NNA - The first Arab Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction winded up its meetings in Aqaba on Thursday, with the issuance of a set of recommendations, to 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.



Around 250 officials from the Arab States and the Arab League as well as UN representatives gathered at conference at the Movenpick Hotel in the port city of Aqaba, Jordan, to agree on 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.



The Conference put forward recommendations for issues to be considered in HFA2, including assessing progress and gaps in the implementation of current HFA, accelerating progress on DRR and bringing all Arab countries up to speed "currently differentiated levels", improving governance and accountability mechanisms of DRR, and establishing national risk financing strategies.



The Conference also recommended issues to be considered in HFA2, mainly promoting decentralization and strengthening local capacities, promoting engagement of civil society, youth and the Private sector as key stakeholders, stronger linkages to sustainable development in national development planning and budgeting, and advocate for DRR to be strongly reflected in post-2015 international development agenda "MDGs/SDGs."



"Final conclusions" by the Conference also stressed issues to be considered in HFA2, notably climate resilience,
strengthening infrastructure, urban risk management and resilient cities, cross cutting: Legislation and regulatory mechanisms, strengthening engagement of academia and science in support of DRR actions, and the need for a strong HFA2.



The three-day Conference took place under the patronage of Jordanian Princess, Sumaya Bint El Hassan, and co-organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and the League of Arab States.


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