Narendra Modi calls for women’s involvement in disaster risk management

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday sought greater cohesion in the international response to disasters, and urged women to play a bigger role in disaster risk management.

“In the aftermath of a disaster, disaster responders pour in from all over the world. This collective strength and solidarity could be enhanced further if we work under a common umbrella,” Modi said in his inaugural speech at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016.

“The United Nations could think of a common logo and branding under which all those who are helping with relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction operate,” Modi added. Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016.

Modi said India would soon launch a South Asia Satellite which, together with other space-based technologies, could “support the full disaster risk management cycle—risk assessment, risk mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.”

“India is ready to make its space capabilities available to any country for purposes of disaster risk management,” said Modi said in his speech.

The event is the first major conference devoted to disaster risk management after the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction last year.

The Sendai Framework is a 15-year voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the state has the primary role in reducing disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders, including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. It was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) last year.

Participants from countries across the Asian region would discuss various issues related to disaster management like understanding disaster risk, disaster risk governance, investing in disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

The three-day conference aims to achieve a political declaration consolidating commitment of governments of the region towards preventing and reducing disaster risk as well as strengthening resilience by accelerating implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework in the region. It also aims to achieve an “Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework’.

The Prime Minister said the Asia-Pacific is rapidly urbanizing and that poses a daunting challenge.

“Perhaps within a decade more people in the region will live in cities than in villages. Urbanization will pose greater challenges for disaster risk management, by concentrating people, property and economic activity in smaller areas, many of them in disaster-prone locations. If we do not manage this growth, in terms of both planning and execution, the risk of economic and human losses from disasters will be higher than ever before,” said Modi.

Modi outlined a 10-point agenda for renewing efforts towards disaster risk reduction including measures like infrastructure development imbibing the principles of disaster risk management, risk coverage for all whether it is poor households, small and medium enterprises or multi-national corporations or nation states, greater involvement and leadership of women in disaster risk management, investment in risk mapping, using technology to enhance the efficiency of disaster risk management efforts, developing a network of universities to work on disaster issues, using social media in disaster response and building local capacity and initiative.

He also stressed that the opportunity to learn from a disaster is not wasted.

“After every disaster there are papers and reports on lessons learnt that are rarely applied. Often the same mistakes are repeated. We need a more vibrant and visual system of learning,” he added.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who also spoke at the inauguration, said, “There is a clear need to discuss specific aspects of multilateral dialogue and cooperation such as establishment of clear channels of communication, sharing scientific knowledge, creation of a database of disaster response capabilities, and pre-positioning of material to shorten response time.”