ARISE UAE Organizes CEOs Symposium for Business Resilience
Led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Ms. Mami Mizutori, the UAE National Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE) organized CEOs Symposium for Business Resilience on October 14, 2020, in cooperation with the UNDRR Arab Region (ROAS).
The Symposium was attended by a group of CEOs from the region and Dr. Dena Assaf, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for the United Arab Emirates who reflected on the corporate engagement for resilient business in the UAE and expressed her support to enhance the ARISE UAE engagement on a national level.
“We are keen to identify considerations for risk-sensitive investments in the Arab States region and today we are calling for new opportunities for partnerships between the public and private sector in managing risk in a way that strengthens disaster risk governance.” Said Ms. Mizutori.
The CEOs symposium is further evidence of the growing momentum for private sector involvement in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan to reduce disaster losses which were adopted five years ago and business leaders and CEOs called for action and commitment in line with ARISE commitments to raise awareness with respect to disaster risk and mobilization of the private sector; influence in respective spheres of expertise, share knowledge and good practices amongst the private sector, became a catalyst to generate innovation and collaboration in developing risk-informed business strategies, in addition, to implement projects and activities to achieve the targets of the Sendai Framework.
The symposium aimed at increasing the outreach to business leaders, highlighting the role of the private sector in disaster risk reduction (DRR), with a focus on the strong contributions that can be made by private businesses across sectors, identified considerations for risk-sensitive investments in the UAE and the Arab States region, highlighted the need and the positive role of business continuity plans and their impact on the economy. Also, defined the role of the private sector ranging from Micro-to-Macro enterprises that must improve managing risk and avoid creating new risk by systematically reducing existing risk.
This business resilience dialogue reflected on how we can strengthen the capacity of people, communities, countries, and systems to anticipate, withstand and recover better from shocks and stresses and transform through crises and gained from engaging CEOs from a multi-disciplinary business sector to create the much-needed awareness and commitment of action through the CEOs network in UAE and in the region.