Workshop on the National Implementation of the Sendai Framework: Development of Risk Reduction Strategies and Plans in the Maldives

Organizer(s) National Disaster Management Centre (Maldives) United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Office in Incheon for Northeast Asia and Global Education and Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction

Format

In person

Date

7 March 2017 - 9 March 2017

Purpose

The overall purpose of this National Implementation of the Sendai Framework: Development of Risk Reduction Strategies and Plans workshop is to strengthen understanding of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in coherence with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the particular the role of states together with other relevant stakeholders in developing national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.

Small Island Development States and the Maldives

In 2014, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action [SAMOA] Pathway, the outcome of the the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, 1-4 September 2014, Samoa, had already asserted SIDS’, inlcuding the Maldives’, commitment to disaster risk reduction:

We recognize that small island developing States continue to grapple with the effects of disasters, some of which have increased in intensity and some of which have been exacerbated by climate change, which impede their progress towards sustainable development. We also recognize that disasters can disproportionately affect small island developing States and that there is a critical need to build resilience, strengthen monitoring and prevention, reduce vulnerability, raise awareness and increase preparedness to respond to and recover from disasters.

Indeed, the Sendai Framework asserts that “given the special case of small island developing States, there is a critical need to build resilience and to provide particular support through the implementation of the SAMOA Pathway.”

The Maldives reaffirmed the nation’s commitment and requirement for coherent disaster risk reduction implementation and climate change action, also on behalf of the Alliance on Small Island States (AOSIS), in an official statement made by His Excellency Thoriq Ibrahim, Minister of Environment and Energy, Maldives, at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai, Japan, March 2015. In his statement, he affirmed that “SIDS cannot think of disaster risk reduction in isolation from climate change”, citing the IPCC warning of increased and more severe weather events as a result of climate change. He asserted that “impacts from disasters go beyond direct deaths, and have wider and disproportionate implications on socio-economic order in SIDS – affecting the livelihood and the well-being of our people.”

Objectives:

Overall, the training course will provide an opportunity to:

Better understand concepts and global trends in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation
Understand the Sendai Framework and overall requirements for implementation at national and local level in coherence with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement
Understand how to develop a draft national DRR action plan towards the alignment of current plans against the Sendai Framework – in particular towards the achievement of target (e) by 2020
Plan the way forward: scaling up capacity development on Sendai Framework implementation and aligning plans and strategies with the Sendai Framework

Expected Outcomes

Participants better understand the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, in particular, its expected outcome and goal, priorities for action, global targets, and the role of States and other relevant stakeholders
Participants understand the core recommended components of supporting national implementation of the Sendai Framework – in particular, towards the achievement of target (e) by 2020
Participants understand the UNISDR tools available for Sendai Framework implementation assessment at national levels and use them to identify implementation gaps and opportunities for action planning
Participants become familiar with disaster risk reduction case studies to highlight and inspire implementation mechanisms by Sendai Priority for Action
Participants understand how to develop a draft action plan with SMART indicators and objectives based on identified gaps, towards the alignment of current national and local plans with Sendai Framework by 2020
Participants are equipped to plan the way forward– in particular, towards the achievement of target (e) by 2020