Data challenges and solutions for disaster risk management

Multi-hazard disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy and action requires functioning disaster loss and risk information systems that can provide reliable and timely data, statistics and analysis. This is a key enabling condition for countries to develop and implement DRR strategies and investment that are tailored to specific risk contexts, vulnerabilities, impacts and needs.
To be effective, disaster risk management needs to understand the differentiated impact of disasters on different population groups. It therefore requires a comprehensive approach with inclusive risk-informed decision-making that is based on the collection, sharing and dissemination of disaggregated data, including by sex, age, disability, and income. Such data must be accurate, timely, up-to-date, comprehensible and widely available.   
Furthermore, there is a need of localization of disaster-related data where global and national level analysis is complemented by local-level data, which can inspire localized and targeted DRR efforts. 

Session Objectives

The session will aim to highlight progress, lessons learnt, best practices and challenges along the following main themes: 

  • Data for understanding risk;  
  • Strengthening data use through technological advancements; 
  • Building resilience of statistical systems: lessons from COVID-19; and 
  • Incentivizing and scaling up local-level data for DRR. 
Conference content type
Conference session
Onsite Accessibility
On
Contact
Rahul Sengupta [email protected] Diana Patricia Mosquera Calle, [email protected]
Accessibility
Display on agenda
Yes
Time zone
Asia/Makassar
Interpretation (Language)
Primary floor language
Room/Location
Pecatu Hall
BNDCC 2-Ground Floor
Conference event type
Speakers

Moderator

Letizia Rossano - Director, ESCAP, Asia and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM)

 

Speakers

Kassem Chaalan - Unit Director, Disaster Risk Reduction Unit, Lebanese Red Cross

Jakub Ryzenko - Head of Crisis Information Centre, Space Research Centre PAS

Rhonda Robinson - Deputy Director Disaster and Community Resilience Programme and Acting Director GEM Division, Pacific Community (SPC)

Renato Solidum - Undersecretary for Scientific and Technical Services, Philippines, Department of Science and Technology

Raditya Jati - Deputy Minister for Systems and Strategy, National Disaster Management Authority, Indonesia (BNPB)

Learn more

Read this section to learn more about the topic of current data challenges and identify possible solutions. 

Where do we stand 

Urgent efforts to scale-up the collection, analysis and reporting of disaster-related statistics are key to achieve the Sendai Framework, and hence SDG targets, by 2030. 

The 7 targets and 38 indicators of the Sendai Framework lay out an ambitious agenda to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk. However, achieving these goals is not the only challenge. Monitoring progress towards the Sendai Framework Targets represents an arduous yet crucial task for national statistical systems. While the past seven years have seen a substantial increase in reporting rates – a total of 153 countries are now reporting across different Sendai targets – significant data gaps prevail.   

The under-representation of disaster impact – especially that of extensive disasters – and issues of data generation, incomplete records, lack of disaggregation and granularity, etc. are hampering our understanding of the full impact of disasters across time, geographies and sectors.  

Effective disaster risk reduction policy and action requires functioning disaster loss and risk information systems that can provide reliable and timely data, statistics and analysis. This is a key enabling condition for countries to develop and implement DRR strategies and investment that are tailored to specific risk contexts, vulnerabilities, impacts and needs. 

Therefore, coordinated global, national and local efforts to strengthen data generation and statistical capacities for disaster impact and risk analysis must be scaled-up. This would allow for a sound evidence base to be used in DRR and climate change decision making, policy, planning and investment. It will also contribute to greater coherence and synergies from holistic information management across UN instruments, including the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Key guiding questions are: 

  • How can we meet the growing demands for disaster-related statistics, while coping with the resulting complexity? 
  • How can global, regional, national and local-level actions be scaled up to produce and use more timely, accurate, disaggregated and granular DRR data? 
  • How can we ensure accessibility of DRR data?  
  • How can we strengthen evidence-informed and data-backed decision making for DRR and climate change policy and action, including through coordination among stakeholders? 
  • How can we scale up the data revolution for DRR and climate action, including through new technologies and innovations?
Event bucket
Official Programme

Strengthening Governance to Reduce Disaster Displacement Risks

Each year, around the world, millions of people become displaced from their homes in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change – more than 30 million in 2020 alone. The accelerating impacts of climate change on the intensity and frequency of weather events and conditions in many regions are adding to, and amplifying risks for, people at risk of becoming displaced in the context of disasters, as well as people already living in displacement. 
This session will address the issue of disaster displacement and the reduction of related risks through strengthening governance. It will explore the need for a robust evidence base, as well as the importance of integrating DRR with human rights, humanitarian, development, climate action and human mobility planning. It will also showcase examples of effective practices across regions, and the tools available to help DRR stakeholders in strengthening risk governance. 

Session objectives 

This session will discuss data and governance, and specifically the inclusion of disaster displacement in DRR strategies and policies, as well as the integrated implementation of these strategies and policies. It will: 

  • Explore the challenges and opportunities for disaster displacement monitoring, data collection and analysis  
  • Encourage coherence across related policy areas for more effective governance 
  • Promote good practices for governance (both policies and activities) from various regions 
  • Highlight relevant international standards and guidance on displacement of relevance for DRR 
  • Encourage the use of the Words into Action guide on disaster displacement in developing or strengthening DRR strategies and policies.
Conference content type
Conference session
Onsite Accessibility
On
Contact
Christel Rose, [email protected] Momoko Nishikawa, [email protected]
Accessibility
Display on agenda
Yes
Time zone
Asia/Makassar
Interpretation (Language)
Primary floor language
Room/Location
Pecatu Hall
BNDCC 2-Ground Floor
Session recording
Conference event type
Speakers

Moderator

  • Sarah Charles - Assistant to the Administrator, United States Agency of International Development

Speakers

  • Doctor Luísa Celma Meque - President of the National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD) of the Government of Mozambique
  • Saut Sagala - Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, Planning, and Policy Development, Institut Teknologi Bandung
  • Hindou  Oumarou Ibrahim - Indigenous Chadian community of pastoralists           
  • Crispin d'Auvergne - Director, Climate and Disaster Resilience, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
  • Esline Garaebiti - Director General, Ministry of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards, Environment, Energy and Disaster Management, Vanuatu 
  • Luis Doñas - Foreign Affairs Liaison, National Emergency Office, Chile
Learn more

What do you need to know about disaster displacement and the links between climate change, disaster risk reduction, data and governance in advance of this session? 

Where do we stand? 

The exposure and vulnerability of persons to disaster displacement is multicausal and driven by political, social and economic factors, among others, and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To avoid the negative impacts of disaster displacement, risk governance must be strengthened. It needs to be evidence-based and place at-risk or affected communities at the center of action; this includes displaced people and communities in their areas of return, refuge or alternative settlement. It needs to draw on Human Rights standards, and existing guidance such as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and Durable Solutions Frameworks.  

Effective and comprehensive responses to the risks of disaster displacement are required at all levels, but challenges include: 

  • Weak or insufficient governance; 
  • Gaps in data and evidence and barriers to its effective use to inform governance; 
  • Coordination challenges to the integrated implementation of DRR with other policy areas such as human rights, humanitarian action, sustainable development, climate action and human mobility; 
  • Insufficient capacity at all levels to address disaster displacement coherently. 

However, there are tools and existing effective practices to take guidance and learn from, which include: 

  • The Words into Action Guidelines, Checklist and eLearning
  • International standards and guidance on displacement of relevance for human mobility and DRR; 
  • Experiences and learnings from the local, national and regional levels where specific stakeholders’ commitments will be presented at this event. 

Session guiding questions 

  • In what ways can data strengthen governance, and what are the key challenges? 
  • Why is it important to ensure coherence between DRR and other policy areas? 
  • How can the Words into Action Guidelines, Checklist and eLearning support the inclusion of disaster displacement into DRR strategies and policies? 
  • How can we ensure meaningful and inclusive participation of those affected by, or at risk of displacement, in data collection and governance? 
Event bucket
Official Programme
Organizing Team members
  • Asia Pacific Disaster Displacement Group (Maria Moita) 
  • Chile National Emergency Office (Luis Donas) 
  • Economic Justice Network Sierra Leone (Peter John Amara) 
  • Fiji / Geneva mission (Anare Leweniqila) 
  • GIZ (Thomas Lennartz)  
  • GNDR (Elise Belcher)  
  • IFRC (Ezekiel Simperingham/ Kirsten Hagon) 
  • Norwegian Refugee Council (Nina Birkeland) 
  • Platform on Disaster Displacement (Sarah Koeltzow) 
  • Resilience Development Initiative, Indonesia (Saut Sagala)  
  • University of Copenhagen (Emmanuel Raju) 
  • UNHCR (Michelle Yonetani) 

Leave no one behind - Empowering the most at risk through social protection

Adaptive social protection systems anticipate and prevent shocks from transforming into crisis, preparing people to cope with crisis and help with recovery and resilience building. However, there is still limited evidence around the effectiveness of adaptive social protection systems to reduce inequalities and deliver protection to those most vulnerable to climate and disaster impacts.


Despite progress on strengthening the shock responsiveness of social protection systems, significant gaps remain. Less than half of the global population is covered by at least one social protection benefit, leaving 4.1 billion people with no access to social protection. When risk reduction interventions are not inclusive, they can inadvertently reinforce or create new sources of vulnerability. While greater investment in adaptive social protection systems is required, they will only succeed in leaving no one behind if the meaningful participation of those most at risk to disasters is institutionalised in the creation and implementation of such systems.   

Session objectives  

  • Increase understanding among DRR stakeholders on how shock responsive/adaptive social protection can address intersectional vulnerability and reduce disaster risk. 
  • Showcase how social protection schemes can address the root causes and systemic drivers of vulnerability and inequality in a sustainable manner. 
  • Demonstrate the potential and actual contribution of social protection schemes in identifying threats, preparing for, and recovering from crises. 
  • Examine the challenges and opportunities that arise from embedding DRR in social protection system resources and integrating social protection principles in risk-informed development planning. 
Conference content type
Conference session
Onsite Accessibility
On
Contact
Adam Fysh, [email protected] Branwen Millar, [email protected]
Accessibility
Display on agenda
Yes
Time zone
Asia/Makassar
Interpretation (Language)
Primary floor language
Room/Location
Nusa Dua Hall
BNDCC 1-Ground Floor
Session recording
Conference event type
Speakers

Moderator

  • Rohey Malick Lowe - Mayor of Banjul, the Gambia

Speakers

  • Victoria Salinas - Acting Deputy Administrator, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Resilience, United States of America
  • Pungky Sumadi - Deputy Minister for Population and Manpower, Indonesia
  • Dalee Dorough - Chairperson, Inuit Circumpolar Council
  • Corazon Clarin - Person with Disability Affairs Officer, WoWLEAP, Inc. Cebu Chapter
  • Debora Comini - Regional Director, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office
Learn more

Read this section to learn more about the topic of adaptive social protection, ensuring you come prepared to the session.  

Where do we stand?

Building resilience means addressing the root causes of vulnerability, including social exclusion and discrimination, lack of assets, skills, and access to resources, services, and opportunities. A greater emphasis is being placed on the role that social protection can play in supporting individuals, households, and communities to reduce vulnerability and prepare for shocks. Yet some progress challenges remain including: 

  • Those left uncovered by social protection systems are often the most marginalised: Only 46.9 percent of the global population are effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit.
  • Many social protection systems still are not shock responsive and are not adequately adaptable to anticipate and prevent shocks from transforming into crises. 
  • There is still limited evidence around the effectiveness of adaptive social protection systems to reduce inequalities and deliver protection to those most vulnerable to climate and disaster impacts. 

At the same time, adaptive social protection systems are a promising approach to increase the resilience of people and societies, even when they face multiple and interlinked risks. Specifically, adaptive social protection systems can do this by: 

  • Combining different sectoral approaches and leveraging capacities across government, non-government and humanitarian actors to help to manage risk. 
  • Focusing on the most vulnerable to disasters when expanding coverage. 
  • Prepositioning risk financing to ensure funding is readily available.  
  • Investing in systems and planning to support responsive programming after a shock. 

Session guiding questions  

  • How can social protection systems be further leveraged to ensure implementation of the Sendai Framework is inclusive and leaves no one behind? 
  • How do the existing efforts on adaptive social protection contribute to the broader DRR agenda and to what extent are DRR stakeholders engaged with strengthening social protection systems? 
  • How is power devolving to ensure those who have been left behind in the progress made towards the achievement of the Sendai targets are supported and empowered to lead DRR efforts? 

Read More:

Event bucket
Official Programme
Organizing Team members
  •  
  • Grace Ireri (Action Aid)   
  • Masaaki Nakagawa (Asian Disaster Reduction Centre)   
  • Miki Kodama (ADRC)   
  • Elin Sari (ASEAN)   
  • Dosse Sossouga (Amis des Etrangers au Togo)   
  • Ana Lucia Arellano (Ecuador RC)   
  • Gordon Rattray (European Disability Forum)   
  • Carlos Kaiser (ONG Inclusiva)   
  • Saut Sagala (Resilience Development Initiative, Indonesia)   
  • Gary Jones (UNAIDS)   
  • Jen Stephens/Nupur Kukrety(UNICEF)   
  • Kehinde Balogun (UNU EHS)
  •  

Inclusive and Resilient Recovery in Urban Contexts

More than two-thirds of the world population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Cities are facing increasingly complex risks, driven by rapid and often unplanned urbanization, climate change, poverty, and rising inequalities. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, threatening cities and citizens. The more cities use disaster recovery as an opportunity to build resilience, the less they will suffer – and pay – in future. 

SESSION OBJECTIVES

This session will: 

  • Share practical experiences and learnings related to inclusive and resilient urban recovery in the COVID-19 context, including from smaller and medium sized cities 
  • Provide policy recommendations and action points for inclusive and resilient urban recovery in urban contexts that can be scaled for impact 
  • Promote genuine and durable partnerships that support more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable urban spaces  
Conference content type
Conference session
Onsite Accessibility
On
Contact
Andrew McElroy [email protected] Johanna Granados Alcala [email protected]
Accessibility
Display on agenda
Yes
Time zone
Asia/Makassar
Participation
Interpretation (Language)
Primary floor language
Room/Location
Nusa Dua Hall
BNDCC 1-Ground Floor
Session recording
Conference event type
Speakers

Moderator

  • Mahmoud El Burai - Chairman of the board ARISE UAE, Arise network

Speakers

  • Bijal Brahmbhatt - Director, Mahila housing trust
  • Yelnar Bazyken - Head, Center of Urbanism of Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
  • Andrew Obafemi - Professor and Director, Centre for Disaster Risk Management & Development Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Joana Bispo - Coordination Assistant, Agenda Teresina 2030, Brazil
  • Luisa Maria Neves Salgueiro - Mayor of Matosinhos, Portugal
Learn more

Read this section to learn more about the topic of inclusive and resilient recovery in urban contexts, ensuring you come prepared to the session. 

Where do we stand? 

Urban areas face increasingly complex risks. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, threatening cities and citizens. At the same time, many local governments continue to operate under severe resource constraints while dealing with consecutive and compound disasters. Vulnerable groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, migrants, and informal workers, are particularly affected. 
However, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 highlights the opportunity of enhancing the capacity of cities to rebound from hazards and disasters. National and local authorities around the world are increasingly adopting a partnership approach to risk resilience. Disaster risk management and climate change adaptation is increasingly being incorporated into municipal policies. In many cases, this is translating into increased investment in disaster risk reduction across sectors and at different levels. 

Session guiding questions 

  • What steps are cities taking to address climate emergency and how can civil society and academia strengthen their partnership with local governments? 
  • What are the best practices in urban settings for a socially inclusive recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis? 
  • How can the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative (MCR2030) scale up its practical support to local governments to prevent and reduce disaster risk? 
  • What are the main learnings and recommendations on recovery in urban contexts for the years to come? 
Event bucket
Official Programme
Organizing Team members
  • Japan International Cooperation Agency (Chinatsu Endo) 
  • Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (Anglès Lucille) 
  • DRR Dynamics (Kevin Blanchard) 
  • Global Urban Development (Jane Katz) 
  • Initiative for Global Resilience, Thailand (Barbara Ewals) 
  • Saudi Green Building Forum (Faisal Alfadl) 
  • Youth and Climate Change Costa Rican Network (Natalia Gomez) 
  • United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) (Esteban Leon) 

Embedding Risk in Investment Decisions

Investing in disaster risk reduction has become essential for developing sustainability in a rapidly changing climate, especially for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Research shows that global investments of €1.6 trillion in appropriate disaster risk reduction strategies could avoid losses of €6.4 trillion. Despite its importance, disaster risk continues to be mispriced and underestimated in the public and private sector.  
This session will focus on understanding successful approaches and tipping points that can lead to integrating disaster and climate risk reduction measures into public and private investment decisions. It will also identify key obstacles and barriers to these integrations and how they can be overcome while stimulating a sense of urgency among stakeholders to support efforts to embed disaster risk reduction measures in financial decisions. 

Session objectives  

This session will focus on :  

  • Identifying opportunities for, and barriers to, reducing disaster and climate risks through public and private investments; 
  • Unpacking successful efforts to embed risk in investments and in investment decision-making processes; 
  • Identifying means to catalyze action to better align public and private investment strategies, operations, and activities with the Sendai Framework. 
Conference content type
Conference session
Onsite Accessibility
On
Contact
Jenty Kirsch-Wood,  [email protected] Abhilash Panda, [email protected] Sarah Houghton, [email protected]
Accessibility
Display on agenda
Yes
Time zone
Asia/Makassar
Participation
Interpretation (Language)
Primary floor language
Room/Location
Singaraja Hall 2
BNDCC 1-1st Floor
Session recording
Conference event type
Speakers

Moderator

  • Niels Holm-Nielsen - Program Manager, GFDRR, The World Bank

Speakers

  • Elena Panova - Resident Coordinator of Egypt, United Nations Resident Coordinator Office
  • Titta Maja - Director General, Department for Development Policy, Finland
  • Shiva Makotoko - Executive Director & Deputy CEO, RBN Fund Managers
  • Nadine Brown - Director, Sustainable Development, Planning Institute of Jamaica
  • Carlos Picado Rojas - Director, Strategic Development Unit of the National Risk Management System, Costa Rica
Learn more

Read more on risk-informed investments and why they are important to reduce disaster risk.  

Where do we stand?  

Investing in disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a precondition for developing sustainably in a rapidly changing climate. DRR investments can be achieved and make good financial sense. Yet, they are not carried out to the extent required. Public and private investment decisions typically: 

  • Don’t consider how an investment may be creating disaster risk in terms of exposure and vulnerability at multiple levels, including national, local, and landscape. 
  • Don’t include costs of disasters and benefits of risk mitigation in financial modeling and on balance sheets. Thus, such costs and benefits remain either external to, or are undisclosed in, private and financial sector investment decision-making. 
  • Treat disaster and climate risks as temporally remote, limited, uncertain, and/or unquantifiable at the level of an individual project and, thus, externalize them. 

Though action is lagging, the combined effect of COVID-19 and increasing disaster risk from the climate emergency, provide todays leaders, investors, and decision makers with a unique opportunity to invest in public and private funds in a resilient way for a green, sustainable future. 

To this end, governments should endeavor to make all financial investments resilient to disasters and to ensure that they do not create new risks. At the same time, the private and financial sector also need to lead and foster risk-informed business behaviors that include reporting and disclosure of material, long-term sustainability risks, as well as impact reporting on how companies are contributing to resilience aligned with the Sendai Framework, Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

Session guiding questions  

  • How can disaster and climate risk reduction measures be better embedded into public and private investments? 
  • What are key obstacles/barriers to reducing disaster risk in public and private investments and how can they be overcome? 
  • What are examples of policies, programs, measures that resulted in investments that have successfully integrated risk reduction measures? 
  • What was your/your institutions’ decision-making process that led to a risk-informed investment? Provide examples of the competencies, capacities and tipping-points that catalyzed and led to action.  
  • How can different stakeholders (regulators, private investors, policy makers, civil society, academia, intergovernmental organizations, etc.) catalyze action to better align public and private investment strategies, operations and activities with the Sendai Framework? 
  • What are the unique challenges of LDCs and SIDS in embedding disaster and climate risk in public and private investments and how can these be addressed?
Event bucket
Official Programme
Organizing Team members
  • GIZ, Mareike Bentfeld 
  • National Resilience Council Philippines, Antonia Yulo Loyzaga 
  • Wetlands International Europe, Lea Appulo/Sander Carpaij 
  • P3 for Humanity, Nadine Ritcheson 
  • Nagoya University, Satoru Nishikawa 
  • ARISE India, Brig Khanna 
  • GNDR Indonesia, Hepi Rahmawati 
  • Chile Institute for Disaster Resilience, Macarena Perez 
  • UN DESA, Resina Katafon