PH Gov’t, Civil Society Join Hands to Support Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
National Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana delivers the Philippine statement at the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on 04 July 2018. (Geneva PM photo)
GENEVA 09 July 2018 – The Philippines expressed its renewed commitment to the implementation of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030, at the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction that is being held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 03 to 06 July 2018.
“We reiterate our collective commitment to the priorities of the Sendai Framework and its seven global targets,” said National Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana during his delivery of the Philippine ministerial statement at the Conference.
Secretary Lorenzana, in his capacity as chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the Philippines, is the head of the Philippine delegation that is composed of government agencies—Office of Civil Defense, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and City Governments of Makati and Iriga—and partners of the Philippine Government on DRR and development issues such as civil society organizations, the private sector, and the academe.
The Philippines is considered a model for multi-stakeholder cooperation on DRR. As global country champion on DRR, it has remained at the forefront of all stakeholder involvement in DRR.
The Philippines exemplifies having a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder national platform toward risk-sensitive development and innovative risk management, which is replicated from the national down to the local levels in the country.
Secretary Lorenzana also said that even beyond the country, the Philippine Government is also doing concrete programs to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework.
Just recently, in line with South-South cooperation, the Philippine Government organized a Regional Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness, and Disaster Displacement on the island of Panglao in Bohol, Philippines from 19 to 22 June 2018, wherein 11 Pacific Island countries and Timor Leste participated.
“Our primary goal remains to be the protection of lives and the prevention of economic losses. It is our aspiration to ensure safer, disaster-resilient, and climate change-adaptive Filipino communities,” Secretary Lorenzana said, adding that, “as we strive to prevent disaster risks and build resilient communities, together we are on our path in ensuring sustainable development for all of us today and for the next generations to come.”
The 2018 AMCDRR is the second regional ministerial conference since the adoption of the Sendai Framework and is a gathering of representatives of Asian and Pacific countries, stakeholder groups, and development and humanitarian partners that aims to review the progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework.
The ‘Ulaanbaatar Declaration’—a 2018-2020 Action Plan for implementation of the Asia Regional Plan—and voluntary commitments will be the outcome of the Conference, which concluded on 06 July 2018. END
The Philippine delegation to the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 03 to 06 July 2018. (Geneva PM photo)
For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/.