3rd Asian ministerial conference on disaster risk reduction
Multi-stakeholders partnership for disaster risk reduction from national to local
The Asia-Pacific region, home to 61 per cent of the world's population, experiences a disproportionate share of loss of life and impact to socio-economic development. Over 70 per cent of all lives lost due to disasters occur within the Asia Pacific region and among the 10 most affected countries in the world in 2006 in terms of economic impacts, seven are from this region.
In view of the increasing vulnerability of the Asia and Pacific region to disasters, disaster risk reduction appears as the unique long-term viable solution to reduce the impact of disasters and build the resilience of communities and nations to disasters. Asian Ministerial Conferences therefore represent unique high-level foras where Governments can reaffirm their commitment to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and exchange practical ways to implement effectively disaster risk reduction at the national and local levels towards sustainable development.
The Asian Ministerial Conferences on Disaster Risk Reduction, that are being organized every two years since 2005 at Governments’ initiative, represent unique opportunities for Ministers in charge of disaster management from the Asia and Pacific region, to reaffirm their commitment to HFA implementation and to exchange valuable experiences on successful practices and innovative approaches in implementing HFA’s five priorities for action at the national and local levels.
The First Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, organized by the Government of China (Beijing, September 2005) adopted the Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction to promote the newly-adopted HFA and to seek Asian Governments commitment and actions to implement disaster risk reduction, including through the strengthening of existing key regional cooperation mechanisms. The Second Conference (India, November 2007) reaffirmed Governments’ commitment to HFA and agreed to expand further the biennial Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction as the Regional Platform with participation of the National Governments, regional and sub-regional organisations, UN Agencies, IFIs and other Stake holders including the civil society, scientific and technical organizations, the private sector and the media.
The overarching theme of the Conference is “Multi-stakeholder Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia and Pacific region”, with a particular focus on Public Private Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction and community-based disaster risk reduction activities.
The Conference is expected to be attended by Ministers in charge of Disaster Risk Reduction/ Disaster Management and other high-level Government representatives from Asia and the Pacific Island Countries throughout the Ministerial Conference, including at High-Level Roundtable Discussions.
Other key partners include senior Government representatives engaged in disaster risk reduction in their respective country, together with disaster risk reduction experts and practitioners, scientists, representatives from the civil society, NGOs, academic institutions, UN Agencies and regional organisations, the donor community and the media.
The overarching theme of the Conference is “Multi-stakeholder Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia and Pacific region”, with a particular focus on Public Private Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction and community-based disaster risk reduction activities.