Inaugural meeting of high-level working group to discuss the way forward for reducing disaster risk in Africa

Nairobi, Kenya - Several high-level African delegates will attend the inaugural meeting of the Reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (AWGDRR) at the Office of the African Union Commission Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AUC - IBAR) in Nairobi, Kenya from 29 - 31 March 2011. The inaugural meeting of the Reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (AWGDRR) will agree on the Terms of Reference of the Group as well as the Africa position paper to be presented during the Third Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2011.

The meeting follows the endorsement of the Report of the Second African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) by the Executive Council of the African Union. The Executive Council endorsed the recommendations contained in the report and further endorsed the Extended Programme of Action (POA) for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (2006-2015).

The endorsement of the report of the second African Ministerial Conference is a great milestone and shows Africa’s political commitment for disaster risk reduction. The overall goal of the extended Programme of Action is a substantial reduction of social, economic and environmental impacts of disasters on African people and economies.

The meeting will be held alongside the formal launch of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign, “Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready!” By joining the campaign, participating mayors and local government officials commit to “Ten Essentials” to make their cities resilient against disaster. Over 600 local government authorities from all over the world have joined this campaign since it began in May 2010.

The overall aim of these two events is to accelerate and coordinate the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy on Disaster Risk Reduction and its Programme of Action in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).