United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Annual Report 2023
26.09.2024
Introduction
In 2023, we crossed the halfway point of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. This milestone was marked by a renewed global determination to accelerate progress in the remaining years to 2030, as was expressed in the UN General Assembly’s political declaration on the Sendai Framework’s Midterm Review. This acceleration is urgently needed if the world is to rise above the growing disaster risks driven by the climate crisis, our disregard for the environment, and unplanned urban development.
UNDRR, through its Strategic Framework 2022-2025, remains committed to supporting governments and stakeholders to achieve this acceleration, as this Annual Report captures.
The Annual Report 2023 also lists several accomplishments of which we are particularly proud. Among them is the decision made at COP28 to award UNDRR and UNOPS the hosting of the secretariat of the Santiago network for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage. This decision is not only a vote of confidence in UNDRR, but more importantly is a clear recognition that disaster risk reduction is inseparable from the climate loss and damage agenda.
We are also proud of the progress that has been achieved under the Early Warnings for All initiative, which concluded its first year of implementation. Thanks to joint efforts in 2023 by the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Panel members, key donors, and implementing partners across the UN system, the initiative is now on its way to deliver life-changing upgrades to early warning systems in at least 30 countries by the end of this year.
Moreover, in 2023, we saw the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative expand to cover half a billion people in 85 countries. As the majority of disasters are small-scale, local-level events, supporting municipalities to plan and implement resilience plans remains a critical priority for UNDRR to reduce the global burden of disasters.
These are some of the accomplishments in this report which we hope you will find informative and inspirational.
On a final note, I would also like to use this space to express my gratitude to the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Mami Mizutori, who completed her second term at the end of 2023. We thank her for stewardship of UNDRR over six eventful years, and we look forward to welcoming her successor, Mr. Kamal Kishore, in the near future.
Onward we push until we achieve resilience for all.
