Side event "Platform on Water Resilience and Disasters" during the UNESCO-IHP Intergovernmental Council Meeting

During the UNESCO-IHP Intergovernmental Council Meeting, ICHARM co-organized a side event, "Platform on Water Resilience and Disasters," with the UNESCO-IHP Secretariat at 18:20-19:50 on June 11, 2018, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

As the secretariat of the International Flood Initiative (IFI), ICHARM has been supporting the establishment of Platforms on Water Resilience and Disasters in Asian countries, such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan, in collaboration with UNESCO and WMO.

In this past March, the High-Level Panel on Water (HLPW), convened by the United Nations and the World Bank Group, made a recommendation in its outcome document: “Platforms on Water Resilience and Disasters should be formulated in countries to facilitate dialogue and scale up community-based practice.” This side event was organized with an aim to discuss how to implement the HLPW recommendation worldwide by sharing the experiences in Asia.

The event started with the opening address made by Mr. Koji Kitayama, the deputy permanent delegate of Japan to UNESCO, which was followed by reports of progress from the IFI active countries. Prof. Toshio Koike, the director of ICHARM, presented an overall report on the progress. Dr. Anthony Cinco Sales, the regional director of the Department of Science and Technology, delivered a country report of the Philippines. Dr. Tetsuya Ikeda, a chief research of ICHARM, reported on the other IFI active countries.

Dr. Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros, the director of the Division of Water Sciences of UNESCO and the secretary of UNESCO-IHP, moderated the panel discussion joined by speakers from IFI’s leading organizations, including Dr. Abou Amani from UNESCO-IHP, Mr. Tommaso Abrate from WMO, and Prof. Christophe Cudennec from IAHS.

Floor participants also made comments and suggestions regarding: the necessity to consider changes in statistic data due to population growth and climate change; the necessity to focus on not only floods but also droughts; the importance of capacity building and knowledge transfer to developing countries; and the importance of incorporating scientific knowledge in the policy decision making process.

Dr. Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros wrapped up the side event, summarizing the discussions.


        [ Materials ]
        ・Program 
        ・Presentation Materials 
             Prof. Toshio Koike
             Dr. Anthony Cinco Sales
             Dr. Tetsuya Ikeda
             Dr. Abou Amani
             Mr. Tommaso Abrate

Report by Prof. Koike
Report by Prof. Koike
Panel discussion
Panel discussion