Today we discussed Disaster risk management and risk reduction, specifically touching upon the Sendi Framework, the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Dhaka conference on Disability and Disaster.

The Sendi Framework is the third United Nations conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The conference was held in 2015 in Sendi, Japan and is recognized as one of the most inclusive conferences the United Nations has ever hosted due to its recognition of people with disabilities. However, the Sendi Framework not only includes people with disability but strategizes how to make its framework, in regards to disaster risk and management more accessible to people with disabilities. The framework takes into account the training of first responders, accessible gathering points as well as well as alert systems. Two years later the United Nations would host the Global Platform for disaster risk reduction. The 2017 Global Platform for disaster risk reduction was held in Cancun, Mexico. The focus of the forum was to make the global platform more accessible to people with disabilities and to integrate them within the intern agency support group. I was astounded during our lecture when I saw the use of robots during the conference. The robots used are known as telepresence robots and allow people who could not attend the conference in person to participate and move freely. I founded it very inspiring that technology has come far, and that through the collective efforts of multiple organization people who were once not able to participate within these forums are able to do so making their voice, and the voice of the community they represent heard.

Overall, I am extremely impressed by the collective efforts made by multi-stakeholders and found its interesting how the Dhaka conference on Disability and Disaster had such an impact at these widely attended conferences. Although Dhaka isn’t a global initiative it was the vital framework for the 2017 Global Platform. The Dhaka document was remarkable because it was easily legible, recognizes the intersection of poverty and disabilities and intertwines the SDGs with the Sendi agreement.  The Dhaka conference on Disability of Disaster and Risk management is a beacon of hope proving that even the smallest initiatives may have some of the largest impacts.