WHAT:           African Union Commission Participation on the Eighth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR_2025) to be held under the theme “Everyday Counts, Act for Resilience Today”.      

 WHEN:         2-6 June 2025

• Preparatory sessions 2-3 June
• Africa Day 2^nd June
• Official programme 4-6 June

WHERE:       Geneva, Switzerland (International Conference Center Geneva /CICG)             

WHO:           The Eighth Session of the Global Platform (GP2025) hosted by the Government of Switzerland and co-chaired by Switzerland and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

Objective:

The 2025 Global Platform will provide an opportunity to strengthen the implementation of the Sendai Framework, considering the progress and challenges identified in its Midterm Review and reflecting the Africa Common Position in the Political Declaration.

Specific objectives:

The Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction is an opportunity to:

• Take stock of progress, share new knowledge, exchange best practices, and discuss the latest developments and trends in reducing disaster risk.
• Make sure the Africa Common Position is included in the Political Declaration
• Build synergy and collaboration with relevant stakeholders in DRR

Expected outcomes:

GP2025 is expected to strengthen Africa's Voice on DRR in global forums and ensuring the African Common Position is reflected in the final Declaration of the Global Platform.

Context

Africa has made significant achievements in disaster risk reduction (DRR) due to implementing global, continental, regional, and national DRR frameworks and programmes. In particular, implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters and its Africa Programme of Action (2015-2030) (PoA) contributed to substantially reducing disaster-induced losses in human lives across the continent. Despite this achievement, Africa remains the most vulnerable continent, where the number of reported disasters associated with natural hazards has increased from 496 for 2019-2020 to 612 for 2021-2022. This event also dramatically increased the loss of life, from 42,275 lives lost in 2019/2020 to 279,103 lives lost in 2021-2022. There was also an increase in the number of people affected by disasters, which increased significantly from 86.9 million in 2019-2020 to 137.1 million in 2021-2022.

Recognising the importance of disaster risk reduction in building resilience, and thereby contributing to sustainable development and the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want, the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government reiterated their continued commitment to disaster risk reduction in the context of the Sendai Framework by endorsing the Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in Africa at the January 2017 Assembly of the African Union. The practical implementation of this Programme of Action contributes to implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in Africa.

The various Regional Platforms (RPs) held in Africa also play a crucial role in mobilizing governments and stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework. The RPs also play an important role in energizing the global disaster risk reduction community around existing and new initiatives and showcasing innovation in risk reduction policies and measures. They provide an opportunity for the disaster risk reduction community to network, build on existing partnerships and build new ones, and provide a forum to discuss joint acceleration of global policy agendas. The outcomes of RPs also feed into the sessions of the GP2025, specifically those related to the stocktaking of achieving the goals and targets of the Sendai Framework.

For more information:

Mrs. Teressa Custodio Pinto| Technical Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction| Directorate of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy, Department for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment | E-mail: PintoT@africa-union.org

For media enquiry please contact:

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke | Media and Communication Officer| African Union Commission | Email: MolaletT@africa-union.org; Website: www.au.int

Ms. Maryanne Muriuki, Communications Analyst – Disaster Risk Reduction | Disaster Risk Reduction Unit | African Union Commission | E-mail: MuriukiM@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Further information and programme of event

www.au.int

https://globalplatform.undrr.org/programme/agenda

More information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission,   E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.africa I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube