Understanding “Uncertainty” At AMCDRR 2018: Local Perspectives for Local Implementation of the Sendai Framework

Special issue number 169 of southasiadisasters.net on ‘Understanding Uncertainty

Asian Ministers take up climate change related uncertainty on agenda. A special issue number 169 of southasiadisasters.net is launched today (July 5, 2018) at the AMCDRR 2018, Mongolia by UN Women, UNFPA, JICA and Duryog Nivaran. It is titled “Understanding Uncertainty: Views from Kachchh, Mumbai, and Sundarbans”. Uncertainty unfolds in many ways in the desert, delta and urban areas of Asia and this issue for the first time offers ways of thinking about uncertainty in disaster risk reduction framework. While there is overwhelming scientific evidence establishing a causal link between anthropogenic activity and climate change, there is a degree of uncertainty on the precise impacts of this phenomenon on the environment and human society. The uncertainty induced by climate change poses a threat to the ecology, human settlements, biodiversity and economy Greater uncertainty makes the prediction of extreme climate events like droughts, floods and extreme temperatures tougher which in turn causes problems for preparation against such contingencies. 

This is why climate change related uncertainty has become a great challenge to be addressed by planners, policy-makers and at-risk communities.

The Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) was established in 2005. It is a biennial conference jointly organized by different Asian countries (India, China,Thailand, Mongolia) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). AMCDRR aims planning and strengthening implementation of Asian Regional Plan (ARP) for implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). The ARP focuses on how to reduce disaster risk at national and local levels. ARP has longer term road map of  cooperation and collaboration, spanning the 15-year horizon of the SFDRR. Besides, ARP also has a two-year action plan to further DRR with specific and actionable activities. This year AMCDRR 2018 is organized at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The result of AMCDRR 2018 called Ulaanbaatar Declaration argues for translating coherence of global frameworks into policy and practices to achieve resilience at national and local levels across all sectors of society. AMCDRR 2018 suggests achieving results by strengthening governance arrangements and by providing practical guidance to ensure effective and efficient management of disaster risk.

The latest issue of southasiadisasters.net on ‘Understanding Uncertainty’ is drafted by researchers from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK; Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU); Future Health System (FHS); Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR); Self

Employed Women’s Association (SEWA); Climate Change Department, Gujarat; Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE); Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT); Urban Health and Climate Resilience Centre of Excellence (UHRCE); Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA); and All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI).

The publication – Southasiadisasters.net – is perhaps the only ongoing initiative coordinating knowledge and capturing DRR in South Asia and Asia Pacific by the practitioners, academicians,

A special issue number 169 of Southasiadisasters.net is launched today (July 5, 2018) at the AMCDRR 2018, Mongolia by representatives from UN Women, UNFPA, JICA and Duryog Nivaran. It is titled “Understanding Uncertainty: Views from Kachchh, Mumbai, and Sundarbans”.

officials, policy makers, and governments, donors, and the United Nations system members since 2005. Southasiadisasters.net is unique because of the contribution of over 692 writers belonging to 582 organisations from India and 39 countries, covering 17 disasters, spanning over 39 themes and 15 important national and international policy discourses. Perhaps this is the longest and largest effort to capture disaster risk reduction in action in Asia. Through the publication of 169 issues of southasiadisasters.net at AMCDRR 2018, AIDMI has successfully enhanced knowledge and innovation for effective integration of uncertainty and DRR in India and beyond.

For more information please visit www.aidmi.org and/or Email to knowingrisk@aidmi.org.