Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States - Disaster Risk Reduction

Statement at the Disaster Risk-Informed and Resilient COVID-19 Recovery Side Event

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:25:00 +0000

Statement by Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

15 October 2020
New York, USA

Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to join you at this Second Committee side event.

I thank Special Representative Mami Mizutori and team for her leadership on this event, as well as the ILO and UN Women for their close partnership.

A critical topic brings us together.

As their United Nations High Representative, I once again must stress how the Least Developed countries, Landlocked developing countries and Small Island developing countries are among them most vulnerable nations of our shared planet.

Their peoples are disproportionately affected by climate change induced risks, by health risks and by the vagaries of the global economic and financial systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows all too vividly the manifold inequalities, the too many exclusions we must overcome if indeed we do not want to leave anyone behind and stay true to what we promise in Agenda 2030 and the Paris Climate Agreement.

What is the situation for the peoples of the countries OHRLLS advocates for?

Like everywhere else, we see the immediate physical health impacts.

That is the tip of the iceberg and it is of great concern that by now tourism, trade, remittances, all vital livelihood ingredients, have plummeted if not come to a standstill.

What does this mean? It means job losses, it means severe decline in government revenues, it means severe worsening of debt spirals that were already barely sustainable prior to the pandemic.

In short, lives AND livelihoods are threatened.

Just like elsewhere, lockdowns and closures have major negative psychological and social impacts.

Women, disabled people, poor people are disproportionately impacted.

Food insecurity is setting in, access to education given the poor connectivities is threatened and finding work hardly possible. Take this against a backdrop where there are hardly any social protection systems!

To add to this already vicious cycle, ever more frequent extreme weather events have brought further life threatening disruption – from Category-5 Tropical Cyclone Harold in the Pacific to the devastating floods in Bangladesh and Sudan.

This brings me to the Sendai Framework.

The framework gives us both, an approach and tools to safeguard against multiple catastrophes and building resilience at all levels.

Now is the time for renewed efforts and commitment to ensure that as many countries as possible can achieve Target E of the Sendai Framework to have national and local disaster risk reduction strategies in place.

Too much time has already elapsed and we must accelerate progress. To do so, capacity building and financial assistance are critical to support the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in this important endeavour.

The LLDCs and SIDS concluded their mid-term reviews of their Programmes of Action respectively in September and December 2019. As I stated on other occasions, prior to the pandemic we could talk of a glass half full. By now, and in the immediate, we must ensure that the glass does stay half full and then we must together build!

An important opportunity is before us to just do that.

This is the Fifth UN Conference on LDCs, to be held in Qatar in 2022.

The Conference itself, its preparatory process, offer enormous opportunities to craft a risk-informed development agenda and plan for the next 10-year Programme of Action for the LDCs.

I have every hope that today’s meeting will explore the immediate and medium-term measures that Governments can take to address the underlying social and economic drivers at the core of disaster risk.

We have the chance to hear from an array of academics and practitioners from diverse backgrounds and countries.

Standing still is not an option. We must find solutions to ensure we leave no one behind.

I look forward to the discussions and am confident that we will make progress in advancing the debate.

Thank you.

Front Page Article:

Disaster Risk-Informed and Resilient COVID-19 Recovery

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:00:00 +0000

Thursday, 15 October 2020 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm

At this year's General Assembly Second Committee side event, leading scientists and academics, policymakers, and disaster risk reduction practitioners will discuss how the application of the Sendai Framework in COVID-19 recovery and rehabilitation measures can change the trajectory of development from one that unintentionally creates risk to one that purposefully reduces risk and builds resilience for current and future generations.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is organizing a Virtual Side Event at the 75th Session of the General Assembly, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Office of the High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS (OHRLLS), and UN Women. This side event will support countries in taking forward recent Second Committee decisions on a disaster risk-informed approach to sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs. As the end of 2020 is the deadline for Target E of the Sendai Framework, for countries to have national and local disaster risk reduction strategies in place, the event will be an opportunity to take stock of progress and encourage countries to use the development of national disaster risk reduction strategies to guide a resilient, risk-informed, and inclusive COVID-19 socio-economic recovery

The Fifth United Nations Conference on LDCs (LDC5), to be held in Qatar in 2022, and its preparatory process also provides an opportunity to address risk in a systemic manner over the next decade and beyond.

BACKGROUND

Today’s risk landscape is rapidly changing, and risk has become progressively more systemic. New interactions between environmental, economic, technological and biological risks are emerging in ways that were not anticipated. One hazard can trigger another with cascading impacts across systems and borders and devastating impacts on progress across the SDGs. However, policies, institutions and financing remain focused on preparing for and responding to disasters, rather than preventing the creation of risk and subsequent losses. To achieve the SDGs, current, emerging and future risks need to be considered in policy and investment decisions in all sectors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis exemplify the systemic nature of risk and the potential for cascading impacts. COVID-19 has triggered an unprecedented social and economic catastrophe on a global scale. Decades of development progress have unraveled, and poverty and inequality, particularly gender inequality, have deepened. As a consequence, vulnerability and exposure to other hazards, including the intensifying climate crisis, have greatly increased with impacts foreseen long into the future.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the side event are to:

raise awareness that limited attention to risk reduction in sustainable development policy, including economic policy, and public and private investments is compromising the achievement of the SDGs;
encourage Member States and stakeholders to apply the Sendai Framework in COVID-19 response and socio-economic recovery and rehabilitation policies and strategies in order to embark on a risk-informed and sustainable trajectory moving forward; and
to share promising national experience in implementing the Sendai Framework and reducing disaster risk.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

What immediate and medium-term measures can Governments take to embark on a development trajectory that reduces rather than creates risk?
What are the challenges and obstacles to applying systemic understanding of risk in development policy and investments and what measures are needed to support the public and private sectors to overcome them?
What actions can Governments take to ensure that COVID-19 recovery and rehabilitation is disaster risk-informed, inclusive, gender responsive, and addresses the underlying social and economic drivers of disaster risk?
What type of regulations standards and legislation are need, including in the workplace, to reduce disaster risk?
How can Governments and the private sector better access existing financing and disaster risk information to ensure policies and investments are risk-informed?