This report reflects the perspectives of individual practitioners who attended the 8th Practitioner Workshop in Bangkok during 23-25 November 2015 . The publication offers solutions to issues, problems and challenges regarding community resilience, expanding preparedness for response and innovation and risk-informed development (pp. 55-67).
The central points ermerging from the discussions are the following:
- Collaboration across agencies and the use of new technologies will be central in ensuring risk-informed decision-making and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
- New technologies have the potential to bring about substantial change to the landscape of disaster preparedness and response.
- Mainstreaming DRR in agriculture is of utmost importance in order to build the resilience of communities and nations in the long-term.
Introduction
Since 1999, disaster risk management practitioners in Asia have gathered every two years with the objectives of sharing learning in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), stocktaking and consolidating good practice and networking. The Disaster Risk Management Practitioner’s Meeting are organised with the financial support of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (known as ECHO), and other contributions such as UNESCAP, ADPC, IFRC and UNDP.
Each meeting is organised around a central theme, which is seen as important to bring the DRR agenda forward and contribution to the national, regional and international DRR frameworks. Past events have covered the following priorities. The past meetings gather between 100-300 practitioners’ from both the development and humanitarian sector, and various institutions (Regional entities, UN, NGOs, Red Cross/Crescent Movement, CSOs, Academia, Think-Tanks, etc.). Technical experts from relevant government agencies have also attended. For practical and logistic reasons, meetings were primarily held either in Thailand (2004, 2006, 2009, 2013), Vietnam (1999, 2001), or Cambodia (2008).
In order to sustain the momentum from Sendai, the 8th Practitioners’ Workshop on Risk Reduction and Resilience in Asia was organised during 23-25 November 2015, gathered over 150 delegates from more than 25 countries, and offered an opportunity to practitioners for interaction and learning through panel discussions and parallel sessions on four distinct but interrelated themes about reducing the risk of natural hazards. The three-day workshop stimulated discussion on a central theme of ‘Risk Reduction and Resilience in Asia,’ and engaged disaster experts to reflect on the outcomes of the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in March 2015, Sendai, Japan. The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) practitioners from Asia and beyond had a chance to brainstorm subjectspecific operational strategies of the Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
The workshop was jointly organized by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, European Commission’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The discussions revolved around four themes, including community resilience, preparedness for response, innovation and risk-informed development, and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into development planning.
Reflecting on these themes, the participants emphasized that no organization can implement the global resilience agenda without forming sustained partnerships.