Ms. Mizutori said that the global plan for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, emphasizes the importance of risk-informed investment in critical infrastructure, including water facilities, to avoid the creation of new risk. She was pleased to accept her nomination to HELP proposed by Dr. Seung-soo.

Ms. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius, urged that disaster risk reduction and prevention be integrated in long-term national planning and that education on disaster risk must be stepped up at all levels particularly given the impact of climate change.

The former Co-Chair of the High Level Panel on Water also remarked that “many of the 17 SDGs will fail if we do not address SDG6” in reference to the SDG on access to safe water and sanitation and sound management of fresh water ecosystems.

Ms. Gurib-Fakim also recommended that trans-boundary issues should be addressed as 40% of people live in river basins which cross national borders.

Making Every Drop Count: An Agenda for Water Action was released by a panel of 11 Heads of State and calls for a fundamental shift in the way the world manages water so that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be achieved.

Date:

3 May 2018

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Themes:

Education & School Safety, Governance, Water, Critical Infrastructure

Hazards:

Drought, Flood