Towards Sustainable Urbanization: Implementing the Sendai Framework

Background

Disasters in the decade 2005-2014 had a complex and devastating impact on people and economies in Asia. More than 150 million people were affected by floods while economic losses amounted to more than 250 billion US dollars—65% of which was caused by earthquakes and tsunamis. How can we reduce the impact of disasters and make the resilience of cities a greater priority for governments and the people they serve? Clearly, concrete actions must be taken to increase local disaster risk reduction strategies and to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Preventing new, and reducing existing risk, as well as increasing resilience are common concerns among both humanitarian and development partners and developed and developing countries. Successfully meeting the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda will depend to a large extent on how well risk management is integrated into decision making. By investing in risk reduction, new hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure can be built to withstand natural hazards, so that they continue providing critical services in times of disaster, when they are most needed.

The panel discussion aims to explore ways to further mobilize local government awareness in support of the local implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in the context of Sustainable Urbanization, including lessons learnt through implementation of the Making Cities Resilient global campaign and tools. It will seek to generate debate from different perspectives on substantive issues for a set of realistic actions to effectively implement the Sendai Framework and further contribute to delivering on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the New Urban Agenda, while increasing women’s leadership and participation in decision making processes. It will also address the role different stakeholders can play in creating a solid partnership for disaster risk reduction.

Expected outcome

The session is expected to come up with a set of actions by local governments for advancing the implementation of the Sendai Framework in Asia-Pacific, which will be part of the outcomes of the 2016 Asia Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR), hosted by the Government of India on 2-5 November 2016, New Delhi, India. See: http://amcdrrindia.net