UNDRR News

Some 30 countries from the Americas and the Caribbean ended a key conference on disaster risk – which drew a record attendance – with a pledge to step up action to prevent and better manage disasters.

Ministers and senior officials from the Americas and the Caribbean pledged to make their countries more resistant to hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes or pandemics, and renewed their vow to achieve the goals of the Sendai Framework.

The Covid pandemic underlines why effective action on disaster prevention and management must embrace all sectors of society and involve national and international actors, a conference on risk reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean was told.

The Covid pandemic recovery provides a chance to implement green and sustainable economic and social policies, but it is far from certain that governments will seize the opportunity, the VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction heard today.

“In hosting what is now a virtual gathering we are already demonstrating the indispensable qualities of partnership and determination as we live through the most pressing disaster of our times,” Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a video address to the opening ceremony of the Vll Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean.

With the adherence of all municipal corporations to MCR2030, Jamaica shows its commitment to achieving a sustainable and resilient future.

“I am very encouraged that the private sector is leading in so many ways,” Mami Mizutor, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction,i told a closing session of the ARISE Forum – Americas and the Caribbean, in advance of next week’s VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by the Government of Jamaica.

Journalists from across the Americas region were urged to spread the word that natural hazards such as earthquakes and tornadoes may be impossible to stop but that there is nothing inevitable about the loss of life and economic damage they inflict.

The Youth Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction - The Americas and the Caribbean was an opportunity for some of the region’s 106 million young people to share priorities, concerns and make proposals over four hours of presentations, plenary sessions and panels. The online gathering was held a week before representatives of governments and civil society meet, again virtually, for the VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Despite the deep scars left by the crisis, countries now have a fresh focus on health, resilience and regionalism plus a chance to fully incorporate disaster risk reduction into their recovery.