The Sendai Framework for DRR and the Philippines

Invited Article

Jerry Velasquez, D. Eng.
Chief of Section, Advocacy and Outreach
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
9-11 Rue de Varembé CH1202 Geneva, Switzerland

 

In a quiet city of Sendai in Japan just before midnight on March 18, 2015, 185 States adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a new global roadmap for reducing disaster risks globally for the next 15 years. Adopted at the closing event of the 3^rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), States through the Framework committed to reduce the number of deaths, people affected, economic losses, and damages to critical infrastructures over 15 years.  To do this, they committed to radically improve their national and local risk reduction plans and strategies, increase technical cooperation and support to developing countries, and improve availability and access to early warning systems and risk information.

The Philippines, one of the most active countries who negotiated the Framework, welcome its adoption. The Philippines pushed for the Framework to address disaster-related health issues, migrants, inclusion of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) concept, and the strengthening of international cooperation and global partnership. The Philippines also strongly worked for the inclusion of the concept of “multi-hazard” early warning systems in the Framework, and for the recognition of the need to empower local authorities/local communities in DRR

The Philippines succeeded in getting these issues in the Sendai Framework, with many paragraphs in the priority areas containing references to multi-hard early warning systems in improving efforts in DRR. Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman, head of the Philippine delegation to the WCDRR welcomed the Sendai Framework and noted the country’s strong commitment to implement it.

The Sendai Framework calls on States to undertake a few things urgently, and these will all be relevant for the Philippines. These include the appointment of national focal points for the Framework, who will then be responsible for national coordination, to nominate experts to open-ended inter-governmental working group for development of indicators & terminology, to update risk information for biological, man-made hazards, to update national & local DRR strategies & plans with targets and indicators and with a balance of goals to reduce existing risks, prevent future risks and build resilience to deal with residual risks.

It also calls States to report status of implementation of plans, identify baselines & set targets for risks and DRR action, review and update relevant national legislation, work with other States to update regional DRR strategies, promote the development of local platforms on DRR, and promote coherence across sustainable development and climate agreements in 2015.

With coming sunset review of the 2010 Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act in 2015, the gearing up of actions and funding through the Philippine Survival Fund on Climate Change, a number of opportunities are available to use the Sendai Framework for its own benefit.

For example, it maybe possible to promote a more open review of the 2010 DRRM Act with a view of revising the Law and more importantly update the national and local plans on DRR. There is also scope to revisit the MOU signed between the NDRRMC and CCC in 2012 to improve cooperation especially in the provision of coherent risk information locally and the development of coherent and improved local DRRM plans.

There may also be other opportunities for the Philippines to capitalize on the Sendai Framework to improve its work in disaster risk reduction and management. However to start it would be necessary for the country to begin with an in depth and multi stakeholder reading of the Sendai Framework in the near future.

The rationale for action in this area for the Philippines is clear. Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural hazards, including cyclonic storms, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts, forest fires, landslides, and epidemics. The reported disaster data for the past 40 years shows that Philippines was visited by 243 storms in the last three decades, causing total economic losses of $ 6.2 billion.

The Sendai Framework is the successor to The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (HFA1) - Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, which came out of the World Conference held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. The new framework for DRR aims to guide nations, communities and other actors in managing risks and preventing the creation of new risks post-2015.

 

Jerry Velasquez
Chief of Section, Advocacy and Outreach
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
9-11 Rue de Varembé CH1202 Geneva, Switzerland
T: +41 22 917 8901  M: +41 79 217 3060  F: +41 229178964
E: velasquezg@un.org    W: http://www.unisdr.org/
Twitter: @jerry_velasquez  Skype: jerry.velasquez99