As countries prepare to meet at the Third Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in less than two weeks, UN officials tell us why strengthening our resilience is essential if we want to achieve sustainable development.
“Protecting people’s health from the risk of emergencies and disasters is a social, economic and political necessity. Prevention and preparedness are the heart of public health. Risk management is our daily bread and butter. Disasters are considered, first and foremost, in terms of their health consequences. I am delighted that health has become a central focus on the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. We can reduce risks to public health from all hazards only when all countries and sectors are working together. Safe, functioning hospitals are essential for building the resilience of communities and countries. The World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction can help make that vision a reality.”
– World Health Organization Director-General Dr Margaret Chan
“While disasters may stem from natural hazards, their impact is based on whether we take actions to reduce the risk. The Hyogo Framework for Action has been an invaluable tool for countries as they work to reduce disaster risk and thereby take the necessary steps to prepare for the next storm, earthquake, or other disaster considerations, all of which will help advance sustainable development.”
– Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark
“Since time immemorial, people have lost their lives and homes to floods, wind storms, droughts, heatwaves, cold waves and storm surges. Fortunately, over the 10 years of the Hyogo Framework for Action we have made great progress in predicting the weather, communicating risk, building multi-hazard early warning systems, and strengthening climate and disaster resilience,”
– World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Michel Jarraud
“The Hyogo Framework for Action was crucial in focusing international attention and effort towards the reduction of disaster risk. The year ahead offers a unique opportunity to take this momentum to the next level – starting here in Sendai, and later in Addis Ababa and Paris. Through these defining development and climate negotiations, we can ensure that resilience is fully integrated in the post-2015 development framework. At the World Bank Group we know that, in a world where we have already locked in warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, resilience and development are inextricably linked. We are committed to working with governments and other partners to both finance and bring scale to resilience in the world’s most vulnerable communities.”
– Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank Group Rachel Kyte
“Over the last years, the Hyogo Framework for Action has been instrumental in guiding and coordinating risk reduction efforts of stakeholders at all levels. With complex global challenges awaiting an increasingly mobile and interconnected world over the next decades, the HFA2 will allow all of us to renew our commitments around new, ambitious resilience building objectives, and lead our collective efforts towards more sustainable human development.”
– International Organization for Migration Director General William Swing
See more details on the conference in our calendar.