Five countries represent the Connecting Business initiative at Disaster Risk Reduction Conference in Australia

Nara (Huihua) Hu, CBI Secretariat
Five of CBi Member Networks advocated for stronger private sector involvement in disaster risk reduction across the Asia-Pacific region.
Five of CBI Member Networks advocated for stronger private sector involvement in disaster risk reduction across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Connecting Business initiative (CBI) Member Networks from Fiji, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Vanuatu highlighted the role of local businesses in disaster risk management at the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR 2022) organized in Brisbane this week. They came away inspired and underscored the need for stronger private sector involvement in regional disaster risk reduction programmes and policies.

Anna Katrina Aspuria, the Head of Programmes and Innovation at the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), was awarded a prize as a local champion for disaster resilience by the Asian Local Leaders Forum for Disaster Resilience (ALL4DR). She received her award on Tuesday from Mami Mizutori, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Veronica Gabaldon, PDRF Executive Director, was one of the 15 finalists of the 2022 Women’s International Network for Disaster Risk Reduction Excellence Leadership Award, selected from 420 nominations across the Asia Pacific region. “Imagine how much more women will be able to help their communities if they are allowed to lead and participate in governance for disaster resilience,” she said.

During the conference, Glen Craig, Chairman of the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council (VBRC), presented CBI and its role in advancing localization in the Asia Pacific Region. “We all work with each other, sharing that knowledge fast and work in a private sector-like manner,” he explained. This took place on the “Ignite Stage”, an interactive space for knowledge sharing experience.

Glen

Representatives from the Fiji Business Disaster Resilience Council, FBDRC and the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce, KADIN, also had the opportunity to share the private sector perspective in disaster risk reduction. Suryani Motik, from KADIN, shared the experience of women first responders during the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.

Yani

Hosted by the Australian Government and convened by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), APMCDRR 2022 was held in Brisbane, Australia from 19 – 22 September, attracting thousands of delegates from more than 40 countries under the theme ‘From Crisis to Resilience: Transforming the Asia-Pacific Region’s future through disaster risk reduction.’

The conference ended with a co-chair statement, that reflected our Member Networks’ impressions, as the statement insisted on the importance to invest more in business continuity, calling on government and the private sector to “develop partnerships that strengthen business resilience to climate and disaster risk, […] and harness the innovation of businesses while also facilitating the rapid and effective recovery of communities.”

A joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Connecting Business initiative (CBI) supports private sector engagement before, during and after disasters. Since CBI’s launch in 2016, its Member Networks have responded to more than 100 crises and assisted around 18 million people. Read more in the 2021 CBI Annual Report. 

For more information about CBI, visit connectingbusiness.org. 

For media inquiries, please contact Priscilla Lecomte at lecomte@un.org.

Tags: