Context

The ISDR secretariat in partnership with the World Bank is exploring the development of a global partnership of universities, academic institutions and research organizations for disaster risk reduction for community resilience to disasters with the support from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.

This initiative is based on the overarching goals of the Hyogo Framework of Action 2005-2015:
Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters (HFA): (a) the more effective integration of disaster risk considerations into sustainable development policies, planning and programming at all levels, with a special emphasis on disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and vulnerability reduction; and (b) the development and strengthening of institutions, mechanisms and capacities at all levels, in particular at the community level, that can systematically contribute to building resilience7 to hazards. The initiative is also linked with the Priority for Action 3: Use knowledge, innovation and education to build at culture of safety and resilience at all levels.

These goals can only be achieved by concerted collaboration at the global level. A global partnership of universities, academic institutions and research organizations for disaster risk reduction aims to reinforce the efforts of individual organizations and will provide a platform for sustained cooperation in research initiatives. Furthermore a partnership facilitates the exchange of information and experience the various institutions have. Participating universities, academic institutions or research organizations have the opportunity to share experience on good practices on how to translate scientific knowledge into practical policies. A global partnership could also facilitate the identification of gaps and critical issues, and couldl help to set priorities for further research.

The first meeting titled, “Building a Global Partnership of Universities, Academic Institutions and Research Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery” was jointly organized by the ISDR secretariat and the World Bank. The meeting took place in Geneva, on 13 December 2006 and was attended by 33 participants representing 16 different networks from universities and research centers of developing and developed countries, international organizations and agencies.

The participants explored the potentials of a global partnership; they discussed the expected mutual benefits (networking opportunities, access to faculties and programs of other universities), the modalities of collaboration (twinning arrangements), the areas of joint activities (research, curriculum development), and the schemes for sustainability (membership arrangements).

The meeting concluded with a roadmap to strengthen partnership through a mapping exercise to identify existing networks, their areas of work and how they could be linked. It was furthermore agreed that a workplan for the network needs to be developed, which will be shared with the participants. A small group of available participants met already right after the meeting starting to draft a workplan for the network, identifying the network’s possible outputs, task completion dates, and persons responsible for specific tasks such as: defining mapping criteria and data format for collection and eventual online posting, compiling an inventory of networks, mapping academic programmes, producing an interim report, developing a framework for a Global Partnership of Universities, Academic Institutions and Research for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Meeting: Building a Global Partnership of Universities, Academic Institutions and Research Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction”
13 December 2006, Geneva

For further information, please contact:
Carolin Schaerpf, schaerpf@un.org