10 June 2010: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) has announced the appointment of the Chair of the Parliamentarian Network on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the National Assembly of Senegal, MP Abdou Sane, as West African DRR Champion.
The appointment was made at the Consultative Meeting for West African Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction: An Instrument for Achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, which convened from 1-2 June, in Dakar, Senegal. Sane has long advocated for DRR, including among the African Group at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
At the meeting, parliamentarians examined the impact of disasters on each of the MDGs in West Africa, in the context of global trends, progress and the worldwide challenges of DRR. In order to promote initiatives resilient to disasters and climate change that impact the MDGs, they assessed what needs to be done in their respective countries and discussed what actions parliamentarians should take to exercise their oversight roles and responsibilities for achieving disaster-resilient MDGs. They agreed on a Plan for Action that will see the parliamentarians build national networks on DRR, review relevant laws, address gender and risk concerns. [UN/ISDR Press Release]