A rescue worker and his dog search at the building collapse site after an earthquake hit in Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Sept. 9, 2017. Dan Hang/PA Images. All rights reserved.Summer 2017 has been full of stories about (not so) ‘freak’ weather events. Floods in Japan and Italy and hurricanes in the USA have been extensively covered in news broadcasts (while other disasters in low-income countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and India have been largely ignored). Disasters and the risks they pose are thus becoming more and more prominent on political and media agendas as the damages caused by these disasters are on the increase.
In May 2017 over 6,000 policy makers, local governments’ representatives, NGO, community leaders, researchers and academics from around the world gathered together for the UN’s Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, Mexico. A week of discussion and debate focused on the global agenda to reduce disaster risk.
A number of key messages were presented under the slogan ‘From Commitment to Action’. These highlighted the importance of continuing work on the Sendai Framework for Action’s priority areas and identified other areas that should be mainstreamed in the implementation of disaster risk reduction. This includes ensuring coherence with the sustainable development and climate change agendas, gender-sensitive and inclusive disaster risk reduction, and international cooperation initiatives for critical infrastructure.
