Remarks by SRSG Mizutori: : 3rd Multi-hazard Early Warning Conference – Reception to celebrate achievements to strengthen early warning systems in LDCs and SIDS

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to this evening’s reception. Tonight, we celebrate the progress of LDCs and SIDS in strengthening early warning systems. I am pleased to see so many of you here tonight.

I would like to acknowledge all the Ministers, government representatives as well as senior UN officials for being here this evening. Thank you for being strong supporters of the disaster risk reduction agenda and for acknowledging it as key to achieving sustainable development.

My special appreciation goes to the Government of Indonesia, represented by Ms Dwikorita Karnawati, Director, Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG). Thank you for a successful Early Warning Conference and warm welcome here in Bali. In April, I was fortunate enough to visit both an evacuation drill and the emergency command centre, so I was able to see first-hand, the life-saving work that you are doing.

I would also like to recognise the continued support of the CREWS contributors - Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  You have given us a great example of how smart investments can support countries and regions in building strong and sustainable early warning systems. Finally, I would like to thank the European Union for their additional financial commitment to the CREWS initiative.  

Early warnings are an essential part of disaster risk reduction, but systems need to be in place for them to be effective and actionable. The CREWS initiative does just that – it helps us advance early warning and early action. UNDRR is a proud partner of the CREWS initiative, working hand-in-hand with colleagues from the World Meteorological Organization, the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. 

Building on complementarities and strong partnerships, UNDRR has considerably scaled-up its engagement and support to LDCs and SIDS. Tangible and quantifiable results of this work are reflected in the 2021 CREWS Annual report, which I invite you to read.

Tonight’s reception celebrates the achievements of the Early Warning Conference. The work we have done over the past two days will add an important contribution to the 2022 Global Platform. 

It will also provide momentum for what is to come, specifically efforts called for by the Secretary-General to provide early warning systems for all within the next five years. UNDRR looks forward to working with WMO and other partners on this exciting life and loss-saving initiative.

Progress will be measured through the Sendai Targets, specifically Target G, which is dedicated to strengthening Multi-hazard Early Warning systems.

I encourage you to continue the exchanges started during the Early Warning Conference and I look forward to working with you over the coming days to jointly move the disaster risk agenda forward. Tomorrow morning, the 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction officially begins. I hope to see you all at the official opening ceremony.

Thank you and please enjoy the rest of the evening.