Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction 2018 (AMCDRR), Mongolia

Two CCOUC members participated in the Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction 2018 (AMCDRR), jointly convened by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Government of Mongolia from 3 to 6 July 2018. AMCDRR is held biennially and is an important establishment to address global and regional disaster challenges. The theme of the AMCDRR 2018 is “Preventing Disaster Risk, Protecting Sustainable Development” and the meeting seeks to provide a unique platform for governments and stakeholders to build on past progress and limit current and future threats to development by prioritising stronger disaster risk management by all sectors and at all levels.

During the conference, CCOUC organised a side event entitled “Science to Inform Policy in Health Emergency & Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM)” with the World Health Organization Country Office in Mongolia, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) and Members of the WHO Thematic Platform for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Research Network. This one-hour session attended by government officials, academics and health and DRR practitioners featured five presentations from distinguished experts, followed by closing remarks and a brief Q&A session. Ms Gloria Chan, Deputy Director of CCOUC, emphasised the importance of the multi-stakeholder partnership to strengthen evidence-based policy development and implementation, and to promote integration of health and DRR in the field of Health-EDRM. Whilst it has been three years into the implementation of the Sendai Framework, this side event showcases how health-DRR policy makers and practitioners in Mongolia have promoted systematic integration of health into national and sub-national disaster risk reduction polices and plans. Academics demonstrated how they have enhanced the understanding of evidence-based guidelines through training of healthcare practitioners to strengthen community disaster preparedness and resilience.

As one of the key outcomes of the AMCDRR 2018, the Action Plan 2018-2020 of the Asia Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 highlights the implementation of health aspects of the Sendai Framework, with a view to ensure more systematic cooperation, coherence and integration between disaster and health risk management. This will continue to be monitored through the Sendai Framework monitoring system.