Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction
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Strategies, governance and capacity-building
Target E of the Sendai Framework calls for a substantial increase in the number of countries with national and local DRR strategies by 2020.
Though a strategy is not the end goal, UNDRR has found that countries with national DRR strategies tend to have more robust DRR governance and a higher prevalence of EWS, demonstrating the value of investment in this fundamental DRR pillar.
The Government of Jordan has developed its National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (2023–2030) in a participatory manner involving different governmental entities, ministries and municipalities, and the Public Security Directorate (Civil Defense), with support from UNDRR and the United Nations Development Programme country office. The strategy also integrates biological hazard risk reduction with the aim of building back better after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within the framework of Jordan’s efforts to deal with increasing threats and risks, the National Centre for Security and Crises Management has played a major role in developing two integrated risk registers; the national risk register and the local register for governorates. Both registers aim to improve the kingdom’s capacity to respond to disasters through accurate identification of risks, and enhanced coordination between the local and national levels for improved risk governance.
Through this effective coordination between the national and local risk registers, Jordan has made great strides in reducing risks and enhancing community resilience, making the kingdom a role model for disaster management and risk reduction at the regional level.
Morocco, too, has taken concrete steps to strengthen its risk governance. It established the Directorate of Natural Risk Management under the Ministry of Interior as its national DRR coordination mechanism. Morocco also established the National Risk Observatory to collect, analyse and share data on natural hazard risk. Furthermore, Morocco established a National Risk Forecasting Centre for monitoring and alerting, and an Operational Risk Anticipation Centre for forecasting, alerting and risk management assistance systems. Another successful project comprised the generalization of coverage of the entire national territory using multiscale and multi-hazard risk maps (for natural hazards).
Albania’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy demonstrates widespread integration of concerns related to climate change and triggers the engagement of new sectors, particularly tourism.
The vision statement explicitly brings together DRR, climate change and sustainable development using the language of resilience, while the document includes a detailed plan of action for DRR implementation that integrates institutions such as the Ministry of Tourism and Environment and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
In particular, it articulates the implementation of the ALBAdapt project Climate Services for a Resilient Albania. The Ministry of Tourism and Environment is identified as the lead institution for implementation of a set of activities that offer compounding co-benefits for both DRR and climate change adaptation, including the development of a people-centred MHEWS, the creation of a fully functional and well-resourced National Meteorological and Hydrological Service.
This integration is supported by articulations elsewhere in the country’s strategic profile, with the National Adaptation Plan 2019 including a priority area entitled “upgrading civil defence preparedness and DRR”. Elsewhere, the National Security Strategy of the Republic of Albania (2023–2028) addresses risks ranging from national security threats to climate change impacts, emphasizing resilience to disasters, while the National Strategy for Development and European Integration (NSDEI) 2022–2030 includes the integration of DRR and climate change adaptation planning among its priorities.
National DRR strategies are the bedrock for multi-hazard risk governance and the achievement of Sendai Framework targets. These strategies help transform risk knowledge into actions and programmes that save lives and livelihoods. In addition, they serve as guides for mobilizing resources, delegating roles and responsibilities within government, and identifying entry points for non-governmental stakeholder engagement, all leading to more inclusive, sustainable development.
With 131 countries now reporting having national DRR strategies, and 30 receiving technical support from UNDRR to develop them, this is just a snapshot of the progress being made globally in this important area.
Under Brazil’s presidency, the Group of 20 (G20) recognized DRR as a critical component of economic resilience. Collaborating closely with UNDRR, Brazil facilitated the adoption of the first-ever G20 Ministerial Declaration on DRR. This landmark declaration emphasized the necessity of accelerating the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction’s implementation, aiming to reduce disaster losses by 2030, and called for the development of high-level principles for DRR financing. The work of the G20 DRR Working Group, with UNDRR as the lead knowledge partner, further reflected a comprehensive approach to integrating DRR into economic and social policies.
UNDRR’s capacity-building continues to go from strength to strength, with nearly 10,000 DRR practitioners being trained in 2024, 77 per cent of whom reported having a better understanding of DRR as a result. At one such workshop in the Global Education and Training Institute in Incheon, Republic of Korea, a remarkable collaboration unfolded – a pioneering workshop uniting experts from UNDRR and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to empower government stakeholders from Mongolia and Bhutan to mobilize relevant partners and stakeholders and obtain funding for their DRR measures. This joint training begins a process of transforming the daunting challenges of climate change into opportunities for proactive DRR.
Delegates were empowered by not only technical insights, but also the forging of lasting partnerships. The workshop’s training modules, co-designed by UNDRR and GCF specialists, delved deep into practical tools such as the EW4All Checklist for Gap Analysis, equipping participants to critically assess their national capacities and pinpoint vulnerabilities. “Early warning systems are important components for our national climate change adaptation strategy,” noted Ms. Tserendulam Shagdarsuren, Director General of the Climate Change Department, Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Mongolia, emphasizing how the training illuminated the next steps for their evolving EWS.
This pilot UNDRR–GCF initiative is part of a broader strategy to replicate capacity-building endeavours in developing countries. Future workshops are planned for countries that are in very different geographic contexts yet face similar challenges (particularly those resulting from climate change), such as Somalia, Togo and the SIDS. These workshops aim to accelerate access to climate finance and enhance DRR measures worldwide.
In a continuation of the Media Saving Lives programme, UNDRR and partners trained 520 journalists and media practitioners in DRR and risk communications, bringing the total to over 2,500 from 80 countries. Media are an integral part of the EWS delivery chain, and engaging them to build trust between government and communities can be the difference between life and death when disaster hits.
The rise in global temperatures and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events are rapidly becoming central challenges for nations worldwide. Yet many Member States, cities and societies remain ill-prepared to address this escalating threat. The imperative for enhanced extreme heat risk reduction, governance and management is clear. Without urgent and coordinated action, extreme heat will continue to endanger billions of lives, amplify health risks and threaten the ecosystems upon which we depend.
In response, the UNDRR/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience – together with the Global Heat Health Information Network, Duke University and WMO Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience partners – has developed an extreme heat decision-support package for countries tackling this global threat. The package includes: international organization resource and ecosystem mapping, readiness reviews and profiles; national best practice analytics; evaluations of heat action plans; and materials for development of an extreme heat maturity index for self-assessment. These materials can enhance collaboration, integrated heat risk governance and policy responses to extreme heat.
UNDRR’s work and that of United Nations system partners, coupled with increasing demands for assistance from Member States, prompted and informed the United Nations Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat, issued in July 2024, in which he emphasized the need for urgent action if a future characterized by even more devastating heat impacts on lives, economies and ecosystems is to be avoided.
This work is in turn informing the development of a Common Framework for Heat Risk Governance, led by UNDRR with the Global Heat Health Information Network, and Member States, international organizations and stakeholders. The Framework will receive inputs from (and is designed to bring together) multiple sectors, domains and scales – from agriculture and food systems, to energy systems, transportation, construction materials and design, and urban cooling. It is expected to assist national and subnational decision makers in designing and resourcing integrated actions to reduce extreme heat risk to people, urban and rural ecosystems, and the environment, preventing the loss of lives and livelihoods.