Italy, represented by the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Vincenzo Grassi, took over today the Chairmanship of the Support Group of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) from Indonesia.
The Support Group, open to all Member States, gathers the 10 UNDRR’s major donor States and aims at strengthening the UNDRR’s mandate (reference office in the UN system on disaster risk reduction).
UNDRR is based in Geneva, but has a global presence thanks to its five regional offices, whose work helps building and nurturing relationships with national and local governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and the private sector.
The Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai in 2015, led to the adoption of the Sendai Framework, an international document providing a comprehensive framework on the prevention and reduction of disaster risks posed by natural and man-made hazards.
This Framework works hand in hand with other agreements of the 2030 Agenda, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action on Financing for Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
During today’s meeting, Ambassador Grassi thanks Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on disaster risk reduction, as well as Paola Albrito, Director of UNDRR, and reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to support UNDRR priorities. He also recalled the important role of the Italian Cooperation in disaster risk reduction activities (such as the creation of situation rooms in various African countries to collect and analyze data on disaster risk reduction), as well as the recognized expertise of the Italian Civil Protection in the management of natural and man-made disasters.
