The Path to saving lives starts with prevention

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest global challenge we have faced in our lifetime. Millions of lives have been lost, billions affected, and huge economic costs incurred. All countries around the world have felt the heavy social and economic impacts of the pandemic. We cannot afford to do this all over again. We need to recover better, greener and more resilient – especially in the face of the climate emergency. The Prevention Saves Lives campaign engages partners from youth advocates to high-level decision-makers, to call for increased disaster prevention.

Join #PreventionSavesLives in calling on policymakers to integrate disaster risk reduction into investment decisions as a response to the devastating disasters resulting from increased climate change and in the build-up from the pandemic: It is time to make a difference!

HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: MOVING FROM DISASTER RISK TO RESILIENCE

At present, disaster resilience is often not prioritised because it is seen as a cost for an event that might never happen. This results in devastating impacts when disasters do occur. We need to reframe the narrative on disaster resilience, demonstrating that it is an investment and not a cost.

An important step in advocating this necessary transformative approach was taken at the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR), held from 24 to 26 November 2021 in Matosinhos, Portugal. With 1250 virtual participants and delegations from 49 European and Central Asian Member States, the EFDRR 2021 set the foundation for strengthened action on disaster prevention and risk reduction. The Forum explored lessons learnt from the recent pandemic and climatic disasters, and championed a pathway to change that delivers a resilient future.

The agreements made at EFDRR have established significant momentum in support of the resilience agenda and the aim of the Prevention Saves Lives campaign. The EFDRR Roadmap 2021-2030 and the Matosinhos Prevention Pledge, endorsed at the EFDRR Ministerial Roundtable, are important outcomes that should further support action for improving multi-hazard risk knowledge, ensuring inclusive and inter-ministerial risk governance, and strengthening investments in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

Building on our continuous efforts to enhance resilience and looking ahead to the 2022 Global Platform on DRR, it will now be important to take forward these shared commitments.

Stand together to support turning these words into action and to deliver a resilience agenda across the Europe and Central Asia region and beyond. Use Social Media resources to raise awareness of Prevention Saves Lives: EFDRR and Prevention Pledge Toolkit and Activation Toolkit