UN official says small island states ‘suffer disproportionately’ when disasters strike

United Nations Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohamed speaking at the 7th Global Platform in Indonesia. (Photo: CMC)

BALI, Indonesia (CMC) – United Nations Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohamed on Wednesday stressed the need to focus on least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) who suffer disproportionately when disasters strike.

Addressing the seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, she told delegates that disasters in LDCs and SIDS “can wipe out decades of development, progress and economic growth in a single event with very serious long-term economic and social consequences”.

SIDS, including the Caribbean region, called on the international community to review the system used to assess countries’ qualification for development assistance.

While the middle-income country status of most Caribbean states disqualifies them from certain types of development assistance, the assessment does not take disaster vulnerability into account.

Mohamed said the global community must intensify international cooperation for disaster risk prevention and reduction in the most vulnerable countries and for the most vulnerable communities, especially women and girls, people with disabilities, the poor. , the marginalized and the isolated.

“A concrete example is the provision of early warning systems, an achievable and effective adaptation measure that offers a more than tenfold return on investment.”

She said that while just 24 hours of warning of a storm can reduce damage by 30%, less than half of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) member states have such systems in place.

Mohamed said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had asked WMO to present an action plan at the next UN climate conference – COP 27 in Egypt in November.

“This will aim to ensure that every person on earth is covered by an early warning system within five years.”

The global platform, which runs until May 28, is held under the theme “From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development for All in a World Transformed by COVID-19”.

Mohamed noted that this has been the global platform since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, adding that the meeting takes place as global crises multiply with devastating effects, especially on the poorest and the most vulnerable.

“People around the world are experiencing the impact of the climate emergency on a daily basis. The war in Ukraine is contributing to soaring food and energy prices, with serious implications for the global financial system,” she said, noting that at the same time the world is facing to the constant threat of other disasters.

“If things continue as they are, we will experience 1.5 medium-to-large scale disasters every day by 2030. As things stand, disasters are already taking their toll on our efforts to achieve the goals. of sustainable development.”

Mohammed said decisions and actions taken at the meeting can inadvertently influence global risk and exposure.

She noted the theme of the Global Platform, adding that in the current context, the meeting takes on added importance, adding that participants need to ensure better coherence and implementation of the humanitarian-development nexus.

“This means improving risk governance because, despite our best efforts, risk creation outweighs risk reduction.”

She said that while governments around the world have made many efforts, “we have not yet put in place the governance frameworks to adequately manage risks, whether it is a global pandemic or of a tsunami, or to mitigate their impact”.

Mohamed said the 2022 Global Assessment Report she recently launched in New York sets out ways in which government systems can evolve to better address systemic risks.

“This clearly shows that in a world of uncertainty, understanding and reducing risk is fundamental to achieving sustainable development,” she said, calling for investments in stronger data capabilities “to ensure that we let’s not leave anyone behind”.

“Through new multilateral instruments, including the UN Complex Risk Analysis Fund, we want to support data ecosystems that can better anticipate, prevent and respond to complex risks before they turn into disasters at whole.”

The UN Under-Secretary-General said this includes jointly developing risk analysis and investing in coordination and data infrastructure that enables knowledge sharing and joint anticipatory action.

“Such investments will help us manage complex risks earlier, faster and in a more targeted and efficient manner.”

She said the public and financial sectors must be “risk proofed”.

“We need to think that resilience represents the real cost of disasters and incentivizes risk reduction to stop the spiral of disaster losses.

“We also need to integrate disaster risk reduction into our financial frameworks. Alternative measures beyond GDP of gross domestic product should consider disaster risk and resilience. The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index is one such measure,” Mohamed said.

“The world looks to this forum for its leadership, wisdom, experience and expertise. The decisions you make today can play an important role in preventing another calamity like the COVID-19 pandemic. We can and must focus our efforts on preventing and reducing risk and building a safe, sustainable, resilient and equitable future for all.