Women Major Group is one of the UNDRR’s 17 stakeholder constituencies that works to mobilize and support women’s engagement in the UNDRR processes and ensure policies and decisions center realities and agency of women and girls in all their diversities and alter relations of power to end structural inequalities which exacerbate vulnerability. The 7th global platform is the first UNDRR in-person gathering since the pandemic and the last before the midterm review of the Sendai framework. The Women Major Group is taking the opportunity, to convene members of the constituency, partners, and allies to reflect and strategize toward Sendai midterm review.

The women’s major group at UNDRR aims to host this session to reconnect with constituency members, partners, and, allies during the 7th Global platform in Bali by the reflecting on the realities of women in disasters and their engagement in the policy process while strategizing and developing a concrete yearlong plans towards Sendai midterm reviews.

Session objectives

The session is designed to deliver

• A comprehensive position paper of the Women Major Group with policy and programme demands for GPDRR and Sendai Review Process to consider
• An engagement plan of the Women Major Group in Sendai midterm review

The stakes for our planet have never been higher.  Climate and disaster risks are growing faster than our collective efforts to build resilience. There is an urgent need to shift focus from the relentless cycle of disaster response and recovery to far greater investment in prevention and preparedness. We need to tackle the root causes of disasters, especially the vulnerability and exposure of communities to growing climate-related hazards and other risks.

Session Objectives

1. Present the CoE Roadmap highlighting key themes, and projected deliverables
2. Provide diverse perspectives on how to accelerate ex-ante action from prevention to preparedness
3. Discuss challenges and opportunities to build climate and disaster resilience in highly vulnerable and fragile contexts
4. Offer opportunities for Member States and local actors to reflect on expectations of the Centre of Excellence

This session invites all civils society organizations to join the NGO Major Group constituency to discuss the SEM NGO Major Group official statement. The official statement sets out 8 key call to action points that civil society urge global decision makers and member states to focus on in order to achieve the targets set out in the Sendai Framework. It will also provide an opportunity for civil society organizations to come together, collaborate and strengthen participation in the NGO Major Group constituency of the SEM.

The past three years have shown that risk compounds risk, and that humanity is quickly approaching dangerous tipping points which require tremendous preventative action. To take but one example, in 2022, an estimated 274 million people will face hunger, conflict, and displacement as a result of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NGO Major Group recognizes conflict and protracted crises as further examples of the systemic nature and global connectedness of risk. The risks we face are often the result of development priorities which do not reflect the true aspirations of people and communities.

This could be remedied by allocating appropriate resources for disaster risk reduction and risk-informed development with an emphasis on reaching the local level. Consensus on this matter should be translated into meaningful action.

Specifically, decision makers at global, national and local level are urged to champion (1) localisation, (2) risk-informed development and (3) collaboration for an all of society approach to disaster risk reduction.
 

Session Objectives 

• Share the NGO Major Group declaration/ official statement that was submitted to UN DRR ahead of the Global Platform. This includes stocktaking on the Sendai Framework for Action and sets out key recommendations for global decision makers and members states moving forward
• Open a space for civil society to discuss the eight key areas included in the NGO declaration / official statement
• Provide the space for civil society to collaboration and strengthen coordination

This session seeks to raise awareness of disaster displacement and the need to integrate disaster displacement into local and national DRR strategies among GP22 participants. The Platform on Disaster Displacement, the Norwegian Refugee Council and partners will present the Platform’s DRR and Displacement Policy Brief and Key Messages and provide an overview of disaster displacement-related events taking place throughout the Platform. These include Ignite sessions, an exhibition on the Words into Action on disaster displacement guidance, checklist and elearning, and the engagement of artists, among others.

Session objectives

• Provide an introduction to the topic of disaster displacement along with an overview of strides made in international, regional and national policy processes and frameworks.
• Share key policy messages on disaster displacement.
• Learn and coordinate how partners plan to engage in disaster displacement advocacy at GP22.

The climate emergency continues to challenge existing norms and ways of working. The recent IPCC reports and the Global Assessment Report made it clear that climate impacts will further intensify, requiring us to transcend beyond conventional institutional silos and recalibrate governance beyond the current confines of climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR). To be ahead of growing climate and disaster risks, we need to ensure interoperability of interventions and connect people, initiatives, and approaches at the global, national, and subnational levels. 

These challenges are not new. In 2015, Member States (Parties) agreed to:

• Substantially reduce disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years (Sendai Framework)
• Establishing a Global Goal on Adaptation which would contribute to sustainable development and ensure an adequate adaptation response in the context of the long-term temperature goal (Paris Agreement, Art 7.1)
• At the same time, Parties also recognized the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage (Paris Agreement, Art. 8.1)

The COP 26 established the Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) that outlines elements of the GGA - enhanced adaptive capacity, strengthened resilience, and reduced vulnerability to climate change - with a view to contributing towards sustainable development vis-à-vis the agreed temperature goal.

The GGA recognizes the need to scale-up adaptation action in the face of a warming climate. While there is a growing momentum towards adopting and implementing integrated approaches for CCA and DRR, the contribution and role of DRR in defining the GGA and raising the adaptation ambition has not been sufficiently explored. This also stems from limited understanding on how short- to medium-term DRR actions contribute to long-term CCA objectives.  

The special session aims to produce a usable and integrated DRR and CCA perspective that will contribute to the GGA Work Programme and scale up joint action to reduce climate-related disasters.       

Guiding question

As we proceed towards further scaling up action on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, there is a need to understand how best to apply a “layered” approach to design and plan implementation at various stages, before, during and after a disaster.

What should be the basis for setting goals and success criteria, in the context of comprehensive disaster and climate risk management, to develop the most effective pre- and post-disaster actions and build long-term resilience?