Day 1: Monday 14 October 2024
GNDR is in Manila, Philippines this week at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on DRR (APMCDRR), alongside some of our members. Day 1 of the conference began on Monday 14 October. We will be sharing updates and reflections throughout the week on this page.
Special Sessions and Partner Events
A number of Special Sessions and Partner Events took place throughout the day. Notable among them were:
- The Partner Event on Transboundary Water Governance to Enhance Local Access to Finance for Climate and Disaster Resilience in which GNDR Policy and Research Officer, Jekulin Lipi, was a speaker. Jekulin spoke about the need to recognise and include youth in leadership roles for transboundary water governance especially for information dissemination and locally led actions.
“Youth bring new perspectives, energy and innovative ideas that should be integrated into water management and climate resilience policies.” Jekulin Lipi (below, left)
- The Special Session on Asia Pacific Resilient Recovery Dialogue in which our Head of Programmes, Shivangi Chavda, was a speaker. Shivangi highlighted how GNDR works to empower communities most at risk by equipping them with the tools and knowledge for resilience and enabling them to actively participate in risk and recovery decision-making. Community voices are amplified through evidence-based advocacy by analysing disaggregated data collected from communities on the frontline. GNDR then follows up with capacity building and technical support for local actors, civil society organisations and governments and collaboration and knowledge sharing across countries, both regionally and globally.
“Countries must develop pre-disaster recovery financing strategies to ensure resources are available to support vulnerable groups. Given the limited fiscal space in many nations, adopting fit for purpose financing strategies is essential to prevent marginalised communities from being left behind due to delays in resource allocation.” Shivangi Chavda (below, right)
Stakeholder consultations
In addition to these sessions, stakeholder groups of the UNDRR Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism (SEM) were invited to conduct consultations to finalise stakeholder statements. Eight stakeholder consultations were held throughout the day – Women and Gender, NGOs/Civil Society, Private Sector & Business and Industry, Persons with Disabilities, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Local Authorities, Science, Technology, Academia Group, and Children, Youth and Child-Centred Organisations.
At the NGO/Civil Society Group stakeholder consultation meeting, GNDR’s partner network – Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN), shared a CSO Commitment to Action. This was a pledge to take actions to reduce the gaps of current status and desired goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). Another significant outcome was the launch of the Asia Pacific CSO Forum as a platform for CSOs in the region. The forum will have a particular focus on disaster risk reduction, climate change and humanitarian response in the context of development and conflict.
Celebrating CSO champions
Finally, we ended the day by celebrating five CSO champions recognised for their ground-breaking work in resilience at the Asia-Pacific Local Leaders Forum for Disaster Resilience Awards. ADRRN and Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) (a GNDR member organisation) organised the Awards.