Southern Africa Society for Disaster Reduction
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SASDiR is a community of practice for disaster risk reduction within the regional context of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The field of disaster risk reduction has been growing exponentially world-wide in the last 20 years. Within the SADC context a number of civil society organisations, academic and research institutions and national governments have take initiatives in making disaster risk reduction a policy priority.. Since the declaration of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and the Africa Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Policy and Plan of Action (ARDDRP), a number of national disaster risk reduction platforms have been established and some inter-state coordination has been taking place facilitated by the SADC Disaster Risk Reduction Unit. Yet, very little formal intra-regional linkages and cooperation exist within the SADC region which includes non-traditional disaster reduction actors. The field of disaster risk reduction covers many disciplines and many professional constituencies. It is very difficult to impossible to link only one career path to disaster risk reduction. This society believes that we as Africans have the skills, knowledge and competencies to take ownership of our shared disaster risk profile and have the know how for finding workable African centred solutions to our pressing disaster risk issues. The society therefore is open for any individual, organisation or government department which identifies themselves with disaster risk reduction, the HFA and the ARDDRP, and contributes to lessening the impacts of hazards on vulnerable conditions within SADC communities, which could lead to disasters.
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.