During the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction, participants agreed to accelerate the implementation of the extended programme of action for the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (2006-2015), which covers emerging trends and challenges, linking DRR and climate change adaptation.
6 April 2011: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and the African Union (AU) convened the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (AWGDRR). The Group met from 29-31 March 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya.
A key outcome of the meeting included agreement to accelerate the implementation of the extended programme of action for the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) (2006-2015), in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The extended programme of action covers emerging trends and challenges, linking DRR and climate change adaptation.
The meeting also agreed on a terms of reference for the AWGDRR and considered the Africa position paper for the Third Session of the Global Platform on DRR, scheduled to convene in May 2011.
The meeting was held alongside the African launch of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, to which four cities, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kampala (Uganda) and Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Narok (Kenya) signed up. The aim of the Campaign is to enlist over 1,000 local government leaders to invest more in DRR, including: improving urban planning, infrastructure and building safety; reinforcing drainage systems to reduce flood, storm and health threats; installing early warning systems; conducting public preparedness drills; and taking measures to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change. [ISDR Press Release]