TC-21 Seminar

Exploring the Synergy: Innovation andTransdisciplinary Approaches in DRR

20 September 2023

How does the central government make a remark in theinternational arena of disaster risk reduction?
Focusing on the frequency of statement publication at theUN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
Daisuke Sasaki, Yuta Hara, and Yuichi Ono
International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS),
Tohoku University

Introduction

Fig. 1. Seven global targets of the Sendai Framework[Sources] UNDRR (2023)
https://www.undrr.org/implementing-sendai-framework/what-sendai-framework

Fig. 2. Speaking session of the official statements by the memberstates, representatives of stakeholder groups, and international orregional organizations in the GPDRR 2022
[Sources] Hara et al. (2023)

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Introduction
The objectives of this study were as follows: To reassess each member state’s attitudes, which are notnecessarily noted, by analyzing the change in the frequency ofofficial statements published in the Global Platform for DRR(GPDRR) over the last 5 years (2017–2022).
 To compare the status of official statements with the actual
geographical distribution of disaster risks and examine thenature of discussions in the international arena.
2Methodology
The methodology of this study was:
 Aggregation and visualization of the official statement
publication status by member states
 Comparison with disaster risks and the official
statement publication3

Results and Discussion
 The total number of official statements in the last three GPDRR meetingsof 2017, 2019, and 2022 was 106, 94, and 52, respectively. The
percentages of these publication numbers with respect to all UN memberstates (193) plus Palestine, Cook Islands, and the Holy See are 54%, 48%,and 27%, respectively.
 Aggregation and comparison of the previous three meeting situations
revealed a conspicuous downward trend in the number of member states
issuing official statements. Additionally, 40 member states publishedofficial statements at all three meetings, while 67 member states havenever published official statements. This implies that the GPDRR is notnecessarily aware of the situations and opinions of all member states.
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Results and Discussion

Fig. 3. Ratio of member states in each continent aggregated by the number of the
published official statements in the GPDRR from 2017 to 2022
[Sources] Hara et al. (2023)

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Results and Discussion

Fig. 4. Spatial distribution of the number of published official statements in the GPDRR from 2017 to 2022
Overseas territories, home rule states, and exclaves are colored as the same color of the home member states (e. g., Puerto Rico, French
Guiana, Greenland, Faroe Islands, British and US Virgin Islands). The white territories indicate the location of non-UN member states
except for Palestine, Cook Islands, and Holy See, as well as areas experiencing territorial disputes.

[Sources] Hara et al. (2023)

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Results and Discussion

Fig. 5. Spatial distribution and types of the multi-disaster risks[Sources] Hara et al. (2023)

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Results and Discussion
Table 1. A matrix showing the relationship between the frequency of official statement publication and disaster risk by region[Sources] Hara et al. (2023)

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Conclusions
 Aggregating and comparing the previous three meeting situations
revealed a conspicuous downward trend in the number of member
states publishing official statements from 2017 to 2022.
 Forty member states published official statements at all three meetings,
while 67 member states have never published official statements. Thus,
the international arena in DRR is not necessarily aware of thesituation and opinions of all member states.
 The trends between the frequency of official statement publicationand the actual amount of risk are not always closely related.
9Conclusions
 The member states in the Asian and Pacific Ocean region were more active inpresenting official statements than those of other continents; in other words,
the attitudes of the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and some
Sub-Saharan African member states were shared less frequently in theinternational arena. Many member states in these less frequently publishedregions also have high disaster risks.
 Some least-developed member states are actively making officialstatements and expressing their intentions despite the limited human andfinancial resources. This fact may be helpful for member states that have notyet made official statements in the past three GPDRR to advance theirattitudes and situations in the international arena.

10Thank you
for your kind attention.
Contact :Daisuke Sasaki, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS),Tohoku University
Email dsasaki@irides.tohoku.ac.jp