Parl Americas and UNDRR sign Letter of Cooperation to advance Sendai Framework in Latin America and the Caribbean

By: Parl Americas

Edited by: UNDRR – The Americas

OTTAWA, Canada – October 26th 2017— Last Friday, October 20th, ParlAmericas and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) signed a Letter of Cooperation as the first step in a joint work plan to update and promote a parliamentary protocol centered in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction to guide national parliaments in updating legislation related to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

The signing took place on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, during a parliamentary luncheon for, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR Mr. Robert Glasser which was hosted by the Honourable Robert Nault, Member of Parliament (Canada) and Vice-President of ParlAmericas, as well as Mr. Dan Ruimy, Member of Parliament (Canada) and Vice-President for North America of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change.

 "It is necessary to strengthen the legislative framework to promote a paradigm shift towards risk-sensitive and resilient development. New or amended legislation should include a set of standard essential elements and link with related legal instruments to prevent and reduce risk effectively and strengthen resilience. Considering the high vulnerability of the Americas and the Caribbean to disasters, updating the parliamentary protocol on disaster risk reduction will help parliaments of the region to align their national legislation with the advances made with the Sendai Framework" noted Mr. Robert Glasser.

Through the discussion, Mr. Nault noted that, "For Canada to ensure our development assistance investments have the greatest impact, we must find ways to promote the integration of disaster risk reduction into climate change programs. Parliamentarians can assist to protect development gains in the hemisphere by creating incentives for governments and stakeholders to adopt disaster risk planning whenever it is possible."

The Sendai Framework, adopted during the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in May 2015, in Sendai, Japan. As part of its core priorities and targets, the Sendai Framework calls on parliamentarians to support disaster risk reduction by developing or amending relevant legislation and setting budget allocations. Thus, ParlAmericas and UNDRR will work to promote coherence of national legislation with local disaster risk reduction frameworks and policies to guide actions of public and private actors to address disaster risk.

Alisha Todd, Director General of ParlAmericas, explained that "ParlAmericas works to support the parliaments of the Americas and the Caribbean in advancing the climate change agenda and the implementation of the Paris Agreement in particular, adding, "we look forward to our partnership with UNDRR and the opportunities this presents for both institutions to further integrate disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development in national legislation."

About ParlAmericas:

ParlAmericas is the inter-parliamentary institution that promotes parliamentary diplomacy in the inter-American system. Convening the national legislatures from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, ParlAmericas works to strengthen democratic governance in the hemisphere by enhancing the ability of legislators to fulfill their roles and responsibilities through exchanges of parliamentary best practices and by promoting cooperative political dialogue on regional issues.

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Parlamericas

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

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