22 November 2016 – The Philippines shared its recent initiatives on disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the event on “Accelerating Implementation of the Sendai Framework: from Sendai to Cancun”, hosted by Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA) in partnership with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), at the sidelines of the historic final meeting in Geneva on the development of indicators and terminology for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 on November 15.

 “Having learned from our painful experiences on recent disasters, our government has become more purposive in managing risks, and our people more conscious about it, even prior to the Sendai Conference. The national and local governments, as well as the private sector have become more involved in DRR,” said Ms. Remedios Soriano Endencia, Director, Regional Development Staff, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of the Philippines.

The Philippines is now formulating its Philippine Development Plan for 2017 to 2022, spearheaded by NEDA. The plan recognizes building resilience as one of the foundations of inclusive growth. 

“The relevant goals and action points of the Sendai framework are being incorporated in relevant sectors such as trade and industry, social services, infrastructure, environment and, most importantly in shelter delivery or resettlement, which has been the biggest challenge in our rehabilitation and recovery programs,” Director Endencia explained.

The “sunset review” the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law (PDRRM Law/RA 10121) is also underway to address issues that have constrained the more effective implementation of pre- and post-disaster actions and which seek to establish a stronger authority on disaster risk reduction and management.

Stronger partnerships between national government and the academe in doing science-based risk assessments as well as the increasing number of partnerships between the government and private organizations in disaster mitigation were also highlighted in Director Endencia’s presentation.

Director Endencia is a member of the Philippine Delegation to the Third Open-Ended Inter-governmental Expert Working Group that is currently meeting in Geneva, Switzerland to finalize the development of indicators to measure global progress on the Sendai Framework’s seven agreed targets. The Working Group is also meeting in order to update the terminologies on DRR.

Experts from Member States are attending the meeting, together with stakeholders, including civil society organizations, private sector, local government, scientific institutions, as well as to the UN system entities. END