Strengthening Disaster Action, UNDP Relys On Indonesia's Leadership In G20

UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Crisis Bureau Director Asako Okai address the opening ceremony of the "World Reconstruction Conference 5" (ANTARA/Akbar Nugroho Gumay/foc)

BADUNG - Director of the Crisis Bureau of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Asako Okai said that his party relied on Indonesia's leadership in the G20 to bring disaster issues and mobilize global action to reduce the impact of disasters.

He believes that Indonesia is able to mobilize countries in the world, including members of the G20, to realize their disaster commitments towards concrete action.

"I believe that the Indonesian presidency at the G20 can raise a joint commitment to strengthen actions to reduce the impact of disasters, including pandemics and other types of crises," said Okai in response to ANTARA's question when met after the opening of the 5th World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) in Nusa Tenggara. Two, Bali was reported by Antara, Monday, May 23.

He said today's world needs leadership capable of mobilizing real action, especially in disaster preparedness.

"We rely on Indonesia's leadership (at the G20), because what we currently need is real leadership and collective action. We hope the Indonesian government can unite all parties to move and not just talk," he said.

Okai said many countries began to realize the importance of disaster preparedness since the tsunami disaster in Aceh, Indonesia, in 2004.

"Since now the world has started to move, especially in building the (disaster) preparedness sector, and many things have been made ranging from national action plans, sub-national plans, to plans at the community level. However, there are still many things that need to be done," he said.

Therefore, UNDP together with the World Bank, the European Union, and the International Recovery Platform (IRP) again held the 5th World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) on 23-24 May 2022.

This year's WRC is a series of pre-GPDRR (Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction) activities which will also be held in Bali on 25-28 May 2022.

The WRC meeting included a number of technical discussions and panel discussions, including discussing the efforts of countries to restore the socioeconomic sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Another issue discussed was funding for disaster recovery and preparedness programs, especially in realizing a world that is able to recover quickly from crises (resilience), and is more environmentally friendly and sustainable.