Global Platform 2019

SRSG CLOSING REMARKS – 2019 GLOBAL PLATFORM

Closing session: 17.15 – 17.45

17 May 2019

Your Excellency, fellow co-chair Mr Manuel Sager, Secretary of State for
Switzerland and
Ms. Marwa Elmenshawy, Representative of the UNDRR stakeholder
engagement mechanism

Distinguished delegates,

On behalf of us all, I would like to express our deep gratitude to the government and people of Switzerland for making us feel so welcome over this last week at the Global Platform 2019.

Geneva has risen to the occasion: school children have engaged in learning about tsunamis, young people have shared their ideas on social media and in youth hackathons, an exhibition on the shores of Lac Lehman has depicted the links between disaster risk and displacement, even the buses and trams are carrying challenging messages, calling people to action. I thank the Canton and the Mayor and City of Geneva for their support.

I would also like to thank our partners who organized the successful preparatory day events including the World Bank, the World Meteorological Organization, UNDP, OHRLLS, the International Science Council and our many stakeholders.

I also extend my deep appreciation to you for your wholehearted participation throughout the week.

And I ask you now to please join me in a round of applause for the hard-working interpreters, ICV and Red Cross volunteers, CICG staff and UNDRR staff who made this such an accessible and well-run event.

This was my first Global Platform experience and there has not been a moment during the week when I have not felt energized and compelled by the discussions I have listened to and participated in.

Some 4,000 people have attended in one capacity or another. We have had representation from more than 180 governments and hundreds of civil society organizations and more than 120 people living with disability.

Ensuring the Resilience Dividend has been the common thread running through our discussions as we seek to accelerate implementation - inclusively of the Sendai Framework and achieve the seven targets by 2030. This is critical if we are to reduce the numbers of people affected by disasters, in the same way that we have been able to make substantive progress on reducing mortality.

We heard this week in the Working Session on Sendai Framework Implementation that 116 countries are now reporting data against the seven targets.

However, as noted in the Chair’s Summary, the current pace of implementation is not fast enough to meet the 2020 deadline for target (e) which requires a substantial increase in the number of national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction. This is a serious cause for concern.

This week we also launched the 2019 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction – GAR2019 - and it sends out a clear message that risk is complex and systemic. It exacerbates inequality and preys on the vulnerable.

There is little doubt that we must accelerate our efforts and raise our level of ambition. The work of disaster risk reduction is vital to the overall success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We must go out from this Global Platform more convinced than ever that our cause is just and right, and raise our level of ambition to meet the challenge.

This now concludes the sixth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

I wish you safe travels back home and thank you.