The conference was jointly organised by theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, the UnitedNations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Speaking at the event, UNDP Deputy Country Director Bakhodir Burkhanovsaid the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was adopted by theUnited Nations (UN) member states at the Third UN World Conference onDisaster Risk Reduction in Sendai City, Japan in March this year in aneffort to guide the countries in preventing disaster losses in thefuture.
Vietnam has made notable contributionsto regional and global agendas on disaster risk reduction (DRR) andsustainable development, enabling greater cooperation between UN memberstates in tackling the issue. The country has taken action to improvethe effectiveness of disaster risk reduction at local and global levels,Burkhanov noted.
He believed the country wouldcontinue to play an active role in disaster management given the DRRprogramme’s addition into Vietnam’s socio-economic development planbetween 2015 and 2030.
Dang Quang Minh, DeputyDirector of Disaster Management Centre under the MARD, briefedparticipants on Vietnam’s priorities to implement the Sendai Framework,adding that the country has been encouraging the private sector toparticipate in DRR activities as well as promoting the activeinvolvement of communities, notably vulnerable people such as women andchildren, in the effort.
Vietnam hasincreasingly applied science and advanced technology in disastermonitoring, forecast and assessment and fostered more capablegovernmental disaster management bodies at all levels, he said.
Vietnam has worked with the UNDP in national forums on DRR and climate change adaption in implementing its action plan.
For his part, Andrew Maskrey from the UNISDR gave an overview of the2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.
According to the report, the average annual losses from earthquakes,tsunamis, tropical cyclones and river flooding are estimated at 314billion USD in the construction sector alone. The figure would be evenhigher if it included other hazards, such as drought, and other sectors,such as agriculture.
If this risk is notreduced, expected future losses will become a critical opportunity costfor development. Especially in those countries where disaster riskrepresents a significant proportion of capital investment and socialexpenditure, the capacity for future development will be seriouslyundermined. Investing in DRR is thus a precondition for developingsustainably in a changing climate.-VNA