Managing risk and addressing disaster displacement: Challenges, effective practices and solutions in the Asia
Virtual Regional Consultation on Disaster Displacement - 19 November 2020 at 14:00-16:30 BKK time
Forced displacement related to disasters, including the adverse effects of climate change, poses some of the biggest human rights, humanitarian and development challenges facing States and the international community in the 21st century. Notably, more than 80 percent of documented disaster displacement between 2008 and 2019 occurred in Asia and the Pacific, making it a particularly salient issue for the region. An increasing number of people in the region are compelled to move or are displaced because of slow-onset events, such as the effects of sea level rise, desertification and environmental degradation linked to the adverse effects of climate change. Countries will increasingly experience the limitations of current climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts, leading to both more severe and a greater number of disasters and in response, more displacement.
In light of the breadth, range and innovative experiences of States within Asia-Pacific in preventing, responding to and resolving displacement from both rapid and slow-onset disasters, it is critical that the perspectives of this region on disaster displacement are presented to the High Level Panel on Internal Displacement to support its recommendations.
This exchange has the following main objectives:
1. To formulate new ideas and recommendations that can inform the deliberations of the High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
2. To provide a platform for regional actors to share multi-stakeholder good practices and lessons learned on how to better prevent, respond to and resolve internal displacement in the context of disasters, including the adverse effects of climate change, and strengthen the resilience of the displaced and host communities; and
3. To discuss key challenges to and gaps in current responses and identify opportunities to strengthen and expand actions that prevent and resolve disaster displacement and improve the achievement of durable solutions.
The regional virtual exchange will be a 2.5 hour online meeting. Governmental officials from Bangladesh, Mongolia and the Philippines will share their experience and participate in a discussion on lessons learned and recommendations. Other representatives of the member states across Asia will also be invited to participate in the event by making presentations. The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Cecilia Jimenez, will moderate the discussion. Other speakers will include Professor Walter Kaelin, Envoy of the Chair of the Platform of Disaster Displacement (PDD) and by a member of the High Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
Panellists/Speakers (as of November 13 2020):
| Ms. Cecilia Jimenez | Mr. Cliff Cyril Y. Riveral | |
| UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons | Director of Disaster Response, Management Bureau | |
| (Moderator) | Department of Social Welfare and Development | |
| Republic of the Philippines | ||
| Ms. Nenette Motus | Mr. Suprayoga Hadi | |
| Regional Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific | Primary Planner at the Deputy Minister for Regional Development | |
| International Organization for Migration | Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS | |
| Republic of Indonesia | ||
| Ms. Sima Samar | Major General Sudantha Ranasighe | |
| Special Envoy of the President and State Minister for Human Rights and International Affairs | Director General of Disaster Management Centre (DMC) | |
| Member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement | Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | |
| Islamic Republic of Afghanistan | ||
| Mr. Walter Kaelin | Mr. Mohammad Qaseem Haidari | |
| Envoy of the Chair of Platform of Disaster Displacement (PDD) and High Level Panel on Internal Displacement(HLP) | Deputy Minister for Policy, Coordination, and Planning | |
| Professor emeritus, University of Bern, Switzerland | State Ministry for Disaster Management and Humanitarian affairs /ANDMA | |
| Islamic Republic of Afghanistan | ||
| Ms. Sayanaa Lkhagvasuren | Ms. Loretta Hieber-Girardet | |
| Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister | Chief, Supporting and Monitoring Sendai Framework Implementation Branch | |
| Mongolia | UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction | |
| Mr. Md Mohsin | ||
| Secretary | ||
| Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief | ||
| People's Republic of Bangladesh |
Main Organizers:
The Regional Disaster Displacement Working Group for Asia and the Pacific (DDWG) co-chaired by IOM and UNDRR Regional Office for the Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), the GP20 Initiative on internal displacement, IFRC, UNDP, and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute.