Harvesting lessons from COVID-19 towards risk informed development to achieve the SDGs

The Sendai Stakeholders side event Harvesting lessons from COVID-19 towards risk informed development to achieve the SDGs will invite diverse constituencies’ representatives to share case studies, practices and recommendations for breaking away from the vicious disaster cycle, which focuses on response and recovery but lacks systemic approaches to reduce risks altogether. In particular, it will give the floor to those, coming from elevated risk and vulnerability backgrounds, who, although having the least to do with perpetuating this cycle, have the most to do with looking for systemic resilience building solutions.

Practitioners will share case studies of integrating risk-informed development approaches in the COVID-19 recovery and the Agenda 2030 implementation pathway. Drawing on the existing body of knowledge and practice, the panelists will highlight the universality as well as contextualization of risk-informed development practices and identify key elements for ensuring that we build back better and increase our systems, institutions, and community resilience. The discussion will address lessons learned about cross-cutting and intersectional risks in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure we prepare, mitigate and adapt to the pandemic and other risks threatening progress toward sustainable development.