SDC supports to the international DRR system

                                         Influencing international policy and enhancing institutional partnerships

Growing international commitment

In 2015, the international community witnessed some of the most important milestones in DRR in recent decades. In March 2015, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) was adopted, which will guide action on DRR for the next 15 years. The UN conference in Addis Ababa 2015 affirmed the strong political commitment of the international community to financing DRR.

In September 2015, members of the United Nations General Assembly ratified the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The critical role of building resilient communities in the face of growing climate and disaster risks as a precondition for the success of the Agenda is strongly reflected in the resolution. It indeed highlights the fact that DRR is a crosscutting and multi-sectoral issue with 10 out of the 17 goals showing direct or indirect links to DRR.

At the 21st Conference in 2015 of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted a global agreement to address the devastating effects of climate change.

At the World Humanitarian Summit 2016, nations also committed to improving their resilience in the event of future disasters brought about by growing climate risk.

 

Figure 13:  The Sendai Framework Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda, with seven targets and four priorities for action. © SDC

Need for increased coherence of policy processes

Switzerland supports these important agreements and supports the international system in focusing and coordinating efforts, and enhancing policy coherence.

DRR is a multi-stakeholder issue. Coordinated efforts at all levels are crucial to achieving efficient risk reduction. The SDC promotes an improved normative and operational international DRR system that supports institutions at local, national and regional levels in increasing the capacity of disaster-prone countries to take appropriate measures and decisions to reduce the risk of disasters. The SDC is committed to supporting its partner countries in implementing the SFDRR.

International DRR partnerships are essential

The SDC's multilateral and international DRR partners include the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) hosted by the World Bank, the UN Office for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The SDC's activities relating to international policy and institutional partnerships:

Participation and engagement in multilateral processes

  • promoting coherence in DRR, CCA and multilateral processes and forums in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in the High-level Political Forum (HLPF), the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement conferences, and other international frameworks and mechanisms

  • cooperating with the major global development organisations, i.e. the international finance institutions (IFIs), UN organisations and regional institutions to promote DRR financing and to make development activities and processes disaster resilient, notably by integrating DRR into poverty reduction strategy papers, common country assessments and UN development assistance frameworks (UNDAFs) in disaster-prone countries

  • advocating for the integration of DRR aspects in the strategies of humanitarian actors, especially the SDC's Humanitarian Aid priority partners, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the IFRC / ICRC, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

  • engaging boards, steering and consultative groups/mechanisms, acquiring Swiss chair/co-chair functions where appropriate, and make use of strategic secondments;

  • strengthening the global DRR hub in Geneva, which includes the UNISDR secretariat, the World Bank GFDRR Geneva office and others, and making resources available for climate funds useful and accessible for DRR initiatives;and

  • long-term financing of relevant and key partner organisations with core contributions, supporting scaling up and mobilising financial resources for more investments through advocacy with governments, private sector actors, funds, foundations, others.

Roles and responsibilities

The lead within the SDC for supporting the international DRR system is with the Humanitarian Aid Department and its Multilateral Humanitarian Affairs Division (Multi-H) in close collaboration with the other units of the SDC and the federal administration. Experiences gained from targeted DRR programmes and mainstreaming within the SDC are capitalised and fed back into multilateral processes (‘working in triangle’).

see also section "SDC approach for DRR" and according sub-sections.