SRSG Kamal Kishore addresses High-Level Ministerial Meeting at the Sixth Session of the Arab Coordination Mechanism for Disaster Risk Reduction

21 August 2024, Egypt –  The Sixth Session of the Arab Coordination Mechanism for Disaster Risk Reduction, organized by the League of Arab States, took place in Cairo, bringing together Arab member states and key stakeholders to discuss advancing disaster risk reduction in the region and the implementation of the Arab Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and its work programme.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for DRR and the Head of UNDRR, Kamal Kishore, commended the League of Arab States for their commitment to advancing disaster risk reduction across the Arab region. Highlighting the region's significant economic losses over the past 50 years due to disasters, the SRSG emphasized the need for stronger collaborations and investments in prevention to build resilient societies. The SRSG also encouraged active engagement in the upcoming Arab Regional Platform and Global Platform for DRR, to ensure that the voices and experiences of the Arab region are well-represented on the global stage, underscoring the importance of collective efforts in achieving a safer, more resilient future for all.

Additionally, UNDRR ROAS actively participated in the Sixth Session of the Arab Coordination Mechanism, presenting the outcomes of previous Regional and Global Platforms for DRR. The participation came to highlight the critical importance of the upcoming Arab Regional Platform in Kuwait (2024) and Global Platform in Switzerland (2025), focusing on their objectives and the anticipated results that will drive disaster risk reduction efforts forward in the region and beyond.

In her opening remarks, Nora Achkar, Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States, highlighted the office's close collaboration with Arab countries in conducting the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, “Through national and regional consultations, this collaboration culminated in the first regional report, which was submitted to the UN Secretariat. The report's findings and recommendations contributed to the Political Declaration on the Mid-Term Review of the Sendai Framework, adopted at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting in May 2023."