NNA - The first Arab regional conference on disaster risk reduction continued its work sessions for the second day running in the port city of Aqaba, Jordan, with the participation of senior officials from Arab States and the Arab League, as well as UN representatives, to seek a common Arab position on the region's input to the international framework for disaster risk reduction, which will be agreed at the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.



Co-organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk reduction (UNISDR), UNDP, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), the Swiss Development Cooperation and the Arab League, the conference is expected to announce an Arab Declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction in Arab cities, in the aim of establishing benchmarks for reducing disaster risks.



Conference morning work session opened up with a discussion panel on disaster risk reduction and development planning, chaired by Elizabeth Longworth, UNISDR Director. The panel included a presentation by Kimio Takeya, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Japan's experience on DRR as development investment, envisioning HFA2 and Post-2015 Development Agenda.



The Conference second work session dwelt on discussions in relation to challenges and opportunities for DRR in the region in light of progress made so far and expectations from post-HFA process. Attending government representatives were divided into five working groups, each addressing one of the following issues: institutional mechanisms, governance and accountability; Climate resilience; DRR at local level; Economics of DRR and investment; and integrating DRR into development planning. Each group gave answers to three main questions, mainly challenges to overcome DRR in the region, the top three significant elements to be addressed in post-2015 DRR framework and the king of post-2015 framework.



Working groups submitted key recommendations to plenary on Arab position for HFA2 and DRR post 2015.



Later in the afternoon, the conference held a discussion panel on urban risk reduction in the Arab region with Mr. Zuhair Murshed, UNDP, giving an introduction to them objectives and expected outcome. The session was chaired by Ms. Anisa Masaud, Human Settlement Officer, UN-HABITAT.



The session was followed by another panel discussion on institutional and legislative systems for urban risk management in the region, chaired by Dr, Hamad Babiker, Under-Secretary Minister of Environment and Local Administration in Sudan.



On the issue of institutional and legislative systems for Urban Risk Management, Dr. Fadi Hamdan, Disaster Risk Management Advisor, gave a study on the cities of Beirut, Djibouti, and Aqaba. He wondered whether states are allocating funds to control and manage disasters or completely relying on external funds in this regard. He underlined the importance that states take the initiative to reduce disaster risk.



It is to note that the outcome of these regional deliberations will be presented at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction from 19-23 May 2013 in Geneva, the world's foremost gathering of stakeholders committed to reducing disaster risk and building the resilience of communities and nations.



===========L.Y/A.B