In this latest blogpost, DARWIN project partner Rebecca Forsberg outlines how the DARWIN project is contributing to The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The DARWIN Community of Crisis and Resilience Practitioners (CoCRP) was established in order to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. This is also the goal of The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the Third UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.
According to the Sendai Framework, more than 1.5 billion people have been affected by disasters in various ways. As a result, the well-being and safety of persons, communities and countries as a whole have been affected. Over 700,000 people have lost their lives, over 1.4 million have been injured and approximately 23 million have been made homeless as a result of disasters.
The CoCRP, consisting of relevant stakeholders across Europe, will develop generic guidelines in order to prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and consequently strengthen resilience. The CoCRP will do this together with nine European organizations in the fields of resilience, crisis and risk management, communications and social media, air traffic management and healthcare.
This is in line with the Sendai framework’s position on how resilience can be improved. The need for accountability for disaster risk creation at all levels is also a Sendai goal. Disaster risk reduction practices need to be multi-hazard and multi-sectoral. They also need to be accessible in order to be efficient and effective. The DARWIN project will adopt innovative tools; including serious gaming and training packages to ensure that the guidelines will be easily accessible, user-friendly and deal with challenges effectively.
Disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change and which are increasing in frequency and intensity, significantly impede progress towards sustainable development. Evidence indicates that exposure of persons and assets to risk in all countries has increased faster than vulnerability has decreased, thus generating new risks and a steady rise in disaster related losses, with a significant economic, social, health, cultural and environmental impact in the short, medium and long term.
Therefore, it is urgent and critical to anticipate, plan for and reduce new and existing disaster risks in order to more effectively protect persons, communities and countries, and thus strengthen their resilience.
Collaboration between the public and private sectors and civil society organizations, as well as academic and research communities will be essential for effective disaster risk preparedness and management. Effective collaboration and disaster risk preparedness can improve recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The CoCRP will provide feedback on the usefulness and relevance of the evolving resilience guidelines. This will facilitate understanding of disaster risks by sharing experiences, lessons learned, good practices and training and education on disaster risk reduction.
The up-to-date and effective guidelines under construction will consequently facilitate faster, more effective and highly adaptive responses to crises and accordingly have a direct impact on the safety of European citizens in times of crisis and disaster into the future. For this reason DARWIN is proud to contribute to Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction goal for 2015-2030;
“Prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through the implementation of measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience”
Here you find the full report: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf
Tags: Darwin disaster risk reduction Europe Horizon 2020 sendai framework
