The Royal Thai Government in collaboration with United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has organized the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) on 22-26 June, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting has brought countries, organizations and individual practitioners to meet and to discuss the Post 2015 framework of disaster risk reduction or HFA2. With the theme of “Promoting Investments for Resilient Nations and Communities”, the conference delivered significant outcomes including Bangkok declaration as a political commitment to reduce the risk of disaster, Asia Pacific input for the Post 2015 Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2), and a set of voluntary commitment statements by the key stakeholder groups.
UCLG ASPAC as the coordinator of Mayors and Local Governments Stakeholder Group, one of the ten (10) stakeholder groups established by UNISDR, contributed to organize Pre-Conference Meeting for the Stakeholder Groups on 23 June, 2014 as part of advocacy activities of the organization. Attended by 46 participants from local governments in Asia and Pacific, the meeting discussed final recommendations for HFA2 from the perspective of local authorities, way forward for the HFA2 implementation, mechanism to enhance collaboration among stakeholder groups, and also voluntary statement of the Mayors and Local Governments.
The recommendations for the HFA2 highlighted the essential role of local governments in building local resilience, the need to strengthen local governments’ position in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) by having a clear decentralized responsibilities, consistent budget allocation and staffing, and also the greater attention to building local governments’ capacity as well as monitoring, evaluation and accountability of DRR’s programs. Furthermore, the pre-conference also noted that local governments shall work together under the slogan of ‘you are not alone’ as local governments are the front line during the disaster and the last one remain after the disaster. Addressing the necessity to work in collaboration, the stakeholder group has suggested several actions to develop cooperation with other stakeholders including national governments. These actions are further embedded in the voluntary statement that was presented by Mr. Syed Muhammad Asghar Syah Gillani, the President of UCLG ASPAC during the closing ceremony of 6th AMCDRR on 26 June 2014.
