Highlights and images for 9 October 2018

Preparations for the Africa-Arab Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) started on Tuesday, 9 October, at the Lacio Hotel, Tunis, Tunisia, with a series of pre-conference events. IISD/RS covered a selection of these events, on: innovative solutions for dynamic disaster risk financing and resilience; coastal resilience and spatial planning; DRR and violent conflict; conflict and resilience; and linking DRR, climate change, and development in the Horn of Africa. The event on innovative solutions for dynamic disaster risk financing and resilience focused on African Risk Capacity, an initiative to pool risk and resources and provide immediate funding to African governments to respond to natural disasters.Experiences from African and Arab countries were shared in the session on spatial planning and coastal resilience, where questions were raised on inter alia: aligning global and national strategies; and leveraging political will to implement strategies. Participants reflected on whether DRR is a neglected area of work in a session on DRR and violent conflict, highlighting the need for DRR preparedness to focus on peace building. Conflict and resilience were discussed again in an afternoon session, where comparisons were made on how “resilience” appears across global frameworks, in addition to highlighting the need for: coordination among the climate change, disaster risk and biodiversity agendas; raising the profile of community-based resilience approaches; and opportunities to address displaced communities.

A session on linking DRR, climate change, and development discussed opportunities, challenges, and gaps in policy frameworks at the regional, national, and local levels in countries in the Horn of Africa.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily coverage and a summary report from the Africa-Arab Platform on DRR.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Natalia Mroz

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DRR and Violent Conflict in Africa and Arab States

Katie Peters, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Participants share experiences during the event

Participants interact during the meeting

Innovative Solutions for Dynamic Disaster Risk Financing and Resilience

Barbara Fang, African Risk Capacity (ARC)

Thandie Mwape, Partners for Resilience (PfR)

Participants engage in discussions

Participants during presentations

Robert Kwame deGraft Agyarko, African Risk Capacity, facilitates the ARC game on disaster risk management (DRM) decisions

Participants rolling the dice during the game

Spatial Planning and Coastal Resilience: Experiences from African and Arab Countries

Héla Tlemceni-Mzoughi, General Directorate, Land-use Planning, Tunisia and Boussoffara Faouzi, Association of Architects of Djerba, Tunisia

Panelists respond to discussions

Ahmed Aly Badawy, National Research of Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), Egypt

A participant listens to a presentation

A participant records the slides from the presentation

Moussa Sall, Center for Ecological Monitoring (CSE), Senegal

Sheme Mekki, United Nations Development Programme, Sudan

Adel Abdouli, Coastal Protection and Planning Agency, Tunisia

Is Resilience Possible in Conflict Affected States

The panel during the session

Panelists present national experiences

Linking DRR, Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the Horn of Africa

Participants during the session

Other Events

Adama Bagayoko, Economic Community of West African States, makes a point during the session on Gender Inclusive DRR

Participants listen to the presentations

Around the Venue

Registration booth at the Africa-Arab Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction

Participants from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

Participants at the meeting

Beatrice Teya, UNDP, and Seline Locham, a participant from Kenya

Participants greet each other during a break

Representatives of Tunisian Red Crescent