2017 Global Platform for DRR – Cancun, Mexico
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (Global Platform), as recognized by the UN General Assembly, is the main forum at the global level for strategic advice, coordination, partnership development and the review of progress in the implementation of international instruments on disaster risk reduction. It was established in 2006 and is now the world’s foremost gathering of stakeholders committed to reducing disaster risk and building the resilience of communities and nations.
The Global Platform is characterized by a format that facilitates dialogue and exchanges among all stakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental. It features a high-level dialogue which brings together senior government officials, including heads of state and government, ministers, mayors and parliamentarians and leaders from the private sector, science and civil society.
The Global Platform holds biennial sessions. To date, there have been four, in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013, all of them held in Geneva. The 2015 edition did not take place, given that that year saw the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which included a significant and highly appreciated multi-stakeholder dimension.
The guidance in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction concerning the function of the Global and Regional Platforms, identified in paragraphs 28 (c) and 49, has a direct bearing on the setting of their agendas. Further guidance in the Sendai Framework can be derived from:
- The “Global and regional levels” segments of the four priorities for action;
- Section VI on “International cooperation and global partnership”;
- The seven global targets.
It is also expected that additional issues for discussion will emerge from the monitoring of implementation, including from countries’ reports on the implementation of the Sendai Framework.
Moreover, the Global Platform is expected to provide contributions from a disaster risk reduction perspective to the deliberations of UN governance bodies and mechanisms, such as the General Assembly, the ECOSOC and the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and especially for the follow-up processes to UN conferences and summits, in particular the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2017 Global Platform
The 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction will be held in Cancun, Mexico on 22-26 May. It will be the first time the most important international forum dedicated to the disaster risk reduction agenda has been staged outside Geneva.
The Global Platform will mark the first opportunity for the international community to review global progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted in Japan in 2015. More than 5,000 participants are expected, including policy makers and disaster risk managers.
Key expected outcomes
Key expected outcomes during the 2017 Global Platform include:
· A stronger and more sustainable movement to reduce disaster risk worldwide that leads to increased responsibility for strengthening resilience to disasters.
· A dynamic and trend-setting forum for decision makers, partners, experts and practitioners to announce initiatives, launch products, share information, promote campaigns, and provide evidence around disaster risk reduction.
· Guidance and new alliances for the development and use of tools and methodologies aimed at understanding and applying the economics and investment of disaster risk reduction.
· A forum to discuss progress under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
· Events that follow up and advance the agenda of the 2013 Global Platform.
· Priorities and directions reflected in the outcome document: the Chair’s Summary.
The Global Platform Chair’s Summary is intended to capture the essence of deliberations of the various sessions and identify specific, concrete and practical measures to drive implementation further over the following two years.
In addition, there may be a short high-level communiqué, reflecting the commitments of leaders across the various groups of stakeholders. The Chair’s Summary and the communiqué are not negotiated documents: the Chair facilitates their preparation. While the Chair’s Summary and the communiqué are finalized at the Global Platform, their “elements” need to be identified through, and developed on the basis of, the preparatory process, and in particular through the definition of expected/desirable outcomes of the various Global Platform meetings and events, as well as inputs from the deliberations of the Regional Platforms.
If you are interested in attending the event, please visit the UNISDR webpage for the 2017 Global Platform: www.unisdr.org/conferences/2017/globalplatform/en
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