Consultation: Global Capacity Development Strategy for Implementation of the Sendai Framework - Arab States

Background

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction has set ambitious targets for 2020 and 2030. Member States need significant levels of support to achieve and report on these targets.

A critical means to achieve the Sendai Framework targets is to ensure all investments, both in the public and the private sector, are risk informed. Achieving this will require a paradigm shift in the approach to capacity development. Current approaches will require rationalization to bring coherence in the capacity development work done by a variety of actors.

Business as usual does not address the challenge; there is no dearth of capacity development programmes but there is much scope for improvement in the delivery modalities based on a theory of change. Human behaviour needs to change to ensure risk informed sustainable development. Partners must work together to ensure capacity development programmes lead to sustainable capacities in the Member States.

An initial one-and-a-half hour consultation towards the development of a global capacity development strategy for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was organized and facilitated by the UNISDR as a consultative event during the 2017 Global Platform, on 23 May 2017, in Cancun, Mexico. It aimed to target up to thirty (30) disaster risk reduction stakeholders from national and local government, national training institutes and academia, nongovernmental organizations, UN and other relevant actors and experts. The event exceeded its seating capacity and brought together fifty-six (56) representatives, plus (8) eight UNISDR participants – an indicator of the high level of demand, interest and need for action in capacity development. An outcome of the initial event was the call for continued consultation, across all regions, during 2017. Follow-up one-and-a-half hour consultations have also been held with national government representatives from Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique (Africa), Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka (Asia), and with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Sudan (Arab States).

Consultation Purpose

Regional consultation will contribute to the development of a Global Capacity Development Strategy for Implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The two-day consultation will seek to:

• Understand the capacity development needs: highlighting overlaps, gaps and opportunities
• Consult on the most appropriate solutions to address the evolving needs
• Establish a way forward