First session of the regional platform for disaster risk reduction in the Americas

Almost two years after the first meeting of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and just months before its second session, a meeting will be held in Panama City, Panama that looks to bridge the gap between the Global Platform and the National Platforms in the region of the Americas, with the purpose of establishing a formal multi-stakeholder mechanism at the hemispheric level.  The Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas is therefore expected to become the main regional forum for all parties involved in disaster risk reduction and the ISDR system, namely the Governments of the 35 sovereign States, United Nations agencies, international financial institutions, regional bodies, civil society, the private sector, and the scientific and academic communities. In keeping with the goals of the Global Platform, the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas is intended to serve as the overarching and permanent forum for the exchange of information and knowledge, and the coordination of efforts throughout the region, for providing advocacy for effective action to reduce disasters, for expanding the political space devoted to the issue, and for contributing to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.