The negotiations that were planned to be all done prior to the conference, were initially delayed. Technology transfer, Common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), sources of financing, and countries in conflict were topics which created disagreements through to the end. But on the late evening of 18 March representatives from 186 governments signed a new UN framework on disaster risk reduction - the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Sendai Declaration.
GWP has been involved in the preparatory processes of the negotiations, for instance through the development of a ‘Water and disaster risk’ brief in collaboration with UN Water, and through participation in some of the prep meetings that took place in 2014.
Among other activities during the conference, GWP also participated in an event on “Building an international coalition for integrated delta management and resilience”, co-hosted by the Dutch Government, Colombia and Japan, on the start-up of a Delta Coalition initiative. The idea of the initiative was fairly new and the organisers sought input on the initial thinking.
Photo: GWP Chair Ursula Schaefer-Preuss at the conference in Sendai.