Asian Ministerial Conference on DRR
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 10:07:00 GMT
GDRC's Professors Richard Haigh and Dilanthi Amaratunga were organisers of several key sessions at the Asian Ministerial Conference on DRR 2016 (AMCDRR), held from 02 – 05 November 2016 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India. This first Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction after the advent of the Sendai Framework was hosted by the Government of India in November 2016 under the theme “Risk Sensitive Development for Community Resilience” and was organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with UNISDR and with the support from International and National Development Partners.
Photos above: AMCDRR was inaugurated by the Hon. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi
Professor Richard Haigh led a Thematic Session on: Development of Sendai Framework “Words into Action” Implementation Guides - Working Group on DRR Governance and Accountability”. Other collaborated were: University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; DeSHARI Consortium (A consortium of four leading INGOs in Bangladesh working on Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Response including Action Contre la Faim, Christian Aid, DanChurch Aid & Muslim Aid, Bangladesh); Farmers’ Voice, Bangladesh; Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA), India, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA), India; CDM, LBSNAA, Mussoorie, India; AIDMI, India
Photo: Prof. Richard Haigh chaired the thematic Session
Photos: (above and below) Section of the 100+ participants
Session objectives included:
- Obtain consensus on a conceptual framework for disaster risk governance that will form the basis of the Sendai Framework “Words into Action” Implementation Guides Working Group on DRR Governance and Accountability
- Share and gain input from local examples and cases towards developing a practical guide on DRR governance and accountability, to help countries and partners to move ahead with the implementation of the Sendai Framework
Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga, as part of this Thematic Session, briefed the participants about the Words into Action – Sendai Framework’s implementation guide.
Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga was also a panellist at the Technical Session 2 – Disaster Risk Governance. This panel provided direct input to Delhi Declaration Asia Regional Plan for Implementation of Sendai Framework representing the DRR Governance and Accountability Panel.
Photos: (above and below): Technical Session on Disaster Risk Governance
Some of the key messages towards the Asia Regional Plan in strengthening Local Governance and Local Disaster Management Plan included:
- The sub national authorities should improve engagement with multiple stakeholders, reaching out through formal and non-formal methods of communication.
- The SFDRR priorities should be utilized to create a forum where both government and non-government actors can contribute and learn about disaster management.
- Governments should engage private entities to provide a comprehensive disaster management plan. Private entities should be incentivized to contribute in both the construction and response stage.
- A legal framework to support local and national government must be fully developed to close the gap between theory and practice.
This panel was chaired by H.E. Saber Chowdhury, Member of Parliament, Bangladesh, 28th President of IPU, Co-Chair of UNISDR Asia Advisory Group of Parliamentarians for DRR. Other panellists included Her Excellency Isabel Amaral Guterres, Minister, Ministry of Social Solidarity, Timor-Leste, Prof. Chandrashekhar, Hon. Minister, Disaster Management Department, Government of Bihar, India and Prof. Ali Ardalan, Advisor to Deputy Minister and Head of National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Iran.
The AMCDRR is an established regional mechanism for disaster risk reduction and serves as a forum for stakeholders to take a shared responsibility and make actionable commitments towards implementation of DRR in the Asia region through the exchange of experiences on successful practices and innovative
approaches in reducing and managing disaster risk.
The objectives of the AMCDRR 2016 conference included:
- Transforming the commitment of governments and stakeholders made in Sendai during the WCDRR into national and local action.
- Setting the direction to accelerate regional implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework
The expected outcome of the conference will be the following:
- A political declaration – consolidating the political commitment of governments towards preventing and reducing risk as well as strengthening resilience by accelerating implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework in the region.
- ‘Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework’ – a plan endorsed by the countries for the Asian region.
- Stakeholder action statements – voluntary statements of action of stakeholder groups towards a ‘shared responsibility’ approach in implementation of the Sendai Framework.
