From left: Ms. Mami Mizutori, head of UNISDR, Ms. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius, and Dr. Han Seung-soo, Chair, High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP)

By Denis McClean

GENEVA, 3 May, 2018 - Urgent action is needed to address water-related disasters which accounted for 90% of the 1,000 most severe disasters that have occurred since 1990, according to the final outcome document – Making Every Drop Count -  of the High Level Panel on Water, issued in March to kick off the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development.

“Tragedies will continue to be repeated if we do not squarely address water and disaster issues at all levels,” said Dr. Han Seung-soo, the founding chair, as he opened the 11th meeting of the High-Level Experts and Leaders’ Panel on Water and Disaster (HELP) at the World Meteorological Organization HQ in Geneva today.

Citing the report, Dr. Seung-soo said Special Thematic Sessions on water and disasters should continue to be organized biennially in the UN General Assembly, to raise political awareness.

“Water-related disaster risk reduction financing should be doubled globally with the next five years. Specific targets must be set, as an adequate fixed percentage of national GDP,” he said.

Dr. Seung-soo, a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea and UN Special Envoy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Water, also backed efforts to promote higher education on disaster risk reduction including policy studies, natural science and technology.

Other recommendations under consideration include the possibility of a UN Water Summit, the creation of a UN Scientific Panel on Water and strengthened support to UN Member States on coordination of water matters.

The UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Mami Mizutori, said: “Reducing the size of drought vulnerable populations should be a global priority given our knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon and the fact that one billion people have been affected by drought over the last twenty years.”

She remarked that floods which now account for 50% of all weather-related disasters, highlight how disaster risk reduction is both a long-term development issue and a necessary strategy to prevent disasters and save lives in the short to medium term.