UN Secretary-General urges for PPP in disaster risk reduction
by Maynard E. Valdez
Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges member-States and organizations to scale up their financial, human and technology investments for disaster risk reduction, including the development of private and public sector partnerships (PPP).
"I encourage a commitment from donors and developing countries to focus more clearly on supporting local and community resilience in their programming, using creative solutions and innovations and through stronger collaborations as part of their aid effectiveness," he said.
The UN General Assembly will take action on over 150 critical items including a report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
In his report, the Secretary-General recommended that national disaster loss inventory, disaster risk mapping and financial tracking systems be established and further developed to effectively support future development planning and investment choices.
Stressing that effective risk reduction can only take place when local governments and their communities are effectively part of the process, he underscored both the need for the appropriate authority as well as human and financial capacity to participate in defining national risk management.
Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, believes the inclusion of the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the sustainable development discourse is timely and appropriate.
"We have been asking for this the longest time and it still has to happen concretely.Why? We see what disasters are doing to the development progress. They destroy precious gains, particularly in the area of poverty reduction. I think the writing is on the wall is clear- in this day and age, if we don't seriously factor in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation then it is really futile about advancing sustainable development in any real terms", according to Wahlstrom.
Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly designated October 13 as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
With regard to the Pacific region, the 2011 Pacific Regional International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) event will be celebrated in Suva, Fiji, as a joint initiative of the United Nations, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), Pacific Conference of Churches and other regional and national stakeholders and partners who are working in the fields of disaster risk reduction, climate change, children and youth in the Pacific.
The theme will be Cities and Climate Change in co-observance with the World Habitat Day 2011. (WLB/MEV/PIA-Nueva Ecija)