Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga has emphasized the role of the public sector in creating an environment for all stakeholders to deliver their shared responsibilities; establishing inclusive disaster risk governance mechanisms; and adopting concrete, structural, and non-structural measures.

“Local action is essential to advance disaster risk reduction, including active, meaningful participation of those at greatest risk,” Loyzaga said in her speech at the closing ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Thursday.

The five-day conference gathered 4,000 ministers and delegates from across the region to address the critical need for enhanced action on disaster risk reduction under the theme, “Surge to 2030: Enhancing ambition in Asia-Pacific to accelerate disaster risk reduction.”

Individual discussions gave participants insights on strengthening their commitment to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) in the region.

“The Gender Action Plan to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework offers a set of practical recommended actions to substantially increase resource allocations, activities, and impacts of gender-responsive DRR,” she said.

Gender stakeholders are also urged to support national and local authorities and all stakeholders in the overall implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The Sendai Framework aims to achieve a substantial reduction in disaster risk and losses by the year 2030 and works hand in hand with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Loyzaga said the protection of ecological systems and biodiversity is essential in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and must be integrated in the creation of practical and sustainable strategies.

The private sector can also adopt and integrate DRR in business models, practices, and supply chains beyond business continuity planning and corporate social responsibility, she said.

Citing the need for the DRR to be gender-responsive, Loyzaga said women, girls, and individuals of diverse genders must be included in every level of decision-making.

Apart from the discussions, the delegates exchanged knowledge, networked, raised awareness, and promoted multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary DRR through exhibitions.

A total of 80 exhibitors from the government, non-government organizations, private sector, and educational institutions shared their DRR initiatives for four days at the PICC.

A field trip to cultural heritage sites, national and local monitoring centers, city-level DRR areas, and community-based DRR initiatives is set for the delegates on Friday.

Protection of people pushed

Meanwhile, Johaira Wahab-Manantan, director of the United Nations and Other International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said that the Philippines has been leading the development of a Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters.

Manantan cited the significance of the draft articles in protecting persons in disasters, emphasizing their potential to bridge gaps in international disaster response laws, human rights, and humanitarian laws.

The Philippines, which chairs the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sixth committee working group, highlighted the draft’s 18 articles clustered into five categories, which include the general provisions, core obligations of international cooperation, the role of the affected state, and the facilitation of external assistance.

Key points included the inclusion of a duty to protect human dignity and the recognition of non-state actors, such as the Red Cross.

The draft article will go beyond the framework of the provision of relief assistance, which then, would just become a component of the protection of persons.

“So really the focus now are persons and the protection, and again, the other layer there in the protection is the focus on human rights, humanitarian principles, and human dignity,” she said.

Moreover, the draft also focuses on the role of the affected state, balancing it with the notion of sovereignty, and then giving focus to the right of the state to consent to external assistance.

“Perhaps, I will also flag that for the first time, we’re intending to have a legally binding instrument defining disasters, and so that is also a very important conversation that’s going on in the working group,” Manantan said. (PNA)