BUSAN, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, 30 November 2011—Managing risk is crucial to safeguard investments in poverty-stricken Africa and Asia, where countries can lose as much as a fifth of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to disasters each year. That stark statement by event chair Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction set the scene for the “Building Disaster Resilience for Aid Effectiveness” side event, held at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) in Busan, Republic of Korea.
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The 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) The “Building Disaster Resilience for Aid Effectiveness” side event was jointly organized by the World Bank/Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). The purpose of the side event was to discuss the question of how international aid can better support the disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience agenda. |
The HLF4 - the world's biggest forum on development assistance – was attended by approximately 3,000 people from 160 countries, including UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and U.S. Secretary of State, Ms. Hillary Clinton. Ms. Clinton said that aid helps to transform the lives of millions each year and cited the example of the host country, the Republic of Korea, which rose from having been a poor nation, earning less than US $100 per capita per day, to become one of the world’s richest countries and an aid donor, contributing more than US $1.2 billion in development assistance worldwide.
This side event’s high level panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Wahlström, and included Yoo Chong-Ha, Former President of the Korean Red Cross, Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Margaret Biggs, President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank Vice President for Concessional Finance and Partnerships.
The panel opened with remarks by Dr. Ki-Hwan Li, Administrator of the Korean National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), while Dr. Sangman Jeong,President of the Korean National Disaster Management Institute (NDMI). Both the officials appreciated and congratulated the three agencies for having organized a discussion at the high level forum on a very important topic that need lots of attention by all stakeholders. Dr. Sangman Jeong of NDMI mentioned that "This event is very timely while we have been fac
ing many disasters in the recent past which includes the Tsunami earthquake in Japan, floods in Thailand and the acute drought in the Horn of Africa”. Ms. Wahlström noted that the risk of and economic losses associated with disasters are increasing globally. She mentioned further that the drivers of these changes are climate vulnerability, poor planning, and economic degradation. Nancy Lindborg of USAID mentioned that “We need to focus on linking efforts in disaster preparedness-making our humanitarian systems work effectively alongside our development systems”. Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank Vice President for Concessional Finance and Partnerships, said “We need to shift from reaction to prevention- Resilience should always be seen through a longer-development perspective. We need to work with all sectors of society linking particularly with Civil Society Organisations. Coordination is the key and we are now moving to a more integrated disaster preparedness and resilience model through the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)”.
The panelists concluded that: (1) There is a need for stronger coordination among all parties, including private sector organizations and civil society. Applying an inclusive approach is important in bringing about sustainable development through risk reduction; (2) Stronger coordination must be ensured among donors, humanitarian agencies and government actors. This is key to bring the disaster resilience agenda into the development planning process; (3) Information sharing is key to successful implementation of the disaster resilience agenda. Partners must work hand in hand to enable the reduction of disaster risk; and (4) Capacity building, knowledge sharing, information, transparency and resilience should all be seen as longer-term development goals.
Article and photos courtesy of Dilip Kumar Banja and Cordelia Chesnutt. For more information, please click here or contact Christina Irene at cirene@worldbank.org