become aligned  with the targets, priorities, and guiding principles of the Sendai Framework.

By making your national consultations inclusive, you will be able to engage groups that may be vulnerable or outside the mainstream of society, including women and girls, older persons, persons living with disabilities, migrants, ethnic and religious minorities.

A key element of the mid-term review process must be to build on the lessons learned from the pandemic. The United Arab Emirates has a lot of experience in this area that can be shared with other countries at the next Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. The Global Platform and the Arab Regional Platform, which will be hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco next month, are crucial opportunities to inform the MTR process.

In celebrating the International Day for DRR, I started this morning celebrating women’s leadership for DRR in the Asia-Pacific region, then I joined an event at the AU pavilion where we focused on the importance of multi-hazard early warning systems to save lives and livelihoods. After this important high level event, I will join a debate on building resilience in European Cities and regions.

There are many more events taking place across the globe to commemorate the International Day for DRR, and to advocate urgently for prevention and resilience against so many risk drivers. We are in this all together and  only together through enhanced international cooperation can we get out of this.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you.

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