The 12th meeting of the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management will bring high-level government officials from across Asia to Bhutan on 16–18 June 2015.

Organized shortly after the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction that adopted the global Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the meeting will discuss risk-sensitive development and contribute to the setting of a safer and resilient development agenda for the Asian region.


Bhutan is prone to hazards including landslides, cyclones, earthquakes, floods, droughts and most notably glacial lake
outburst floods. (Photo by Nadezda Zavitaeva / Shutterstock.com)

The changing climate is posing new risk globally, and particularly in Asia. As a result of the rising sea level, Asia’s numerous coastal cities, including 16 megacities, risk seeing significant urban areas flooded, causing the displacement of urban residents from their homes and the loss of assets if this threat is not addressed. The climate change will also increase the magnitude and frequency of hydro-metrological hazards.

“Sixty percent of the built environment of 2030 has yet to be constructed. The RCC member countries have an opportunity to ensure long-term sustainable urban development by minimizing disaster risk as towns and cities grow over the next 15 years and beyond,” says Prof. Dr. Krasae Chanawongse, Chairman of Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center initiated the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management (RCC) in 2000 to bring countries in the Asian region together to achieve common goals in disaster risk reduction, explore ways to transform policies into practice, and promote regional cooperation. The committee has met eleven times in different countries since its creation.

With ADPC as the RCC’s secretariat, the meetings bring together senior government officials from around Asia, and other relevant stakeholders including United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations. The RCC meetings provide the opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to discuss progress in reducing disaster risk and the vulnerability of people, and also create an open dialogue for stakeholders to discuss potential steps to reduce disaster losses.

This year’s meeting has the theme Risk-Sensitive Development in the Asia-Pacific Region.

For more information, click here.

Documents:

RCC 12 Background note

RCC 12 Agenda

Media release