India to Co-chair Consultative Group of GFDRR

• 15 May 2019

Recently, India is unanimously chosen as co-chair of the Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020.

Key points

• This is the first time that India has been provided with the opportunity of co-chairing the CG meeting of GFDRR.
• The opportunity will give India a chance to work with the member countries and organizations of GFDRR with a focused contribution towards advancing the disaster risk reduction agenda during the course of the year.
• India’s objective is to pursue a focused agenda and develop synergies with ongoing work streams of GFDRR. Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (DRI) will be a central theme of engagement with the GFDRR partners and stakeholders.
• India became a member of CG of GFDRR in 2015. India’s candidature was backed by its consistent progress in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the country and its initiative to form a coalition on disaster resilient infrastructure.
• The Consultative Group (CG) is GFDRR’s primary decision-making and advisory body.
• Consisting of Members and Observers, the CG sets GFDRR’s long-term strategic objectives and oversees expected results.
• The CG has a Chair, who is a representative of the World Bank Group, and a Co-chair, who is a Member of the CG.

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)

• GFDRR is a global partnership that helps developing countries better understand and reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change.
• It is a grant-funding mechanism, managed by the World Bank, that supports disaster risk management projects worldwide.
• GFDRR was established in September 2006 as a global partnership of the World Bank, UN agencies and bilateral donors.
• Its missions are:
  
  • to mainstream disaster reduction and climate change adaptation (CCA) in country development strategies, and
  • to foster and strengthen global and regional cooperation among various stakeholders under the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) system.
• GFDRR contributes to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction by helping countries to integrate disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into development strategies and investment programs and recover from disasters quickly and effectively.

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030

• The Sendai Framework was adopted by the UN Member States in 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
• It is a 15 year; voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
• The SFDRR 2015-2030 outlines seven global targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks.
• The Seven Global Targets are:
  
  • Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020-2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
  • Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower the average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020 -2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
  • Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.
  • Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.
  • Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.
  • Substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for implementation of this Framework by 2030.
  • Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030.
• The priorities for action are:
  
  • Understanding disaster risk;
  • Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
  • Investing in disaster reduction for resilience and;
  • Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
• The Sendai Framework is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.