VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture is encouraging the strengthening of disaster mitigation as a follow-up to the seven recommendations of the 7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR).

"Strengthening disaster mitigation is a necessity as a follow-up to the GPDRR," Deputy for Coordination of Regional Development Equality and Disaster Mitigation Lt. Gen.(retired) Sudirman told ANTARA here on Wednesday.

The strengthening of disaster mitigation involves building a culture of preparedness, anticipation, responsiveness, and adaptiveness through education related to disaster resilience, he explained.

Disaster education is aimed at realizing sustainable resilience, encouraging meaningful involvement for high-risk groups, especially children and people with disabilities as well as the elderly, he said.

The disaster mitigation strengthening efforts also include building disaster- and climate-resilient infrastructure and social protection for vulnerable groups, according to Sudirman.

He said that technology and innovation can also be used for developing mitigation efforts through partnerships, access to funding, and data and information sharing mechanisms.

The data and information distribution system must be accessible, reliable, and inclusive, and at the same time, implement global-level agreements, as stipulated in the GPDRR recommendations, he added.

Moreover, he pointed out, that the seven recommendations of the 7th session of the GPDRR in Bali, which was held from May 23–28, 2022, include transforming disaster risk reduction governance, ensuring financing and investment in mitigation programs, respecting the COP26 agreement, and implementing a participatory approach in mitigation programs.

He said that the governance transformation must be integrated with the 2030 agenda.

Furthermore, the recommendations include the development of early warning systems, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and comprehensive reporting of Sendai's framework targets, Sudirman added.

"Disaster mitigation connects all recommendations of the GPDRR. Mitigation is a crucial thing considering Indonesia's geographical condition that is located in the Ring of Fire; it is vulnerable to disasters," he said.  (antaranews)