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TDDR at the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

SEI's initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk (TDDR) outcomes from the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held from 22-26 May, in Cancun, Mexico.
Multiple Authors
Joram Lemaiyan

Disaster Risk Reduction in 2017

In May 2017, thousands of DRR stakeholders gathered in Cancun, Mexico, for the first Global Platform since the adoption of the Sendai Framework in Japan in 2015.

The Global Platform is the main global gathering of stakeholders committed to reducing disaster risk and building the resilience of communities and nations. Delegates from governments, research entities, NGOs, civil society and the private sector and come together for strategic advice, coordination, partnership development and the review of progress in the implementation of international instruments on disaster risk reduction. The 2017 Global Platform presented the first opportunity for the international community to review global progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: 2015-2030.

You can read more about the 2017 Global Platform and its expected outcomes, here.

New TDDR international centre of excellence

SEI’s initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk (TDDR), which seeks to integrate DRR with equitable, resilient and sustainable development, attended and participated in various aspects of the 2017 Global Platform.

The TDDR initiative is now an international centre of excellence, following approval of the proposal at the scientific committee meeting of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme, held in Cancun, parallel to the Global Platform.

The centre, based at SEI’s Asia Centre in Bangkok will enable TDDR to catalyze its expertise on DRR and generate new knowledge. It will also develop partnerships and cooperation between key institutions in the region, such as the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), Chulalongkorn University, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

You can read more about the announcement on the SEI news page, here.

Research insights from TDDR

A brief presenting preliminary insights from the first phase of the TDDR initiative can be downloaded from the right-hand column. For an introduction to the initiative click here. TDDR research and analysis builds on the recognition that disaster risk and development are closely linked: the people and assets exposed to risk as well as the extent of their susceptibility and capacity are largely determined by developmental processes. Watch TDDR researcher, Heidi Tuhkanen, explain one central theme to our work – understanding the trade-offs in development and disaster risk decision-making, here and read more on five key trade-offs in an SEI discussion brief, here.

TDDR at the Global Platform

Two TDDR researchers – Frank Thomalla and Karlee Johnson – represented SEI at the 2017 Global Platform. Frank and Karlee are based at the SEI Asia Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

In addition to the international centre of excellence presentation to the IRDR scientific committee, Frank joined sessions related to the objectives of TDDR and the thematic areas of the SEI Asia research cluster on reducing disaster risk. The cluster is working primarily on four thematic areas – regional cooperation, disaster recovery and resilience, empowering vulnerable groups, and culture and risk. You can read more about the cluster objectives and current activities, here, and watch the cluster’s panel discussion at the 2017 SEI Science Forum on the role of research in implementing the Sendai Framework, here.

Frank also promoted a newly published book, Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia: Progress, Challenges and Solutions, for which he was a co-editor. Michael Boyland and Agus Nugroho, also at SEI Asia, authored a chapter in the book on long-term recovery in Aceh following the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, which you can read more about, here.

Karlee represented SEI both as a TDDR researcher and as a member of the Global Resilience Partnership project team on Disability and Disasters: Empowering people and building resilience to risk.Led by the University of Sydney, the project is strengthening the voices of people with disabilities in Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia who are disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters, and often overlooked in traditional DRR efforts. You can read more about co-designing DRR solutions, including the work of the Disability and Disastersteam, in a recent UNISDR and IRDR publication, here.

DRR Voices Blogs

In preparation for the 2017 Global Platform, TDDR communicated key messages related to our work through various channels, one of which being the Preventionweb ‘expert services’ DRR Voices blog.

Karlee Johnson authored a DRR Voices blog, Why disability inclusion matters in disaster risk reduction,that highlights the high vulnerability of people with disabilities and the importance of engaging them in more disability-inclusive DRR policies and practices.

Frank Thomalla authored a DRR Voices blog, Lessons from disaster risk reduction in Indonesia, highlighting the progress the country has made over the past decade in advancing policy and practice to reduce risk in one of most exposed and vulnerable countries in the world.

Learn more about the work of Transforming Development and Disaster Risk, and get involved now!

Get in contact with the TDDR Initiative:

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