5 June 2014

Pacific calls for “whole-of-society” engagement

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Sub-Regional Office for the Pacific

SUVA, 5 June 2014 – The 6th Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management closed yesterday with a call for strengthened action to prevent risk accumulation and to build resilience.

The Meeting Statement at the end of the region’s sixth such platform, entitled ‘Way Forward: Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the Pacific’, said “whole-of-society” engagement and leadership was required to reduce disaster risk.

The Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in the Pacific, Mr. Timothy Wilcox, said the region’s input would be a boost to preparations for the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, in March 2015.

“I am delighted that the closing Meeting Statement has a strong emphasis on inclusivity for important actors, such as youth and the private sector. Both are set to be key partners in the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,” Mr. Wilcox said.

In closing the Pacific Platform, Prof Mike Patterson, Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology Division, said: “This Platform has shown the Pacific has a strong regional movement in climate and disaster resilient development that is underpinned by mature thinking. We are also humble enough to learn lessons on the ground, which is where it counts.”

The Meeting Statement encourages the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction “to link where appropriate with the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Climate Change Agreements to strengthen coherence and mutual reinforcement of international mechanisms”.

It also requests UNISDR to “convene regional collaborations to enhance the monitoring and review mechanism of disaster risk reduction, including indicators, as well as a process for review of the terminology and to explore with Pacific countries and regional organisations the best modalities for regional cooperation, coordination with development partners, to implement and periodically review the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction”.

The Pacific Platform was co-organised by UNISDR and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). In September the region plays host to the 3rd UN Small Islands Developing States conference, which will be held in Samoa.