Opening Remarks of Ms. Mami Mizutori Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR

Your Excellency, Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia,

Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Your Excellency, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the General Assembly of the United Nations,

Your Excellency, Mr. Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia,

Your Excellency, Mrs. Retno Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia,

Your Excellency, Mr. Suharyanto, Head of the National Disaster Management Agency of the Republic of Indonesia.

Ms. Valerie Julliand, UN Resident Coordinator for Indonesia

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished representatives of intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, international organizations and stakeholder groups,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I call to order this meeting.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the opening of the 7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, under the theme: From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development for All in a COVID-19 Transformed World.

As the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, I can confidently say that this is the most consequential Global Platform we have convened.

Disasters have always been a plight, but we are now living in the aftermath of a disaster, the scale of which the world has not seen since the Second World War.

It has upended conventional understandings of risk and what it means to manage disaster risks.

All the while, the drivers of risk that existed before the pandemic have only grown stronger.

Climate change, environmental degradation, and unplanned urban growth continue unabated.

At the same time, human vulnerability is at all-time high due to increasing poverty, inequality and the erosion of human rights.

This not only threatens the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, but all global agreements for a better future.

But there is hope and our gathering here in Indonesia is proof that humanity has not given up.

We must seize this moment to transform how we view and manage risks. Together, through solidarity and partnerships, we can tackle the common risks that threaten us.

Let us leave no one behind and emerge stronger and more resilient.

The organization of this Global Platform embodies the COVID-19 transformed new normal, taking place during a pandemic. It is made safe thanks to the protective measures implemented by our Host Country and supported by all of you.

I thank the Government of Indonesia for graciously hosting us and I thank you all for being here.

It is now my honour to invite Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, to give her remarks.