INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY PLATFORM

6.

International Recovery Platform

As a pioneering member of the International Recovery Platform (Annex 2), ADRC supports its activities,including co-hosting the IRP Secretariat in Kobe, Japan. IRP activities in FY 2021 are listed below.

6.1

International Recovery Forum 2022

Annually, in January, IRP organizes the International Recovery Forum (Forum) to exchange experiences andfacilitate discussion on challenges to resilient recovery, and opportunities for building back better. The Forum
was held in a hybrid modality on 19 January 2022, on the theme, “Redesigning Systems for Resiliencethrough Recovery: Assessing Progress and the Unfinished Agenda at the Midpoint of the SendaiFramework”. Attended by 400 participants from 65 countries, the Forum featured keynote presentations andpanel discussions.
As the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 approaches its mid-term implementation,
the United Nations General Assembly has mandated that a midterm review of its implementation should beconducted, with specific reference made to assessing progress toward its core provision to “build backbetter”. The global pandemic, climate change, and setbacks to the Sustainable Development Goals
underscore the necessity of assessing progress and challenges in building back better to date, and tocollectively consider adjustments and actions necessary to implement Priority 4 moving forward.
The International Recovery Forum 2022 provided reflections on the implementation of Priority 4 and thechallenges that remain, while setting a forward-looking agenda for continued progress. It featured
retrospective and prospective discussions between recovery policymakers and experts on focused themes inequitably and with greater resilience from disasters. The Forum have two panel discussions that aim toachieve these objectives:·The first objective is assessing the Six Years of Progress and Challenges in “Build Back Better” forImplementing the Sendai Framework. Panelists discussed progress, achievements, enablers andbarriers in building back better and how these have informed improvements in recovery policies,
governance, programmes, and outcomes.

·The second objective is to redesigning systems for resilience through recovery: Setting the Agenda for
Advancing “Build Back Better” through 2030. Panelists discussed priorities and options to advance theimplementation of building back better in the context of multiple hazards and systemic risk. It identified
good practices that lead to transformative and resilience actions in recovery.

Speakers at the opening session included Mr Ronald JACKSON, Chair of the IRP Steering Committee(UNDP), Mr SAITO Motohiko, Governor of Hyogo Prefecture, Mr UCHIDA Yoshinari, Deputy Director
General for Disaster Management, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, and Ms Mami Mizutori, Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of
the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
The first keynote speaker was Mr TAKEYA Kimio, Distinguished Technical Advisor on Disaster Risk
Reduction, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The second keynote speaker was Ms Cynthia

57Section 6

recovery for enhanced implementation of building back better so that communities can recover faster, more

INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY PLATFORM

SPISHAK, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy and Programme Analysis Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).
Members of the first panel discussions were Ms Elizabeth RILEY, Executive Director, the Caribbean Disaster
Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA); Mr Anil POKHREL, Chief Executive, National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Authority, Government of Nepal; Ms Litea BIUKOTO, Team Leader, RiskReduction, The Pacific Community (SPC); and Mr Nathan NKOMO, Acting Chief Director, Department ofCivil Protection, Ministry of Local Government, Public Works andNational Housing, Government ofZimbabwe. Ms Cristelle PRATT, Assistant Secretary-General, Environment and Climate Action, Organizationof African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) moderated this panel.
Members of the second panel discussions were Mr Ramesh SUBRAMANIAM, Director General, Southeast
Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB); Mr Jerry FANO, Head, Project Impact Analysis andEvaluation, Department of Public Works and Highways, Government of the Philippines; Ms Sithembiso
GINA, Senior Programme Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction Unit, Southern African Development Community(SADC); and Mr José OLIVEIRA, National Director, National Directorate for Risk Prevention andManagement, Government of Portugal. Ms Paola ALBRITO, Chief of Branch, Intergovernmental processes,
Interagency Co-operation and Partnerships, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
moderated this panel.
Finally, the Speakers at the closing session were Ms Paola ALBRITO, Chief of Branch, Intergovernmentalprocesses, Interagency Co-operation and Partnerships, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction(UNDRR) and Mr MURAKAMI Takeo, Director, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, on behalf of Co-Chairof the IRP Steering Committee.
Section 6Figure 6.1 Speakers of the International Recovery Forum 2022

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INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY PLATFORM

6.2
On

6th National Convention for the Promotion of Disaster Reduction
5-6

November

2021,

participated

in

the

6thConvention

forthePromotion

IRP

NationalofDisaster Reduction (Bosai Kokutai2021) which was organized by theNational Convention for the Promotionof Disaster Reduction 2021 SteeringCommittee led by the Cabinet Office.

This event has been held since
FY2016 and is now in its sixth year.
The purpose of this event is to raiseawarenessofdisasterprevention
Figure 6.2 Online display of IRP Guidance Notes on Recovery

among the people and to shareknowledge and experiences about

disasters in order to enhance disaster preparedness, and to serve as an opportunity to raise awareness ofdisaster prevention at the individual and community levels. This year, the event was held hybrid (on site andonline) in order to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Through the online exhibition, IRP introduced its activities to the international community to promote "BuildBack Better" through the introduction of sectoral recovery guidance notes, leaflets outlining its activities, theIRP Herald and knowledge products related to COVID-19, and side events at the Global Platform for Disaster
Section 6Reduction meeting and the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction.

6.3

Sendai Disaster Reduction and Future Forum 2022

On 5 March 2022, IRP participated in theSendai Disaster Reduction and Future Forum2022 held in Sendai City. The forum was held
under the theme of “Linking Our DisasterPrevention and Environment to the Future ofthe Miyako of Mori” as an event where citizens
could learn about disaster prevention anddisseminate

theirdaily

activities

throughsessions, booths, and hands-on events in order
to connect the experiences and lessons
learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake
to future disaster prevention. IRP set up its own
exhibitionboothanddistributed

leaflets

Figure 6.3 IRP Display Booth at the Sendai Forum 2022

outlining its activities, and the IRP Herald.

59

INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY PLATFORM

6.4

Sessions at the Global DRR

In FY 2021, IRP was engaged with three Regional Platforms held by UNDRR, namely: 1) the EuropeanForum for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2) the Fifth Arab Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and 3)
the VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean.
IRP Secretariat organized a featured event “Building Back Better and Greener for Resilient Recovery fromthe Pandemic” with IRP SC member UNDP at the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) on
24 November 2021. This event featured distinguished speakers from UNDP, the Cyprus Institute, UNDP
Azerbaijan, and the Government of Ukraine. Speakers deliberated on the application of recovery needs
assessment tools for greening recovery, decision support models for recovery planning and greening
recovery, and the lessons that can be gleaned from recent experiences with planning and investing inresilience in the pandemic recovery. According to the organizer of the EFDRR, the event was among themost well-attended side events at the conference, with 269 live participants, and more than 100 on-demandviews.
In the 5th Arab Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction: “Build Back Better Post Disaster Recovery an
Opportunity to Build Resilience in the Arab Region”, on 10 November 2021 – IRP SC Co-Chair Cabinet Officeof Japan and IRP Secretariat co-presented.
In the 7th Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean: IRP SCmembers UNDP and GFDRR co-organized “Risk-Informed Recovery in a Multi-hazard Context: Lessons
Learned from Current Times” on 2 November 2021. This event was an IRP co-branded side event, with IRP
supported promotion, and implementation.
Section 66.5

Upgrading of IRP Website

The IRP Secretariat worked intensivelywiththeUNDRR

Communications,Advocacy, Knowledge Management andIT team throughout 2021 to design andbuild a new IRP website. The IRP
Secretariat completed the design anddevelopment of the renewed site, andpre-launched the renewed site on 19January 2022 during the International

Recovery Forum 2022. The previous
IRP website was maintained until 16

Figure 6.4 Screenshot of upgraded IRP website

February 2022 at which point it wasarchived. The IRP Secretariat migrated more than 2,000 recovery-related publications and events to the newsite, and has since uploaded more than 200 publications in 2021 to be disseminated through the new site
and the PreventionWeb. The existing website continued its growth in web traffic, with more than 51,000
unique visitors to the site in 2021, up from 37,000 in 2020, and 32,000 in 2019.

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