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‘It is very clear that the fight against disasters will be either won or lost at the level of cities. It’s really important that we put our resources, our capacities, our mechanisms there,’ says UNDRR head Kamal Kishore
MANILA, Philippines – More work needs to be done to localize disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region, top officials said during the closing of the four-day Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) on Thursday, October 17.
Philippine Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga said that aside from the gaps in financing for disaster risk reduction, localization is still “one of the key challenges” in the country.
“And we all know that there would be different technical capacities, levels of knowledge, and, of course, physical conditions that our different local governments face. And therefore, we need to not only learn how to collect data that’s good, we also need to understand context. And that much is lost usually when we talk about data and analytics,” Loyzaga said in a press conference.
United Nations (UN) Office for Disaster Risk Reduction head Kamal Kishore said that “in some form or the other,” other parts of the Asia-Pacific region face the same challenges, including not enough localization of DRR.
“It is very clear that the fight against disasters will be either won or lost at the level of cities. So, it’s really important that we put our resources, our capacities, our mechanisms there,” said Kishore, who is also the special representative of the UN secretary-general for disaster risk reduction.
Information as basic need
During a plenary speech on Thursday morning, Philippine Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said information is a basic need and an element central to localization.
He highlighted some of the country’s efforts, such as localizing early warning systems and his department’s GeoRisk Philippines Initiative.
“As we move deeper into the century, the department is now expanding the breadth and depth of [the] GeoRisk Philippines program. Soon, it will embark on a visionary program that leverages cutting-edge geospatial artificial intelligence, machine learning, business intelligence, and predictive analytics,” Solidum explained.
“At the heart of the new program is a dedicated geospatial analytics solution hub…which will harness the vast portion of data generated by our science institutions and research programs and other organizations such as in nutrition, forestry, agriculture, natural hazards, climate, health, and much more to produce the best possible informed, relatable, relevant, and actionable information down to the grassroots. Grassroots communities will be at the center of decision-making.”
Loyzaga said local governments still need to undertake a disaster risk assessment that embraces a “comprehensive risk management approach,” looking into not just the natural hazards but also the social, cultural, and physical challenges they face in their own local context.
“Serious work needs to be put into climate and disaster risk assessments at the local level. That will then be the basis for all the planning that they will need moving forward,” she added.
Local land use, development plans
The environment secretary also said local climate change adaptation plans need to be merged with local disaster risk reduction and management plans and local comprehensive land use plans.
Philippine Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said his department recently issued a directive urging local government units to make sure their comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs) are prepared, updated, or approved.
During Thursday’s plenary, Remulla said that as of September, 651 cities and municipalities have updated CLUPs, while 837 are for updating. The remaining 146 have yet to comply with the directive.
Meanwhile, as of October, 1,284 cities and municipalities have comprehensive development plans that are still in effect, according to the interior secretary. Of this number, 910 CDPs have been assessed (291 are “risk-informed,” 431 are “partially risk-informed,” and 188 are “not risk-informed”).
Local resilience featured prominently in many side events at the APMCDRR, the main platform in the region to monitor and review progress on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. – Rappler.com
