GPDRR briefing 05/03/2009 Minutes

Minutes

Subject:     UNISDR Briefing on the 2nd Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP/DRR)
Date:         Thursday, 5 March 2009, 10:00 – 11:30 am
Venue:       WHO, Downtown Boulevard, Suva

Participants:
Joeli Cawaki (Fiji NDMO), Pajliai Dobui (Fiji NDMO), Laura Mazal (UNDP/PIFS), Matt Leslie (PIFS), Peter Muller (UNOCHA), Minako Kokuma (UNOCHA), Frank Kennedy (IFRC), Ruth Lane (IFRC), Helga-Bara Bragattoir (IFRC), Timothy Wilcox (AusAID), Kathryn Hawley (TAF/OFDA –SOPAC), Kata Dunaibe (SOPAC), Noa Tokavu (Fiji School of Medicine), Roman Chute (Fiji School of Medicine), Steven Iddings (WHO), Karen Berbard (UNDP Pacific Centre),  Stephanie Zoll (UNDP Pacific Centre), Angelika Planitz (UNISDR, chair and minutes).

The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is the main mechanism of the ISDR System to sustain global momentum to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters by implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action. The Platform’s next session is scheduled to take place from 16-19 June 2009 in Geneva, and focus on community resilience, linking with country action on climate change, poverty reduction and mainstreaming gender. The second announcement and a practical guide for the GP/DRR are attached. Letter of invitations were sent to Member States in early February through their Permanent Missions in Geneva (see attached for information).

The purpose of this briefing session organized by UNISDR was to provide Suva based members of the Pacific DRM Partnership Network with an overview of the expected results of the GP/DRR, its thematic focus and overall structure, as well as registration modalities and other practical matters (see attached power point presentation and matrix of high-level panels and thematic sessions at the Global Platform).

The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the contributions and inputs of the Pacific region to the GP/DRR, which will also form a point of discussion at the upcoming meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management which will be held from 7-15 May 2009 in Nadi (see recent announcement shared by SOPAC).

Summary of Discussion:
(1)    Lessons from 1st Session of the GP/DRR:

• Peter Muller was invited to share some of the lessons of the Pacific Delegation during the 1st Session of the Global Platform: The 2007 delegation consisted of only 3 persons representing the Government of Vanuatu, SOPAC and the UNDP Pacific Centre. For the region to be able to profit from the learning opportunities at the GP/DRR a larger delegation is needed to cover the large spectrum sessions and presentations and to filter these back to the region.
• The 2009 delegation needs good preparation and coordination; meet regularly during the four days of the GP/DRR to exchange feed-back and new developments/interesting facts; and pro-actively target and meet with like-minded partners, donors, members of other national delegations.
• The Pacific could consider presenting itself as one regional delegation that includes representatives from Pacific Island Countries (PICs), Australia and New Zealand.
• The meeting agreed that the profile and visibility of the Pacific region should be considerably raised in the next session of the GP/DRR.

(2)    Composition of the Pacific delegation:

• The meeting endorsed the idea that the region should aim for a multi-stakeholder delegation that includes governments, regional bodies (SOPAC, SPREP), academic institutions, civil society and the private sector (e.g Digicel, Fiji Water etc.).
• UNISDR informed that it has secured funds to sponsor the travel of approximately 10 PICs representatives. The group recommended, that the selection of these representatives would be best determined by the thematic inputs and presentations the region decides to give at the GP/DRR.
• IFRC emphasized the importance of having a delegation of civil society representatives from the Pacific in support of the national government delegations. IFRC will explore whether additional donor support for the travel of civil society representative can be secured.
• Also UNISDR will examine whether additional funding could be mobilized for travel through bilateral channels.

(3)    Special Event on the Pacific region:

• The meeting agreed to hold a Special Event to show-case some of the good practice, challenges and priorities of the Pacific region, on Monday 15th June 2009, a day prior to the start of the GP/DRR. UNISDR has already booked a time slot for this purpose. However, a formal request for a Special Event will have to be submitted to the UNISDR secretariat in Geneva (see registration forms on website).
• As much as possible, the structure of the Special Event should follow the themes of the five High-level Panels to ensure the region has a broad input to the policy deliberations of the GP/DRR (recommendations of Special Events will be highlighted in the Chair’s Summary of the GP/DRR). To maximize on the benefit from the session for the region, letters of invitation will be sent out to a targeted audience.
• In addition, it was proposed to look at the Special Events organized by other partners and to seek opportunities to show-case presentations from the Pacific region. UNISDR in Suva will share a list of Special Events as soon as possible.
• The UNDP Pacific Centre will explore whether it can coordinate a cross-regional working session for SIDS.  This could become a second Special Event.

(4)    Pacific VIPs to participate in High-Level Panels

• Although High-level Panel 2 on DRR and Climate Change already has an impressive list of proposed VIPs, the meeting made a strong case for considering a speaker from the Pacific region given the region’s disproportionate vulnerability to climate change.
• The recommended VIPs included: (1) the Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Michael Somare, who has demonstrated strong leadership in climate change issues in the Pacific; (2) the President of Kiribati, Mr. Anote Tong; and (3) former Vice-President of Palau and now Minister of State, Honourable Sandra Pierantozzi (Ms).
• Partners were requested to provide a brief rationale in support of these VIPs which will be shared with the task forces in Geneva responsible for organizing the respective HL panels: UNDP for PNG (see attached); SOPAC/WHO for Kiribati and Palau.
• UNISDR informed that there might still be an opening for a VIP to speak at the high-level panel 4 on safer schools and safer hospitals. The NDMO representatives from Fiji were requested to examine whether a high-level personality from Fiji would be available to present on this subject.

(5)    The Pacific Regional Report on Progress with Implementing the HFA

• Sub-regional intergovernmental organizations, including SOPAC, will be given an opportunity to present on the region’s progress in implementing the HFA at the Plenary of the GP/DRR.
• Partners requested SOPAC to share draft report with the members of the Pacific DRM Partnership Network for review and comments before its finalization. There was a strong request that the report should reflect the initiatives and progress of all partners, and not only of SOPAC and Community-At-Risk Programme.

(6) Next Steps

• The results of this discussion will also inform the deliberations of the first meeting of the Pacific Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Management which will endorse the suggested contribution of the Pacific region to the GP/DRR. The Pacific Platform will meet from 7-15 May 2009 in Nadi (see recent announcement shared by SOPAC).
• The group requested UNISDR to gather partners for a follow-up meeting in 2-3 weeks (end of March) to review progress and to firm up necessary preparations.

Angelika Planitz, 9 March 2009

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Rationale in Support of Recommendation to invite Pacific VIP to Speak at High-Level Panels

High-level Panel 2: Reducing risk in a changing climate

Papua New Guinea: Given the substantial leadership in the Pacific region shown by Papua New Guinea on addressing urgent climate change issues, it is proposed that PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare be invited as a VIP to be featured at the High Level Panels at the upcoming ISDR Global Platform meeting in June 2009.

PNG parliament has just adopted a paper presented by its Prime Minister, entitled “Climate Policy Challenge and Responsibility,” stressing the need for the country to set up an Office of Climate Change as a separate legal entity. Sir Michael highlighted in his paper that, “Papua New Guinea will control its own destiny in climate change. The overall aim is to ensure that the rural communities who own these resources benefit to improve the living standard which is part of our aims to achieve the millennium development goals.”

PNG is also quite vocal and proactive at the Conference of Parties, the UNFCC mechanism charged with the negotiation of international policy and related targets for mitigation and management of climate change.  At COP 11, in conjunction with Costa Rica, PNG proposed a mechanism to compensate countries for reducing deforestation rates and conversing intact forest areas, leading to the establishment of UN REDD Programme (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).  This was in response to the Stern review, which had identified deforestation in tropical countries as one of the major sources of emissions driving climate change and global warming.
(Prepared by UNDP Pacific Centre)

Kiribati:  Mr. Anote Tong is serving his second term as President (Te Beretitenti) of Kiribati, after being re-elected in October last year. He also holds the cabinet portfolio of Foreign Affairs and Immigration. His constituency is Maiana Island, an outer island within sailing distance of Tarawa, the capital island.

President Tong is noted as a leader in environmental and sustainability discussions, notably in the Pacific Islands Forum, with his country vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Kiribati comprises 32 atolls and one high island (Banaba Island) scattered across almost 4000km of the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator and with the majority of atolls little more than six metres above sea level. Kiribati has recently created the world's largest marine reserve, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area which is 410,500 square kilometres in size. Speaking in New Zealand the host country for the U.N.'s World Environment Day in 2008, Kiribati President Anote Tong said global efforts to curb climate change may already be too late for low-lying Pacific islands. "We may already be at the point of no return, where the emissions in the atmosphere will carry on contributing to climate change, so in time our small low-lying islands will be submerged," Tong said. "According to the worst case scenarios, Kiribati will be submerged within (this) century." He said climate change "is not an issue of economic development; it's an issue of human survival." Some of Kiribati's 94,000 people living in shoreline village communities have already been relocated from century-old sites. Tong said Kiribati's population is around 100,000, with forty percent aged under 15. Economic development prospects are limited and urban population growth, overcrowding and sustainable development pose a challenge, particularly in Tarawa where half the population lives. There are also challenges with potable water, sanitation and waste disposal, coastal erosion, over-fishing and depletion of natural resources. Parts of Kiribati are currently experiencing a severe drought.
(Prepared with inputs from WHO and SOPAC)