05 Jul 2018

New Initiative in Asia / Pacific: Coherence Practice Group

by GIDRM

July 5th, Ulaanbaatar ‒ During the second Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) launched the Coherence Practice Group. Around 60 invited guests participated in the event, including honorable delegates of the conference, such as the Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines and the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, from the Government of Nepal. In addition, important partners such as ADB, ADPC, ECHO, FAO, SDC and UNESCAP and UNISDR participated in the event.

The evening commenced with opening remarks by Andy McElroy of UNISDR, who endorsed the Coherence Practice Group by stating

realizing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction requires coherence on all levels of governance – from international agreements, national planning, to practical implementation at the local level.

The evening continued with Dr. Markus Steinich (GIZ), Head of GIDRM, outlining the objective of the GIDRM with its new focus on fostering practical coherence for resilience in a world of global agendas. Furthermore, he introduced the concept of the Coherence Practice Group, which invites like-minded partners, donors and experts to jointly inspire, capacitate and connect stakeholders within the region. The Coherence Practice Group offers customized advisory services to countries on a demand-driven basis and reintroduces the lessons-learned and good practices back into the regional and international discourse.

A panel discussion thereafter officially and successfully launched the Coherence Practice Group. The Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines opened the panel discussion by stressing the importance of coherent implementation of the global agendas in the context of the Philippines and highlighted the efforts by the Philippine government in aligning planning processes in a coherent manner, especially at the national level. Afterwards, representatives from DILG, ADB, ADPC and SDC discussed some of the key issues of coherence such as information and knowledge management, financing mechanisms, regional partnerships and the localization of coherence from national plans to local actions. Reporting on their different experiences and sharing insights, the panel ultimately concluded in agreement on the need for such an initiative in the region.

With the Coherence Practice Group, GIDRM aims at intensifying regional exchange between policy and practice. The Group’s contribution is in line with the Ulaanbaatar Declaration, which calls for more coherence necessary for the implementation of the Asia Regional Plan of the Sendai Framework 2018 -2020.

The Coherence Practice Group will support the translation of the global agendas into coherent planning, implementation and reporting processes at national and local level.

To find out more, contact us at coherencepracticegroup@gidrm.net