Chair`s Summary of the Third Session of the Global Platform

Dear partners in Disaster Risk Reduction,

Please find attached the final Summary presented by the Chair of the Third Session of the Global Platform, Ms Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-General.

The Draft of the Chair`s Summary of the Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and World Reconstruction Conference was open for comment from 13 to 23 May 2011. The Secretariat of the UNISDR received a number of comments and suggestions and has endeavored to reflect them in the final draft, while at the same time respecting the need to keep the summary succinct and action-orientated.

The Proceedings of the Third Session of the Global Platform will reflect the discussions and outcomes from the main sessions in more detail and will be available in late June.

Translations of the Chair`s Summary in the six official UN languages, as well as videos of all recorded sessions will be available on the Global Platform website in the coming days.

For more information please visit: www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform

Neil McFarlane

Coordinator Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
UNISDR, 9-11 rue de Varembé, 1202 Geneva
+41 (0) 22 9178914 (w) +41 (0) 79 4445304 (mob)
mcfarlane2@un.org


Chair`s Summary of the Third Session of the Global Platform
“Invest today for a Safer Tomorrow – Increase Investment in Local Action.”
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Chair’s Summary
Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
and World Reconstruction Conference, Geneva, 8-13 May 2011
http://www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform/2011/
1. The Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World
Reconstruction Conference met in Geneva, 8-13 May 2011. Opened by the United Nations
Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon and chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General, the Global
Platform recognized Doctor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of
Indonesia as a Global Champion of Disaster Risk Reduction.
2. This Session of the Global Platform brought together the broadest ever cross-section of people
committed to building resilience – including several Heads of State, Ministers, a Managing
Director of the World Bank, over 2,600 delegates representing 168 Governments, 25 intergovernmental
organizations, 65 non-governmental organizations, Parliamentarians, private
sector, local government, academic institutions, civil society and international organizations.
3. Half of humanity is now living in cities. By 2050 urbanization will rise to 70 percent and urban
risk will increase as well. Risk is further driven by factors such as rural and urban poverty,
climate change, declining ecosystems, and development choices including in energy
infrastructure. Commitment to resilience is urgently needed particularly in vulnerable groups,
localities and regions including SIDS and LDC’s.
4. The Mid-Term Review states that significant progress is being made in the implementation of
the Hyogo Framework for Action and that its principles have been firmly established and
endorsed. The discussions at the Third Session demonstrated that we now possess the
knowledge, the means and the commitment to make disaster risk reduction a national, local and
international priority. There is a sense of urgency and clear political and economic imperatives
to invest in disaster risk reduction.
5. The UN Secretary-General called for a coalition of action for disaster risk reduction and
announced a high-level meeting during the next General Assembly to address the link between
natural hazards and nuclear safety. Japan offered to host the Third World Conference on
Disaster Reduction in 2015.
6. Mayors renewed their commitment to the Ten Essentials of the “My City is Getting Ready”
Campaign. Private sector participants agreed on Five Essentials for Business and issued a
Statement of Commitment for Disaster Prevention, Resilience and Risk Reduction. A joint
statement called for scaling-up community health forces as vital for disaster reduction. Young
people came together to advance a Five Point Charter on Children and Disaster Reduction.
Regional organizations reaffirmed their commitment to implementing regional strategies agreed
to in ministerial meetings worldwide.
7. The choice before us as Governments, institutions, communities and individuals is to place
disaster risk reduction at the forefront of our efforts to preserve and protect the balance of nature,
ensure sustainable development and well-being for generations to come. To do so, we need to:
7.1 Support local governments and non-state actors as the front line of risk reduction
implementation.
“Invest today for a Safer Tomorrow – Increase Investment in Local Action.”
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7.2 Draw upon the untapped potential of local actors and build on the role of women as agents
of change.
7.3 Involve children and youth in disaster risk reduction decisions that affect their future as a
practical way to ensure effective local action.
7.4 Fully engage the private sector as leaders in the construction of resilient infrastructure,
sustainable development of urban areas, energy safety, and the protection of critical
resources.
7.5 Build on the role that parliamentarians play in setting state policy and norms, oversight
and scrutiny, legislation and the creation of enabling environments for risk reduction.
7.6 Build on the work of and linkages between national and regional platforms for disaster
risk reduction, strengthening in particular, multi-stakeholder collaboration.
7.7 Promote the role of regional and sub-regional organizations in coordinating
implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.
7.8 Actively engage and support scientific and technical communities to inform decisionmaking.
7.9 Strengthen and resource UNISDR to support the implementation of recommendations
from this Platform acknowledging its leadership role within the United Nations on disaster
risk reduction.
8. The Third Session of the Global Platform identified the following critical steps:
8.1 Recall and act upon the commitments at the Second Session of the Global Platform in
2009 that set targets for disaster risk reduction (see Box inset).
8.2 Increase investment in disaster risk reduction at the local level and ensure national growth
does not increase local risks. Address local action directly in national growth targets, plans
and policies. Strengthen capacities of local governments and ensure resource availability.
Encourage collaboration with communities and volunteers including through participatory
risk assessments and local multi-stakeholder monitoring and reporting.
8.3 Develop standards and indicators for measuring the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction
at both the national and regional levels to guide public and private sector investments and
improve quality and consistency in implementation.
8.4 Account for disaster losses in a standardized manner to support multi-hazard, integrated
assessments as the basis for development decision-making and open-source risk public
information.
8.5 Increase dedicated budget allocations for disaster risk reduction by using risk assessment,
budgetary planning and project evaluation mechanisms, in all development investments.
Create incentives for investing in prevention. Protect public finances with contingency
mechanisms, including insurance.
8.6 Track investments in disaster risk reduction to provide clear evidence of the costs and
benefits of investments through verifiable and accountable data to Governments and the
public and as a further means of promoting aid-effectiveness.
“Invest today for a Safer Tomorrow – Increase Investment in Local Action.”
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8.7 Provide guidance to National Platforms to improve the effectiveness and support the
executive level of decision-making. Ensure that responsibility for disaster risk reduction
is backed by the necessary political authority to increase implementation across sectors
through increased engagement with parliamentarians, local authorities and civil society.
8.8 Strengthen public awareness of disaster risks through promoting universal access to risk
information, education, building social demand for disaster risk reduction and promote
individual safety and responsibility. Use available communication technologies to provide
clear and concise information.
8.9 Identify and prepare for emerging risks, including those associated with technological
hazards and pandemics, through scientifically-informed multi-hazard risk assessments and
scenario development. Encourage cross-sectoral cooperation that makes best use of
available information and technology.
8.10 Avoid the inefficient use of existing resources by ensuring technologies for risk reduction
are accessible as a means for adaptation and promoting integrated approaches to
development that address climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and ecosystem
management and restoration.
8.11 Ensure the availability of tailored science-based climate-related information through the
Global Framework for Climate Services to support informed investment and planning at
all levels. Incorporate, as well, integrated drought management, wild land fire
management and food security in risk reduction policies and development planning.
8.12 Adapt innovative social protection and ecosystem management mechanisms to reduce
disaster impacts based on understanding of the dynamics of vulnerability and ensuring
protection of the most vulnerable households, communities and social groups.
8.13 Welcome the continued work of the Advisory Group for the Mid-Term Review of Hyogo
Framework in advising on the follow-up to the Global Platform and contributing to the
formulation of a post-2015 instrument, the first outline of which is to be reviewed in 2013
and finalized in 2014.
8.14 Support identification and preparedness for emerging risks, through recommending to the
UN Secretary-General that he constitutes a group of eminent, disaster risk reduction
experts to report at the Fourth Session of the Global Platform.
8.15 Ensure attention to disaster risk reduction in upcoming meetings, such as the 5th Asian
Ministerial Conference in Indonesia, Rio+20, UNFCCC mechanisms, the 6th World
Urban Forum and the Aid-Effectiveness Meeting in 2011. Support implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals by promoting risk reduction strategies that protect
development investments.
9. The World Reconstruction Conference
9.1 Recognized that support to countries overwhelmed by the scale and cost of post-disaster
reconstruction is often inadequately coordinated. Uneven and unpredictable financing
does not always reach those who need it. Few countries incorporate disaster prevention
into reconstruction and recovery planning, thus threatening development prospects and
sustainability of investments.
9.2 Recognized, based on lessons from previous experience, that well-planned and
coordinated recovery achieves better results at lower cost, and supports sustainability and
disaster-resilience. Leadership, partnership and coordinated support from the international
community are essential to success.
“Invest today for a Safer Tomorrow – Increase Investment in Local Action.”
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9.3 Committed to developing an effective recovery and reconstruction framework. This
recovery framework would aim to:
o Better define roles and responsibilities within clear institutional arrangements;
o Effectively capitalize on the strengths of each stakeholder;
o Clearly place countries in the driver’s seat on decision-making and resource allocation;
o Systematically integrate disaster risk reduction in reconstruction and recovery;
o Provide in-time relevant knowledge and lessons learned; and
o Assist in establishing robust and transparent quality and result monitoring systems.
9.4 Committed to developing improved systems and instruments for recovery and
reconstruction finance and welcomed the leadership of the World Bank and the role of
other international financial institutions in this effort. These mechanisms would provide
access to reliable reconstruction financing; build capacity to manage the surge of
resources; effectively integrate the resources of non-traditional donors; and access the
global capital market.
9.5 Promoted a global reconstruction and recovery knowledge practice, linking practitioners
and networks working on reconstruction and recovery to provide open access to data and
information.
10. The Third Session of the Global Platform closed with a call for strengthened global leadership to
address rapidly increasing risk to stability and sustainability posed by our approach to
development. This chair’s summary will be followed-up and reported on in the Fourth Session
of the Global Platform.
30 May 2011
Geneva, Switzerland
Commitments at the Second Session of the Global Platform in 2009
• By 2011, national assessments of the safety of existing education and health
facilities should be undertaken.
• By 2015, concrete action plans for safer schools and hospitals should be
developed and implemented in all disaster prone countries.
• Disaster risk reduction should be included in all school curricula by the same
year.
• By 2015, all major cities in disaster-prone areas should include and enforce
disaster risk reduction measures in their building and land use codes.
• Targets also proposed for: national risk assessments, municipal disaster
recovery plans, early warning systems, water risks and the enforcement of
building codes.
• The UN Secretary-General called for a target to halve the losses of lives from
disasters by 2015, when the term of the Hyogo Framework for Action ends.
• 10 per cent of humanitarian relief funds to disaster risk reduction work.
• 10 per cent as a target share of post-disaster reconstruction and recovery
projects and national preparedness and response plans.
• At least 1 per cent of all national development funding and all development
assistance funding to be allocated to risk reduction measures, with due regard
for quality of impact.