The Sendai Framework 2015-2030: An Overview

[This article was originally published in Bina Mampan]

Reducing the risk of disaster – be it in the form of losses in lives, livelihoods and health or in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries – is not the sole responsibility of the State. It is one that should be shared with other stakeholders, including the local government, corporations and private sectors. This is what The Sendai Framework is trying to achieve.

The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, nonbinding agreement which is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. It is the outcome of the three years’ of talks and discussions by the UN member states, NGOs, and other stakeholders when they made calls for an improved version of the existing Hyogo Framework.

The talks were initiated in March 2012 while inter-governmental negotiations were held from July 2014 to March 2015, and assisted by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) upon the request of the UN General Assembly.

The framework sets four priorities for action and seven global targets in achieving the outcome and goal.

The Four Priorities for Action

1. Understanding disaster risk: An understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment is essential in disaster risk management.
2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk: It is important to strengthen the disaster risk governance at the national, regional and global levels for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and rehabilitation.
3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience: Public and private investments are essential in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural measures.
4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction: Strengthening disaster preparedness for response, taking action in anticipation of events, and ensuring there are enough capacities for effective response and recovery at all levels.

The Seven Global Targets

1. Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020-2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
2. Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020 -2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
3. Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
4. Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.
5. Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.
6. Substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for implementation of this Framework by 2030.
7. Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030.

With a set of common standards, a comprehensive framework with achievable targets, and a legally-based instrument for disaster risk reduction, The Sendai Framework aims to emphasise the need to tackle disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption while also setting the goals for sustainable development.