Canada to Host Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction of the Americas

ONTARIO, Canada, Friday June 21, 2016— Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honorable Ralph Goodale, announced that Canada in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) will host the Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction of the Americas in 2017.

This meeting will bring together some 1,000 delegates from 35 member states in the Americas to discuss opportunities for collaboration and coordination in meeting shared objectives to reduce disaster risks in the region and to meet the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 commitments at a local and regional level.

“Building a safe and resilient Canada is a responsibility shared by all levels of government, as well as the private sector, non-government organizations and individual Canadians. We look forward to hosting our hemispheric colleagues in 2017 and to engaging both domestically and internationally to work towards these important commitments” said the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

A senior official from Public Safety Canada, Lori MacDonald, Assistant Deputy Minister of Emergency Management and Programs, took part last week in the First Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework in the Américas, hosted by the government of Paraguay. The meeting laid the groundwork for the Regional Platform meeting in Canada next year and identified guidelines to develop an action plan for the Americas.

Quick facts on DRR in the Americas.

The increase in losses that has been observed in the region as a whole and in individual countries has mainly been associated with extensive risks triggered primarily by hydro-meteorological and climatic phenomena. In this regards, during 2015, an update of damage and loss databases showed that losses from destruction and damage to homes, as well as people affected by disasters in the Americas, are growing over time and expanding geographically.

The data and information on disaster trends in the region serve to reaffirm the fact that although progress has been made in recent years to move towards disaster risk reduction, the region of the Americas continues to be one of the most vulnerable to natural hazards and includes, among its main gaps, the need to integrate disaster reduction in the development planning process and the associated sectoral efforts.

Related Links:

Canada’s Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

Canada’s Approach to Climate Change Consultation

Canada’s Infrastructure Plan