Parliamentarians from the Americas and The Caribbean have a crucial role in addressing the first priority of the Sendai Framework in advancing on disaster risk governance

By: Guadalupe Natareno
UNDRR The Americas and the Caribbean

PANAMA CITY, Panamá, October 4, 2018 - Raúl Salazar, Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNDRR) for the Americas and the Caribbean participated in the
3rd Gathering of the Parliamentary Network on Climate Change, Fostering Climate Action in the Americas and the Caribbean: The Role of Parliaments within the Climate Agenda, held at the American and Caribbean Parliament in Panama on October 4 and 5, 2018.

During his participation, Mr. Raúl Salazar commented that "disaster risk reduction must be considered in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction as a policy to fight poverty". He also highlighted the importance of sustainable development in our region, and how this could not be feasible if the protection of national assets were not considered. These assets favor resilient development, that is, the public-private investments which consider disaster risk at the time of their planning. Similarly, existing links within poverty and disaster reduction goals should be two closely evaluated aspects of the development process.

This is in line with the four targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 which focus on understanding disaster risk (1), strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk (2), investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience (3) and increasing disaster preparedness for effective response and "building back better" in the areas of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The objective of this meeting is to recognize the importance of climate effects, the future actions that can be taken by parliaments to reduce their negative impacts in the region, and how to implement these actions in their respective countries. Parliamentarians from all over the Americas attended, including Guatemala, Cuba, Canada, Panama, Chile, and Uruguay, as did representatives of organizations which included the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UN Women of Ecuador.

ParlAmericas has the vision of exerting significant influence on hemispheric dialogue in the common issues raised by parliamentary institutions and their members, in addition to being a model to follow in the exchange of best practices to better serve the people of the Americas.

Related links

http://parlamericas.org/uploads/documents/Preliminary_Agenda_3PNCC_ENG.pdf

https://www.unisdr.org/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf