NGO Major Group Constituency Side Session

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