United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth:
Policy Brief for Global Platform for DRR 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Who we are .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 DRR process .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Unmgcy contribution to the process and development ........................................................................................... 3 Process and progress on SFDRR - way forward and obstacles .................................................................................. 4 Follow up and review ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 MGoS involvement review .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Thematic review on SFDRR progress ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Way forward: key issues ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11 A. Conflict and an all-inclusive hazard approach ........................................................................................................... 11 B. Finance ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 C. Social services and security in DRR ...................................................................................................................................... 11 List of “emerging issues� .......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Priority 1: understanding disaster risk ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Priority 2: strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk .............................................. 12 Priority 3: investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience.................................................................................... 13 Children and youth involvement and conclusion .............................................................................................................. 14
2 United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth drrdop@childrenyouth.org | childrenyouth.org | facebook.com/UNMGCY | Twitter: @UNMGCY
UNMGCY hosted the WCDRR Children and Youth Forum in partnership with the CCC and UNISDR. It was attended by UNSG Ban Ki Moon and gathered more than 300 young people, demonstrating children and youth’s dedication to taking action on DRR and responsibility in decision-making.
INTRODUCTION WHO WE ARE The United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY) is the official UN General Assembly mandated1 space for the engagement of children and youth in a number of intergovernmental and allied processes at the UN. We have been a key player in global policy formulation since our inception in 1992, as part of Agenda 21. From its original home in the sustainable development processes, the UN MGCY has expanded its work into 16 policy processes2, including Follow Up and Review, and has over 6000 registered youth entities (youth-led and youth/child-serving) in over 170 countries and territories. Some of these organisations predate the UN, and some were newly established after the adoption of the SDGs. Depending on how one counts, the collective outreach touches millions of young people. To facilitate this participation, the institutional structure of the UN MGCY encompases close to 300 elected and peer selected portfolios.
UNMGCY CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROCESS AND DEVELOPMENT Continuing through the adoption of the SFDRR, youth have been active at the global scale, and have demonstrated their capacities for leadership. For example, youth have been consistent champions of a holistic approach to disaster risk reduction and have advocated for coherence across the 2030 Agenda. They have organized events on disaster risk reduction in global and regional intergovernmental meetings on climate change, humanitarian actions, sustainable urban development, financing for development, science and technology and sustainable development, among others. In January 2016, at the UNISDR Science and Technology Conference, the UN MGCY hosted a side event for youth involved in DRR, which included a panel of youth speakers and was attended by over 50 conference participants. This side event launched the Young Scientists Roadmap for Implementation of SFDRR.
DRR PROCESS The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) is the fifteen year framework for 20152030, adopted at the Third World Conference on DRR (3WCDRR), held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015. The same year saw the adoption of the 2030 Agenda (SDGs), Addis Ababa Action Agenda for the Financing for Development Framework and the Paris Agreement.
Later in the year at the UN Science, Technology and Innovation Forum for SDGs, we released a report showcasing the contributions of young scientists to the field of disaster risk reduction in which particular emphasis was given to integrated approaches to sustainable development challenges. At the same forum, we also organised a roundtable focused on coherence across sustainable development frameworks, including the Sendai Framework.
UNMGCY has been, and continues to be, extremely active in all phases of the DRR Process. This was acknowledged by UNISDR after the 3WCDRR.
The same message of coherence, a peoplecentered approach and evidence-based policy, was further communicated by youth during the High Level Political Forum in 2016 and the ongoing preparations for the 2017 HLPF. In January 2017, for the first time since its inception in 2012, the ECOSOC Youth Forum featured discussion on DRR and the Sendai Framework.
1
Operative paragraphs in Agenda 21, GA Res- 67/290, 68/67, 68/211, 70/1, 70/210, 70/303,etal. 2 High Level Political Forum, 2030 Agenda, Disaster Risk Reduction, Habitat 3, World Humanitarian Summit, Small Island Developing States, Sustainable Consumption and Production, Science Policy Interface, Technology 2 High Level Political Forum, 2030 Agenda, Disaster Risk Reduction, Habitat Facilitation Mechanism, UNCTAD, Oceans/SDG 14, UNFCCC, UNEA, UNFCCC, 3, World Humanitarian Summit, Small Island Developing States, Sustainable Consumption and Production, Science Policy Interface, Technology Facilitation Mechanism, UNCTAD, Oceans/SDG 14, UNFCCC, UNEA, UNFCCC, Financing for Development, ECOSOC Youth Forum.
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AFRICA: 6th Session of the Africa Regional Platform, and the 5th High Level Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction An average of five youth delegates attended. Though youth involvement was not present in the topic and speaker selection or chaired or cochaired a session, one youth participated in a session as a panelist and a youth was present in the drafting group. Youth engagement was considered optimal as they made several interventions during question and answer time of the sessions. In addition, the two declaration from the conference, promised more inclusive approach towards youth.
Process and Progress on SFDRR - way forward and obstacles FOLLOW UP AND REVIEW
ASIA: 7th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Approximately 50 participants were present. In this event, youth involvement was not present in the topics selection, one session was co-chaired by youth selected through the UN MGCY and there also was a youth side event.
GLOBAL: UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the SFDRR 2015-2030 The most relevant achievements, according to the attendees, are the level of involvement in drafting committees and in multi-stakeholder decisionmaking processes, the launching of the Science Policy Interface Youth Platform, inclusion of youth as formal speakers and specific youth forums, having meaningful interventions in the questions and answers forums and in discussions, creating youth networks for further engagement, building and formalising relationships with key regional actors and the opportunity to shape the agenda and representation in different sessions. The number of youth engaged in the UNMGCY that has attended global events varies between them: 40 participants were present at the the UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the SFDRR 2015-2030. UNMGCY was also represented at a conference panel on Research Gaps. Facilities for youth to attend these meetings are being increased, with growing funding opportunities. Some of the agencies that support youth in the aforementioned way are UNISDR Africa, UNISDR, UNICEF and UNESCO. Nevertheless, it is important to note that funding is still one of the major drawbacks in order to increase youth participation in DRR processes.
EUROPE: European Open Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction 2017 Around 8 young participants attended. Youth selected through the UNMGCY were involved in shaping all sessions including identifying speakers, developing session outlines and key/emerging aspects. ISDR Europe and the Organising Committees themselves took a very inclusive approach towards youth. Furthermore, inclusion of official rights based language helped the involvement of different MGoS. As in the African region, relationships with key regional actors were built and formalised during the event.
MGOS INVOLVEMENT REVIEW The level of youth engagement in the preparatory process of the GPDRR have been varying, both in different regions as well as when it comes to different levels. The engagement in the global level have been without question fully exceptional. The engagement in Europe region have been developing compared to previous years, and both 4
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includes technical as well as demographic engagement. The engagement in the African region have also been growing a lot, and the level of engagement meet the current needs and interest. The Asia region continue to be fruitful in regards to engagement. We encourage all the ISDR regional offices to follow the goo practice of Asia region to unify the stakeholder engagement of constituency focus, by including the Major Group and other Stakeholder languages in the regional ToRs of engagement, this also ensure better policy coherence as it is the modalities in the HLPF. When it comes to the GPDRR itself the main concern is the balance in stakeholders representation in the official sessions of the GPDRR. We are though happy to see the large amount of youth in the preparatory organising teams, as well well as co-chair.
agreements such as the 2030 Agenda, the Istanbul Programme of Action for LDCs (IPoA) and the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs (VPoA) have come to add to the Sendai Framework. These agreements stress that reducing vulnerability requires vulnerability assessment which also requires understanding risk and disaggregation of data to reflect direct and indirect underlying factors of the situation. Multi-sectoral (health, food security and livelihoods), multi-stakeholder consultation and multi-level approaches (local, national, regional, global) have the potential to address the interlinked and causal dynamics of vulnerability and fragility, whilst optimising capacities for these countries. Best practices In Kiribati,a small island developing state, where the population is about a 100,000, young people are changing their narrative from being passive victims to being agents of change in DRR. Through a youth arts initiative that teaches young people how to capture their viewpoints on DRR on video. The project is run by UNICEF and its partner, The One Minutes Foundation.
THEMATIC REVIEW ON SFDRR PROGRESS REDUCING VULNERABILITY OF COUNTRIES IN SPECIAL SITUATIONS
Bad practices Though formal and informal education has been acknowledged by member states as being essential for DRR, a significant number of member states still do not have DRR curriculum, according to findings of a UNICEF/UNESCO Mapping of Global DRR Integration into Education Curricula consultancy.
Related session - Reducing Vulnerability of Countries in Special Situations Introduction The SFDRR recognizes that countries in special situations face specific challenges. So as not to be left behind in achieving sustainable development, these countries should be given special attention by developed countries. Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States (SIDs), Landlocked Developing Countries and African countries, as well as middle-income countries are more sensitive to the impacts of climate change and natural and/or humaninduced disasters. Due to the special situation, they require context-specific approaches, including targeted national policies and consistent international support. Globally,
Given that the need to prioritise the most vulnerable and marginalised and ensure their participation in disaster risk management and mitigation is now a widely accepted principle, the DRR community can no longer restrict children’s role in disasters to that of beneficiaries or passive victims. Children and youth should be given the opportunity to be directly involved in disaster risk reduction activities at all levels.
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Emerging Issues Priority 2, A: Disaster governance in fragile and conflict settings which adds to complexities of interface between ‘legitimate actors’,
New Urban Agenda guides a territorial and urban perspective of resilience and potential ideas for a set of indicators to monitor the progress of DRR at the local level. UNISDR has published the brochure “Resilience aspect of SDGs”; it was a good step towards crystallising what should be concerned about the SFDRR when it comes to implementing SDGs.
COHERENCE Related session: Coherence between the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Nationally, the holistic approach can enable the government to avoid duplicating efforts and allocate the resources where needed. It also minimises the offsetting effects of different policy and promotes a better understanding of interlinkages such as climate change – disaster risk – health – safety – social inclusion – urbanization – development.
The SFDRR calls for enhanced coherence across policies, institutions, goals, indicators and measurement systems for implementation. Bearing in mind a growing number of natural and human-induced disasters, escalated by changing climate, and its impact on sustainable development, it is inevitable that siloed approaches will hinder realisation of the SFDRR. What needs to be done is to take holistic, coherent, and integrated approaches throughout the policy processes, from designing, implementation, monitoring, to review at all levels.
In this process, it is key to ensure vertical and horizontal communication and coordination. Vertical coordination refers to the cooperation between national, regional, and local governments. Delegating the responsibility with adequate resources provides an opportunity for local governments to effectively address the issues pertaining to local conditions; a one-sizefit-all approach should not be considered holistic.
Regarding the follow up and review at global level, The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) provides a platform for the SFDRR to be reviewed together with all other sustainable development frameworks, including, but not limited to, the Agenda 2030, Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the New Urban Agenda. Outcomes of the 2017 GPDRR should emphasise clear focus on DRR and resilience in the HLPF outcomes and ministerial declarations. The SFDRR community needs to pay a significant attention to the progress of and engage in the HLPF in order to ensure mainstreaming of resilience in broader sustainable development context. Vice-versa, the GPDRR should aim at integrating other sustainable development frameworks into their action plan and follow up. The Paris Agreement provides an aspect of mitigation and adoption and environmental dimensions of DRR exercises in general. The
TARGET E Related session: Local Authorities’ Engagement to contribute to the achievement of the priority 2020 Sendai target; Disaster Risk Reduction Governance; Critical Infrastructure; National and local disaster risk reduction strategies integrated with climate change and sustainable development plans. DRR strategies (or plans) define goals and objectives across different timescales and with concrete targets, indicators and time frames 6
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aimed at preventing the creation of risk, reduction of existing risk and strengthening of economic, social, health and environmental resilience. Disaster risk management plans, are more detailed in nature, setting out the goals and specific objectives for reducing disaster risks together with related actions, time frames, responsibilities for implementation and the sources of funding to accomplish these objectives and linkages to sustainable development and CCA plans (UNISDR, 2016). These plans developed to cover the national, sub-national and local levels. The challenge is to jointly identify goals, objectives, actions and funding sources across different sector, wide actors and their associated planning processes. Cooperation, coordination, and collaboration can be seen as different means to achieve (horizontal) integration resulting in individuals coming together to achieve common goals.
Way forward We call for the coherent operationalisation of the local DRR strategies promotion. The mobilisation should utilise the existing mechanism, such as the CO2 registry by ICLEI, and the City Prosperity Index proposed by UNHabitat. Building on those technical aspects, it should also include the strategy for engaging major groups and other stakeholders at the local level to ensure an inclusive and actualisable plan be made; without stakeholders there is no operative plan. Emerging Issue Priority 2, B: Disaster governance in rapidly urbanising contexts- changing municipal and governance codes, changing interface between economic and human factors as compared to incumbent ecosystems. Priority 4, A: The changing nature and politics of the Public-Private Interface in the context of building and rebuilding infrastructure.
In particular, Local disaster risk reduction strategies are key component of the successful implementation of SFDRR. Yet there are obstacles on its pathway. The lack of clarity regarding what sort of frameworks are considered to be “strategies” presents the need of further elaboration and contributions from stakeholders, especially local governments. The definition of the local DRR strategy should be built on existing mechanism and infrastructure which the local governments have been already operating. Creating new systems only silos the approaches further and puts the administrative and political burden on local government. Moreover, there needs to be a crystal-clear understanding that SFDRR is not only one framework which the local governments have to deal with. The Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 are calling for more active engagement of local governments. In this regard, it is important that the “target e” is operationalised in synergy with different frameworks and existing data set from the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2030, New Urban Agenda, and others.
HEALTH Related session: Reduction
Health
and
Disaster
Risk
Issues such as climate change, increasing instability and the continual growth and movement of populations continue to challenge societal resilience. Comprehensive disaster risk reduction is the only way to prevent the erosion of decades of social development. In accordance to human rights principles, humanitarian assistance and healthcare should be offered to victims of disasters without discrimination and irrespective of political ideology, religion, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation and other factors. It is important to work with other stakeholders and actors on interdisciplinary platforms and 7
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events to improve for disaster risk management for health.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN DRR Related session: Community Resilience Inclusive and People Centred Disaster Risk Reduction
We believe in enhanced participation of medical volunteers in national or regional disaster response efforts such as provision of care (including psychosocial support), resource mobilization (such as fundraising activities), and community rehabilitation improves understanding of the underlying challenges inherent to disaster management while improving skills.
The SFDRR recognizes the essential role of major groups and other stakeholders (MGoS) in DRR at all stages of policy process at local, national, regional and global level. Additionally, the 2030 Agenda also stresses the need for spaces for MGoS in implementation and follow up and review. The success in DRR by engaging relevant stakeholders has already been proven during the implementation of Hyogo Framework for Action.
It is also important with participation of all sectors, including all medical personnel, as well as public in training activities that impart knowledge and skills towards preparedness for disasters and health emergency management, both their medical and public health dimensions.
The implementation of long term behavioural change strategies requires a broader and a more people-centred preventive approach in DRR. Involving all the stakeholders, including children and youth, is vital. The degree of implementation of DRRM is higher when the stakeholders are engaged in all-phases of disaster risk management planning and implementation.
Cross Sectional approach is important to reach health care resilience and it is important to ensure that health is well implemented and addressed cross-sectionally within national and international disaster risk management plans. Finally it is important to develop and implement plans for emergency preparedness of health facilities such as hospitals and primary health centers. This includes full implementation of the Safe Hospital.
Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) addresses the needs of stakeholders in the DRR process. Collaborative modelling is one of the approaches to include relevant stakeholders in generating risk knowledge and using this knowledge to develop risk reduction strategies. A project titled ‘Participatory Terrain Data and Modelling’ being implemented in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ensures that the local stakeholders are involved in the flood risk resilience strategies. The experiences and local knowledge play a vital role in understanding the risk and applying more acceptable flood risk reduction measures in the area. In the project, the local stakeholders have been trained to collect data of vulnerable infrastructure, prepare flood inundation models. This project has identified local disaster-related issues, enhanced
Emerging issues Priority 1, B: Enhancement of the scope of factors that constitute disasters and/or disaster like situations; infectious pandemics, digital breakdowns, antimicrobial resistance, long term pollution exposure.
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the capacities of local stakeholders and contributed in development of needed DRR strategies.
Young scientists and practitioners are in a position to not only help fill these gaps but contribute fresh innovative ideas to solving these challenges. From promoting partnerships among young people across disciplines working on the different components of an EWS to involving them in professional training and educational initiatives, such as workshops on EWS or disaster risk reduction, young people can have a vital role in the evolution towards a more “people-centred” system.
Emerging issues Priority 2, A: Disaster governance in fragile and conflict settings which adds to complexities of interface between ‘legitimate actors’. Priority 4, A: The changing nature and politics of the Public-Private Interface in the context of building and rebuilding infrastructure.
Detailed version is here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwBsGEnho2 PJNnZZbXJ1U1BObDA
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT 2. Urban, land use and spatial planning Urban, Land-use and Spatial Planning features prominently in the SFDRR because urban areas are increasingly becoming impactful in both negative and positive ways. Urban areas face high population densities, issues of land use and spatial planning, rapid spread of infectious diseases, climate change-induced phenomena such as heavy rain, strong winds, floods, landslides, heat island, rising sea levels, often escalated by improper planning. Policy coherence between spatial, land use planning and DRR is an important area which requires crucial commitment of governments and all stakeholders. Many land use and spatial planning interventions fail to properly account for environmental consequences, such as those related to urban sprawl, transport systems and flood zone development.
Related session: Availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information; Urban, Land-use and Spatial Planning; Ecosystem Protection and Management and Resilient Agriculture 1. Early Warning System and Disaster Risk Information Effective multi-hazard early warning systems (EWS) not only save lives but also help protect livelihoods and national development gains. However, for them be effective, they must be people-centred while integrating four key elements - (i) knowledge of the risks faced; (ii) technical monitoring and warning services; (iii) dissemination of meaningful warnings to those at risk; and (iv) public awareness and preparedness to act.
A good example can be found in the Making Cities Resilient Campaign (MCRC) - launched in May, 2010 - addresses among other issues urban risk. The Campaign aims to raise the profile of resilience and disaster risk reduction among local governments and urban communities worldwide.
Numerous initiatives have been started in recent years to address the gaps on these elements, from forecasting the joint probability of multiple hazards to evolving towards Impact-based forecasts and warning services that deliver meaningful and actionable information to users. The current development of EWS highlight the necessity to understand what the users need to react appropriately.
In managing and preventing disasters in cities, 9
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urban planning and space-related planning should be the critical consideration. Children and youth should be considered as key role players in constructing children and youth friendly spatial systems for urban disaster prevention and emergency response. The damages from disasters can be minimised by establishing a holistic disaster prevention system; specifically, with the planning of urban disaster prevention systems, economic, social, and environmental assets can be protected. A spatial system for urban disaster prevention can enable highly-effective rescue and emergency response initiatives.
Ensuring a sustainable, low carbon and resilient future will depend upon understanding, preventing, and reducing risk from natural and human-induced hazards. Science and technology (S&T) are two major pillars for providing evidence for achieving these goals and targets. The SFDRR under Priority for Action1 “Understanding Disaster Risk” have placed great emphasis on the importance of science-based knowledge for supporting decision-making at all levels. Implementing DRR actions requires a robust multi-hazard risk assessment including analysis on hazards, exposure, vulnerability, which needs to be fully and carefully considered, and developed jointly with the participation of local community and policy makers, and supported by the S&T community. Achieving the global target e by 2020 is a critical part of achieving the post-2015 development agendas and the Paris agreement. Implementing such a target requires a reflection on how to bring a more effective dialogue between S&T and people, since people are the ones who might benefit from evidence-based policy and thus need to be engage and risk informed, especially young people who play a great role in bridging the gap between risk warning and action.
3. Ecosystem protection Investing in and protecting ecosystem health leads to building greater resilience by contributing to adaptation and mitigation. It reduces the intensity of underlying risk factors, and increases the capacity of communities to adapt to and minimise disaster loss. This is specifically relevant in disaster contexts that are most closely related to environmental factors. In addition, many disasters themselves are caused by worsening ecosystem health, and in turn further worsen ecosystem health, creating a negatively reinforcing spiral.
Best practices Responding to an El Niño forecast in 2015, Peruvian government declared a 60-day state of emergency, and spent around $20 million for flood and drought prevention, switching from humanitarian response to investing in disaster prevention. Similar strategies are being implemented in Africa, where El Niño forecasts are used to assist agricultural producers to become more climate resilient. At the global level, EWS, like the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, are providing outlooks that help governmental and non-governmental actors to plan for crises. Such examples enhance the importance of maintaining a dialogue among S&T communities, policymakers, and all stakeholders in order to facilitate a science policy interface for effective decision-making in
Emerging Issues Priority 2, B: Disaster governance in rapidly urbanising contexts-changing municipal and governance codes, changing interface between economic and human factors as compared to incumbent ecosystems
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATIONS Related session: Science and Technology’s engagement to contribute to the achievement of the priority 2020 Sendai target
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and climate change. This call was included by including man-made (human-induced, more appropriately) hazards in the SFDRR. Yet, the call for an enhanced scope that recognizes DRR as a cross-cutting issue and includes biological, technological, slow-onset as well as all humaninduced disasters in national implementation has not been agreeable.
disaster risk management. Way forward The interlinkage between DRR and sustainable development presents its importance to national, regional, and local governments to prepare DRR strategies. Development of strategies should incorporate the contribution made by S&T communities and SPI application.
B. FINANCE
Emerging issues; Priority 1, A: Enhanced scope and severity of underlying factors that contribute to enhanced disaster risk- eg- stronger storms, more frequent epidemics, increasing weather extremes, DRR in a territorial context, anthropocene.
The financing provisions for DRR need to be strengthened and should be linked to financing for sustainable development. Hence, existing and emerging resources and mechanisms for implementation need to be aligned to the priorities; otherwise the framework will lack impact. Creating enabling environments which systematically price the risk - social and environmental - associated with economic activities will substantially reduce new risk creations and tackle the underlying risk factors.
Priority 3, B: The distribution of investments in ‘reducing underlying risk factors’ and ‘enhancing capacity of response’
Way forward: key issues
C. SOCIAL SERVICES AND SECURITY IN DRR Disaster risk assessments must adequately include an assessment of health impacts in addition to social, economic and environmental impacts. This will allow a more comprehensive understanding of risks for decision makers to prioritize investments in prevention measures. Ensuring accessibility and high quality of social protection and services, especially in education and health, will increase capacity to mitigate disaster risks.
This section highlights key emerging issues which have not been addressed yet. Three topics play a critical role in ensuring the successful DRR policy processes as cross-cutting issues.
A. CONFLICT AND AN ALLINCLUSIVE HAZARD APPROACH Human-induced disasters has been resulted in more human loss than all natural disasters combined in recent years. Without addressing human-induced disasters, urbanization, migration, and their underlying causes, the DRR approach is incomplete. The high attention should be paid to the linkages between disaster risk, fragility, poverty
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List of “Emerging issues” PRIORITY 1: UNDERSTANDING DISASTER RISK Issues
Related Sessions
1A. Broadening the scope and magnitude of attributes that classify as underlying factors for disaster risk- eg- stronger storms, more frequent epidemics, increasing weather extremes, DRR in a territorial context, anthropocene.
Science and Technology’s engagement to contribute to the achievement of the priority 2020 Sendai target
1B. Broadening the scope of conditions that constitute disasters and/or disaster like situationsinfectious pandemics, digital breakdowns, antimicrobial resistance, long term pollution exposure
Health and Disaster Risk Reduction
PRIORITY 2: STRENGTHENING DISASTER RISK GOVERNANCE TO MANAGE DISASTER RISK 2A. Disaster governance in fragile and conflict settings which adds to complexities of interface between ‘legitimate actors’.
Reducing Vulnerability of Countries in Special Situations Inclusive and People Centred Disaster Risk Reduction
2B.: Disaster governance in rapidly urbanising contexts- changing municipal and governance codes, changing interface between economic and human factors as compared to incumbent ecosystems
Urban, Land-use and Spatial Planning; Ecosystem Protection and Management and Resilient Agriculture Local Authorities’ Engagement to contribute to the achievement of the priority 2020 Sendai target; Disaster Risk Reduction Governance;
2C. Accelerated paces of trends like forced migration add new dimensions of risk
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PRIORITY 3: INVESTING IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION FOR RESILIENCE. 3A. The distribution of investments in long term, medium term and short term cycles. 3B. The distribution of investments in ‘reducing underlying risk factors’ and ‘enhancing capacity of response’
Science and Technology’s engagement to contribute to the achievement of the priority 2020 Sendai target
3C. Enhancing viability of investments solutions and vehicles that specifically focus on building resilience
PRIORITY 4: ENHANCING DISASTER PREPAREDNESS FOR EFFECTIVE RESPONSE AND TO “BUILD BACK BETTER” IN RECOVERY, REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION. 4A. The changing nature and politics of the Public-Private Interface in the context of building and rebuilding infrastructure.
Critical Infrastructure;
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organising and managing people, knowledge, and natural resources.
Children and Youth involvement and Conclusion
The pre-existing social infrastructure used to impart traditional knowledge from one generation to the next can also be used in the opposite generation. Young people can help others use new technology, including mapping and risk vulnerability assessments. Time and again, young people have shown that we will act in society’s best interests, even if we are not directly invited to do so. In order to maximize efficiency, however, young people and authorities must work together. All member states, local and subnational governments, NGOs and other stakeholders wishing to engage young people in their decision making processes must recognize the institutional barriers that have prevented us from participating thus far. There are almost 2 billion people in the world who are not old enough to vote. Their advice should be weighted to reflect that they are acting on how the world affects them.
Across the globe, we are seeing generations of young people more diverse than ever before. There is one thing, however, that despite our differences we all agree on: young people do not want to be told what their place is. This section is a primer for member states, local, sub-national governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders on how to effectively and meaningfully engage with children and youth both in action and decision-making at all levels.
These entities should provide equal leadership opportunities to young people. Special youth elections for younger candidates will increase long term democratic participation and build connections essential to resilient communities.
Best practices in children and youth engagement means reaching out to young people on their own terms. It should be done earnestly, with full awareness that our suggestions might not be what you wanted to hear. But do not fear, because we are engaged to make the world a better place, too. The actions of young people around the world are complementary to those of their elders. The actions of governments without young people are necessary, but they are not sufficient; only through full youth involvement can we truly achieve holistic sustainable development.
Having long contributed to the Follow Up and Review of Agenda 2030, young people are also committed to the assessment of their own meaningful participation. Using the same techniques and processes with which we engage with and review greater diplomacy, we encourage you to look into our contributions with us. As a global community adapting to new challenges, our approach must be centered around a process of continuous learning and reflection. We call on you to call on us. The purpose of a holistic and coherent sustainable development agenda is not only to make sure everyone is on the same page, but to help us better understand what others around the world are facing. Children and youth have the ability to cooperate across jurisdictional and sectoral boundaries that many authorities are only now starting to work towards. Your past is our present, and only together can we make tomorrow better.
As a generation that has yet to leave home, young people have an intimate knowledge of their community. This puts children and youth in a key position in the creation and implementation of localized disaster risk reduction strategies. From earthquake and tsunami prone Northern Japan, through the First Nations of Canada, and East Africa facing droughts, to Australians fighting wildfires, young people have been active in 14
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