International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

• 20 Mar 2019

Recently an International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) was held in New Delhi.

• The two-day workshop was organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and in partnership with the Global Commission on Adaptation, United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.
• The objective of workshop were to:
  • Identify good practices of disaster risk management in key infrastructure sectors,
  • Identify specific areas and pathways for collaborative research on DRI (Transport, Energy, Telecom and Water),
  • Discuss and co-create the broad contours of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) as well as a notional roll-out plan for the next three years, and
  • Build a forum for members to work on areas of common interest and make specific commitments.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

• The UNISDR was established in 1999 as a dedicated secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is mandated to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities.
• It is an organisational unit of the UN Secretariat and is led by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG).
• UNISDR's Strategic Framework 2016-2021 has a vision to substantially reduce disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future with the mandate to act as the custodian of the Sendai Framework, supporting countries and societies in its implementation, monitoring and review of progress.

Background

• The first International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI 2018) was held in January 2018 in India.
• India announced the creation of a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) soon after the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which was held in New Delhi in 2016.
  • The CDRI is envisaged as a knowledge exchange and capacity development partnership.
• Various international agreements have also reiterated the importance and long-term benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure.
  • The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), 2015-2030, identifies investing in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for resilience and to build back better in reconstruction as priorities for action towards reducing disaster risk.
  • Similarly, Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognizes disaster resilient infrastructure as a crucial driver of economic growth and development.
  • Besides reducing infrastructure losses, disaster resilient infrastructure will also help achieve targets pertaining to reduction in mortality, number of affected people and economic losses due to disasters.

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 

• The SFDRR 2015-2030 outlines seven clear targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks:
  • Understanding disaster risk;
  • Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
  • Investing in disaster reduction for resilience and;
  • Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
• The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
• It aims to achieve the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.
• The Framework was adopted at the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.