20 October 2009: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) participated in the Consultative Meeting of Parliamentarians in Chad on 17 October 2009. At the meeting, Parliamentarians and Ministers from Central African countries recognized disaster risk reduction measures as a main tool to adapt to future climate-related disasters that are already affecting many countries in Africa.

The meeting recognized the crucial synergy between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Central African countries and agreed on concrete actions that parliamentarians will take back to their respective countries in order to facilitate immediate and cost effective national adaptation to climate change. The Chair of the African Parliamentarian initiative on Climate Risk Reduction called for agreement on a common African position that will link climate change adaptation to disaster risk reduction and be brought to the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December. [UN/ISDR press release]