Philippines, UNISDR Commit to Continue Joint Efforts in Disaster Risk Reduction 

Ambassador Evan P. Garcia (right), Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva, with Dr. Robert Glasser (left), Special Representative to Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, at the UNISDR Headquarters in Geneva on 26 October 2017. Both officials vowed continued engagement on disaster risk reduction.

03 November 2017 GENEVA – The Philippines and the United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) committed to continue joint efforts in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva, paid a courtesy call on Dr. Robert Glasser, Special Representative to Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction at the UNISDR Headquarters in Geneva on October 26, where both officials vowed to continue strengthening their commitment in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 through joint efforts on DRR.

Ambassador Garcia emphasized that the Philippines will continue to be a proactive DRR country champion, and will actively engage in DRR at the national, regional and global levels.

Dr. Glasser thanked Ambassador Garcia and cited that it appreciates the Philippines’ continued leadership in DRR, likewise commending the many engagements the country has undertaken the past years in keeping the momentum in the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

Various UN agencies and international organizations have also been promoting the Philippines as a model for governments and stakeholders for its leadership role and active engagement and initiatives in DRR, thus, the country has since then been internationally known as “a DRR country champion.”

It may be recalled that the Philippines actively took part in the negotiations that led to the adoption in March 2015 of the Sendai Framework in Sendai, Japan. The Philippines likewise had a constructive year (from June 2015 to July 2016) of chairing the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Support Group, a Geneva-based self-organized group that is composed of interested Member States, serving as a driving instrument to further and support the implementation of the Sendai Framework in its first year following its adoption and furthering its mainstreaming into, and ensuring coherence with key international agreements adopted in 2015.

The Philippine Government and the UNISDR have a long-standing partnership in addressing DRR in the Philippines. Both sides collaborate in organizing trainings/workshops and conducting pilot studies on DRR, as well as closely coordinate on DRR-related projects and events. This strong partnership is also demonstrated by UNISDR’s more than 37 high-level visits to the Philippines for the past five years. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg.