Loren is Asia's UN 'champion' on disaster risk prevention

KUALA LUMPUR – Sen. Loren Legarda has accepted the task of “championing” disaster risk reduction for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) in Asia Pacific.

As such, Legarda will help the UNISDR promote disaster risk reduction policies in countries and communities of the region most vulnerable to disasters.

“The experience and motivation of Senator Legarda will contribute significantly to advancing disaster risk reduction at all levels and within governments and civil society,” said Salvano Briceno, director of the UNISDR secretariat.

“We are very much honored that she has accepted the task of acting as champion, considering disaster risk reduction is not an easy policy to promote. But, I am confident that with her charismatic leadership, many other leaders will listen to her, emulate her and commit to making the world a safer and better place for all,” said Briceno.

The Asia Pacific Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction is an honorary title bestowed by UNISDR on a person of integrity who embodies its mission and ideals in advocating disaster risk reduction.

Legarda, who comes from a country often affected by typhoons, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions, accepted her new official engagement during the Third Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which opened here last Tuesday.

“We chose her because of her record and vast experience. When we discovered that she is a strong promoter of environment issues, we realized that she was the one. It was a wonderful discovery,” Briceno said after a press conference that followed Legarda’s appointment.

The senator has shown a strong commitment to advancing disaster risk reduction policies and her recent efforts with UNISDR have proved to be successful, he said.

Last October in Manila, Legarda convened the first consultative meeting with parliamentarians on making disaster risk reduction the primary tool for climate change adaptation.

She steered the meeting towards a consensus on making the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) legally binding and establishing regional hubs of parliamentarians for disaster risk reduction.     

By articulating the importance of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change, with a gender perspective, into development processes, Briceno said Legarda has encouraged more parliamentarians as well as women in politics and governance from all over the world to support the implementation of the HFA. 

The HFA is a 10-year plan, adopted in 2005 by 168 governments in Kobe, Japan, to reduce human and economic losses due to disasters.

“People do not yet realize that prevention policies are our first line of defense against disasters and, in particular, against climate-induced disasters. We need to take our increasing vulnerability to disasters very seriously as many more people will be affected in the future,” said Legarda in her acceptance speech.