Thirty two national, regional and international agencies responsible for tackling disaster risk in Sri Lanka participated at the international symposium on Multi Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction 2020 (MHEW DRR 2020) on December 14, 15 and 16 at BMICH.
The three-day symposium held as a hybrid online event that brought together over 2,500 participants from the Government, private sector, non-governmental organisations and higher educational institutions. The event was jointly organised by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), University of Huddersfield in the UK, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre and the University of Moratuwa along with several other partners.
The new normal life style amidst the COVD-19 pandemic pave the way to form a virtual platform, which was a well-coordinated and successful effort between the two universities and the DMC. Many local and international participants joined it remotely.
The participants examined how research, science and technology could be used to support in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction towards 2030. The programmes included a combination of four keynote addresses and five panel discussions, which involved leading national and international policy makers and scientists. In addition, 20 technical sessions were held where 157 detailed scientific, policy and practical applications were presented and shared among the participants.
These wide ranging interventions provided the basis for a declaration by the Disaster Management Centre, Sri Lanka, together with other key stakeholders responsible for disaster risk reduction in the country, region and beyond, to work together to tackle the priority issues identified and addressed during the symposium.
DMC Director General Major General (Retd) Sudantha Ranasinghe said that the international symposium was conducted at a very critical time amidst a global crisis, which is still searching for a permanent solution for the COVID-19 pandemic. “The crisis has taught a lesson that we must harmonise with the environment and hold Mother Nature supreme. The world continues its life but has put humans in cages,” he said.
Sisira Madurapperuma representing the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) said that today is a key milestone for the disaster management community in Sri Lanka to adopt the Colombo Declaration. “We believe this declaration will reshape, rephrase and accelerate the implementation of national strategies, supported by global and regional instruments,” she said.
The declaration expresses deep concern at the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate related challenges and the continuing impact of disasters, resulting in an unacceptable loss of human lives and livelihoods, displacement of people and environmental and economic damages in Sri Lanka and across the world.
Prof Dilanthi Amaratunga at the Global Disaster Resilience Centre at the University of Huddersfield in the UK said that the vital role of science in supporting efforts to tackle disaster risk. “There is an urgent need to strengthen and mainstream the inclusion of research, science and technology applications in Sri Lanka.” She said that a community of practice that crosses scientific disciplines and links science, policy and practice must be formed. “This declaration provides an important step in our roadmap for achieving set policies and protecting people at risk,” she said.
The declaration also recognises the devastating impact of COVID-19 around the world and the threat posed by future epidemics and pandemics. It stresses the need to focus on developing a holistic understanding of societal challenges, risks and drivers, like poverty, climate changes, loss of protective eco-systems and biodiversity, rapid urbanisation and unplanned development in hazard prone areas, socio-economic inequalities and population growth along with their interactions.
It also underlines the need to build resilience against all hazards, including emerging and unforeseen hazards such as biological, human animal transfer of diseases, hormones and micro plastics. The declaration sets out 15 key priorities and actions that must be reflected by stakeholders to address these challenges. This bold step taken by the DMC was inspired by the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction agreed by the UN member States in 2015. It includes a strong call for higher education and science to support the understanding of disaster risk and promote risk-informed decisions and risk sensitive planning from the local to the global levels. The goal is to strengthen evidence base approach to implement the new framework.
There was also recognition of the need to ensure coherence with other global frameworks such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the New Urban Agenda. Fifty four scientific contributions from the conference will also be published in a peer reviewed book titled, “Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risks” [Amaratunga, D., Haigh, R., & Dias N. (Ed.)] to be published by Springer Nature in 2021.
(Prevention Web)
