Country teams in West and North Africa to consider integrating disaster risk reduction in development frameworks

16 September 2010

Sixteen UN country teams in West and North Africa examine ways to integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change into development frameworks

Geneva – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the ISDR secretariat at the United Nations (ISDR secretariat), and the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) convened a joint a workshop in Dakar, Senegal, where over 40 participants from 16 countries in West and North Africa discussed how disaster risk reduction could be integrated into the joint UN development programming framework of their respective countries. Participants also examined issues related to climate change.

Among other things, they discussed how to support the integration of disaster risk reduction measures in the United Nations development framework.
“The recent food crisis in Niger and floods in Ghana and Senegal reflect how vulnerable people in West Africa are to disaster and climate change,” said John Harding, Head of ISDR’s Policies and Practices Unit, who spoke at the workshop. “It is heartening that the United Nations and UNDP in particular is taking this issue to heart as part of development assistance.”

He explained that participants were expected to brief their respective country teams on how natural disasters, climate change and other cross-cutting themes interact and affect development. The training took place from 17 to 20 August 2010 and was organized at the request of the UN country teams from the 16 countries.