Geneva – FAO and UNDP join-forced with the CADRI Secretariat to organize a side event on “Do’s and don’ts on disaster risk reduction strategy development” at the Sixth Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction.

The event was chaired by H.E. Makeda Antoine-Cambridge, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. At the opening session, Ms Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva informed that climate variability and extremes are among the key drivers for the rise of hunger. She further emphasized that “efforts to anticipate and reduce risks need to be accelerated to further build the capacities of countries to better prepare for and absorb shocks or mitigate their impacts. National DRR strategies are needed to allow state and non-state institutions at all levels (national to local) to better understand risks, prioritize investment, and strengthen implementation capabilities for resilience building”.

UNDP Director, Maria Luisa Silva reiterated UNDP’s commitment in the CADRI Partnership and viewed CADRI as a flagship initiative to operationalize the UN Reform on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. She added, “We (CADRI Partners) have a vision for CADRI as a multi-partner mechanism that delivers coordinated, joined-up capacity development support to risk-inform the SDG implementation at country level”.

Country representatives from Serbia and Georgia joined the panel in sharing their insights on how national and local DRR strategies are designed, developed and implemented in their respective country with the support from the CADRI Partnership.

Discussions were held on various issues such as progress made towards the achievement of Sendai Global Target E (substantial increase in the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020). Participants shared experiences and key lessons learned in developing and implementing national or local DRR strategies. These include, among others, nationally-led and inclusive processes including multi-sectoral dialogistic of capacities in DRR; national ownership and leadership; coherence and coordination within and across levels and sectors; the role of civil society and non-governmental organizations as well as the private sector in support of capacity development.

The event was also an opportunity for the CADRI Secretariat to share a decade of CADRI experiences in supporting more than 29 countries on DRR capacity development and inform the participants of the new offers of services in DRR and climate change adaptation capacity development.

For more information on CADRI please visit www.cadri.net

The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is a biennial multi-stakeholder forum established by the UN General Assembly to review progress, share knowledge and discuss the latest developments and trends in reducing disaster risk. The 2019 GPDRR takes place in Geneva from the 15 to 17 May 2019, with preparatory and consultation days on 13-14 May, mostly at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG).