Participants at the ISDR Asia Partnership (photo: UNISDR)

By Andy McElroy

BANGKOK, 15 December 2017 – Governments and stakeholder partners from across Asia have renewed their commitment to a substantial increase in the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.

The call for action on Target (e) of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan to reduce disaster losses, was made this week at the ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP), an inter-governmental and stakeholder forum that meets biannually.

Officials from 19 governments, three inter-governmental regional organization plus representatives from various stakeholders have been meeting in Bangkok this week to review progress on disaster risk reduction in the region and to support preparations for the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2018 (AMCDRR 2018), in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The IAP welcomed the focus of the AMCDRR 2018 on achieving target (e) under the overall conference theme ‘Preventing Disaster Risk: Protecting Sustainable Development’. It is one of seven Sendai Framework targets seeking to bring about a substantial reduction in disaster losses by 2030.

Countries represented were Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ms. Sayanaa Lkhagvasuren, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, Mr. U. Enkhtuvshin, who is responsible for disaster risk reduction, said hosting the AMCDRR 2018 was a huge opportunity for both Mongolia and Asia.