The third Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Working Group meeting starting today in Chennai will come out with a Communique - a joint statement - on DRR, said Kamal Kishore, Member Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

“It will be fed at the Sherpa levels and then to the leaders of G20. It is very significant that we are coming to this sort of global Communique of G20 on DRR. This will be the first such Communique on DRR, and released in Chennai,” Kishore told newspersons on Sunday.

The Communique, to be endorsed by all, will serve as a seminal guiding document for G20 nations, underscoring the critical significance of DRR. It will outline concrete actions to be undertaken at national and international levels, emphasising the urgency of integrating DRR into financing decision-making and mainstreaming DRR into the development cooperation of G20 countries to reduce risk posed by disasters, the news release stated.

“The objective of all our work is to meet the objectives of the Sendai Framework,” said Lt. General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd), a member of NDMA. The Sendai Frameworkis a 15-year Framework that the UN has laid out for sustainable growth, he added.

Kishore said that it is the Indian Presidency’s endeavour to raise the profile of DRR issues as the number, frequency, and impact of the disasters are increasing. This is an area in which the international community, particularly the G20 countries that represent the world’s large economies should cooperate.

The DRR Working Group first met in Gandhinagar in March and the second meeting was held in Mumbai in May. At the Gandhinagar meeting, five priorities for the group were evolved. These areas include the Global Coverage of Early Warning Systems, Disaster, and Climate Resilient Infrastructure, Financing Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Response System, and the Ecosystem-based Approach to DRR. “There were deliberations on these at the first two meetings,” he said.

“The Chennai meeting from July 24 to 26 will bring together G20 Countries and their leadership, international organisations, and knowledge partners to engage in drafting the Communique encapsulating shared commitments and key recommendations regarding the working group’s priority areas,” he said.

Some of the dignitaries to be present at the event include PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister; Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Shri Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa Ambassador, the release said.

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