Disaster risk reduction and resilience building in LLDCs: From commitment to action

Time

13:15-14:45 UTC+5

Background

Building resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR) are key enablers to the achievement of sustainable development, particularly in Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). These countries grapple with persistent developmental challenges, while possessing geographies that leave them disproportionately vulnerable to natural hazards. The impacts of climate change, including droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and melting glaciers, among others, negatively affect people's livelihoods, access to water and sanitation, agricultural production, infrastructure systems, biodiversity and, ultimately achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

LLDCs are not only impacted by disasters within their own borders, but their supply chains and economies also suffer consequences from disasters in neighboring transit countries. Moreover, desertification and land degradation, dependency on natural resource-based commodities, border closures, rising food and energy costs, and debt burden, as well as socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all have had a dramatic effect on the resilience of LLDCs.

In light of these circumstances, the Programme of Action for LLDCs (2024-2034) highlights as its fourth Priority Area "Enhancing Adaptive Capacity, Strengthening Resilience and Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change and Disasters". This emphasis acknowledges the importance of building economies and societies in LLDCs that are resilient to current and emerging disasters, external shocks and the adverse impact of climate change and environmental degradation. To this end, the Programme of Action commits to targeted action on climate adaptation; disaster risk reduction; access to climate change finance; capacity building and technology transfer; resilient infrastructure development; loss and damage; and halting and reversing biodiversity loss.

While LLDCs have been making efforts to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, they continue facing numerous resource and capacity challenges that limit the fulfillment of their commitment to DRR. The new Programme of Action for LLDCs seeks to ensure that sufficient domestic, external, public and private resources are mobilized to meet the growing investment and spending needs of LLDCs, while emphasizing the need to build more resilient societies, including through capacity development, technology transfer and international cooperation.

Moving forward, LLDCs need enhanced engagement and support from development partners - in the North and South - to complement national and regional efforts towards regionwide resilience. Additional support and improved access are critical to ensure adequate financing for resilient infrastructure projects, including building resilient trade and transport systems and improving capacity for risk management, including though regional integration. Greater efforts are also needed to mobilize stakeholders and to create proactive plans for identifying and addressing future risks. A focus on regional collaboration is not just a means to mitigate risk but an opportunity to improve cooperation and build long-term partnerships with transit countries.

Objectives 

Against this background, the side event will bring together representatives of LLDC governments, partners and the UN system to discuss the way forward to implement the disaster risk reduction and resilience building commitments and targets outlined in the new Programme of Action. The event will inform the next concrete steps to support the coordinated implementation of the risk reduction and resilience building aspects of the Programme of Action for LLDCs (2024-2034).

Discussions will center on the following strategic objectives across the five priority areas of action identified in the new Programme of Action:

• promoting capacity development on risk knowledge and risk data and analytics
• supporting policy and technical support on de-risking investments
• enabling increased financing, technical assistance, capacity building and transfer of technology, including to avert, minimize and address loss and damage
• furthering principles for resilient infrastructure, including through cooperation at regional level, and enabling investments from public and private partners
• fostering a culture of risk-informed planning and comprehensive risk management in all sectors, including raising ambition for risk-informed climate change adaptation and enabling loss and damage.

Speakers will identify good practices as well as policy, capacity and resource gaps that must be addressed to ensure the full implementation of the Programme of Action for LLDCs (2024-2034) in a manner that supports resilient and risk-informed development in the LLDCs. 

Programme

Moderator: Ms. Natalia Alonso Cano, Chief, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, UNDRR

Scene-setting presentation

Panel 1: First-hand experiences in DRR and the business case for resilience

• Mr. Johann Saathoff, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
• Mr. François Batalingaya, UN Resident Coordinator, Chad
• Ms. Tinaye Hazel Mabara, Co-Founder, Bokamoso Resilience Initiative, Botswana

Panel 2: Infrastructure and DRR: resilience, regional cooperation and connectivity

• H.E. Mr. Krzysztof Maria Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations
• Mr. Radu Marian, Member of Parliament and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance, Minister of Environment of the Republic of Moldova
• Ms. Simonetta Siligato, Director, UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office

Open Discussion