Mumbai, 24 May 2023 The second meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) was inaugurated in Mumbai today. The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, and Shri Kamal Kishore, Chair of the working group and Member Secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and the Government of Maharashtra were also present. Notably, Ms. Mami Mizutori, the Special Secretary to the Secretary General for the United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction, is among the delegates attending the DRRWG meeting in Mumbai.Speaking at the inaugural programme, Dr. Pawar urged that financing disaster risk reduction is an investment in our future. It is an investment in the safety, health and well-being of our communities, the sustainability of our economies, and the preservation of our environment. She said that governments, international organizations and the private sector need to collaborate and explore new ways to mobilize funding.The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare also spoke about the importance of pandemic management and its impact on public health. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for emergency preparedness to be at the core of various development and finance policies. “We need to make sure that our healthcare systems are able to withstand the impact of future disasters”, she said.Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar further stated that the world has been lagging in achieving the disaster risk reduction targets laid down in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The global economic growth has been commendable in the last 2-3 decades, but funding for reducing the associated disaster risks has been inadequate, she said.
