The Third Session of the Global Platform is based on multi-stakeholder participation with various mechanisms established to engage diverse constituencies in the preparatory process.

The Global Platform is informed by new evidence provided by the Global Assessment Report and the findings of the economics study recently completed by the World Bank and the United Nations. The Third Session builds on previous commitments and the purposeful approach of past Global and Regional Platforms by bringing leaders and opinion makers together with practitioners and experts. Priorities will be set and commitment to reducing disaster risk in our communities will be strengthened.

In 2011, we actively reached out to a new and diverse range of leaders from the private sector, local government and civil society to stimulate commitment and investment in prevention. The Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework, the outcomes of climate change negotiations and other priorities established through the ongoing review of the Millennium Development Goals offer additional guidance in setting DRR priorities for the coming two years.

The Global Platform attracted more than 2,000 participants from governments, civil society, NGOS, private sector, international organizations, regional bodies, and academia. A particular innovation for the Third Session will be the integration of the World Reconstruction Conference.

The Platform format includes plenary sessions, round tables, interactive dialogue, side events, special events (like the Sasakawa Award, launch of the Global Assessment Report), media events, and a marketplace.

The opening ceremony and high level events commence on Tuesday 10 May. The first two days, Sunday 8 May and Monday 9 May, are planned for preparatory sessions, side events, related meetings and work groups.

The benchmarks set out in the Chair's Summary of the Second Session of the Global Platform-2009 serve as basis for the agenda of the 2011 session. It focused on five main areas:

1.-To urgently harmonize the frameworks for both disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the broader context of poverty reduction and sustainable development;

2.- To reduce risk at the community and local levels, through collaborative partnerships based on recognition of the mutual dependence of central and local governments and civil society actors and the promotion of the role of women as drivers of action, with special consideration to youth and children's roles;

3.- To move from isolated actions and pilot projects to full implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, the Global Platform proposed targets in specific areas. Among these were national assessments of the safety of existing education and health facilities to be undertaken by 2011 and concrete action plans for safer schools and hospitals be developed and implemented in all disaster-prone countries by 2015.

4.- To scale-up action and funding from national budgets and international sources with significant support for targeting the equivalent of 10 per cent of humanitarian relief and recovery expenditure, and at least 1 per cent of all national development and development assistance funding to risk reduction measures, as well as starting to measure the effectiveness of investment in risk reduction.

5.- The Global Platform acknowledged the important role of the Strategy system in supporting Governments and civil society organizations, and considered that the planned Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action would require ownership on the part of Governments, the close involvement of civil society, and strengthened regional capacities for coordination and support.

Outcomes establish direction and focus, advance local and national implementation, and introduce new investments and commitments. Throughout, the design of the Global Platform provides a model for substantive, multi-stakeholder dialogue with sessions designed to foster interactivity and partnership-building among stakeholder groups.

> HFA Mid-Term Review
> HFA Progress Reports
> Chair's Summary from the Global Platform 2009
> Proceedings from Global Platform 2009
> United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/62/192)