Attendees at the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States resolved to mainstream disaster risk reduction according to the meeting’s official outcome document titled a Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity.
In a disaster management context, mainstreaming refers to the practice of incorporating risk reduction strategies into all sectors of public and private life.
According to the document, SIDS will achieve this aim by
- Increasing local, national and regional capacity to respond to intensifying disasters;
- Building more robust legislative frameworks;
- Strengthening preparedness by improving multi-hazard early warning systems;
- Implementing creative arrangements and risk reduction mechanisms that allow SIDS to access low and concessional financing rates; and
- Building protective infrastructure and utilising the post-disaster reconstruction to make improvements
The outcome document highlighted the special development challenges and the unique vulnerability of Small Islands Developing States:
“We remain concerned that SIDS are facing the unrelenting and compounding impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, disasters and natural hazards, health and other social related challenges and economic vulnerabilities, as well as the progressive deterioration in their ability to withstand external shocks and enhance their resilience. Successive global crises, along with the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated and negatively compounded the sustainable development of SIDS.”
