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DRR ‘an investment not simply an expense’

Government representatives agreed that DRR should be regarded as an investment in sustainable development rather than simply an expense.

The DRR in a post-2015 Development Agenda government consultation heard that poorly planned development drives disaster risk and that there is a need to align risk reduction efforts much more explicitly within the coming Sustainable Development Goals.

UNISDR Director Liz Longworth set the scene by making the business case for disaster risk reduction and how it makes clear sense for all stakeholders: governments, communities and businesses.

UNDP’s Assistant Secretary-General and Director for Development Policy Olav Kjorven hailed the current ‘open conversation’ that engages global citizens as part of the process to replace the Millennium Development Goals post-2015.

Dr Tom Mitchell of ODI, based in London, warned that there is ‘significant competition from other issues to be a part of the Sustainable Development Goals’.

He challenged the DRR community to reach out and influence those who do not hold disaster risk reduction as a priority. ‘How many people in the non-DRR world are currently willing and motivated to make the case for DRR?’

The UK said that DRR was not just a humanitarian pursuit but had to be part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Representatives from Japan, Indonesia, Mauritius and Mozambique also supported mainstreaming DRR into sustainable development.

The International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that resilience is context specific and approaches in the Pacific, for example, were not necessarily transferrable or appropriate for other parts of the world. IFRC also urged governments to draw from the many already existing good practices that exist in many communities.