The First Informal meeting on the preparation of the 2010 High-Level Plenary meeting of the General Assembly on Millennium Development Goals, took place in UN Headquarters in New York on 8 March. The meeting was convened by the two co-facilitators of the MDG process, namely the Permanent Representatives of Denmark and Senegal, to initiate a dialogue among Member States and the UN system on the MDGs.
The following statement of WFP, delivered by Ms. Sheila Susulu, Deputy Executive Director, of behalf of Ms Josette Sheeran Executive Director, highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction for the achievement of MDGs.
"We must work with nations to reduce the risk of disaster by improving resiliency, developing plans, and being ready to act," stated Ms Sheeran. She described a successful programme for climate change adaptation and risk reduction programme, Managing Environmental Resources to Enable Transition (MERET), introduced in Ethiopia by WFP, which whilst reducing the risk of flooding, landslides and erosion, has increased food and agriculture productivity. "We need to be ready for disasters, which put millions at risk for hunger each year," she said, underlining the linkages between disasters and hunger.
Finally Ms Sheeran stated that the development and deployment of risk management tools, seldom available in developing countries particularly exposed to the risk of natural hazards, was to be addressed in the near future. "Such tools protect livelihoods by facilitating timely support and limiting the economic damage of disasters."
