Pacific Islands Forum, Deputy Secretary General, Esala Nayasi
1st Intersessional Meeting of the Pacific Disaster Risk Management Ministers
Manila, Philippines
14 October 2024
Honourable Chair
Honourable Ministers
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of UNDRR, Mr Kamal Kishore
Senior Officials
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Bula vinaka and greetings. It is my privilege to speak on behalf of your regional organizations on this 1st Intersessional Meeting of the Pacific Disaster Risk Management Ministers.
We commend your leadership Honorable Chair and for chairing the meeting today and I thank the Honorable Ministers and officials for the work you do in championing the issues of DRR for our region.
I also congratulate the Ministers and officials on the recent endorsement of this Ministerial platform by our Pacific Forum Leaders. This endorsement, along with the recognition of a Political Champion for Disaster Risk Management, reflects our Leaders' commitment to amplifying our voices and highlighting the challenges we face on the global stage.
This is critical in our efforts to take every opportunity to impress upon the global community our unique circumstances, and the challenges we face as individual countries and collectively as a region.
We recognize that we cannot do this work alone. Strong, sustainable partnerships are essential, and UNDRR has been a trusted ally in these efforts.
I therefore would like to congratulate Mr. Kamal Kishore on his appointment as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
UNDRR has been a long and trusted partner of the Pacific, and I am confident that under your leadership, this partnership will only grow from strength to strength.
Honourable Ministers, this meeting comes at a critical juncture. Following the recent mid-term reviews of the Sendai Framework and the FRDP, we have the opportunity to reflect on our regional priorities and develop strategies that build on the strong political will of our Leaders. It is imperative that we, as a region, focus on how to collectively address disaster risks and build resilience for the future.
We are all too familiar with the devastating impacts of disasters. A single cyclone can erase decades of development in mere hours. This reality demands that we adopt risk-informed, integrated approaches to development, which are more important now than ever.
In recent weeks, we’ve had key discussions during the Resilience Week in Suva and the pre-COP meeting in Nadi, where regional priorities were reviewed. Last week’s Pacific SDG updates further emphasized the importance of resilience development. These meetings, including today’s, offer us an opportunity to align and consolidate our efforts across climate change, DRR, and sustainable development. They should no longer be addressed in silos but tackled as interconnected challenges requiring a unified approach.
This alignment is precisely what frameworks such as the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP) are designed to achieve. We must ensure that systemic, holistic resilience-building is at the heart of our work, with adequate funding and resources to support implementation at scale.
As individual nations, our capacities may be limited, but as a collective, we hold immense potential. Today’s discussions are a testament to this collective strength. By working together—with regional agencies and UN partners—we can better support our communities, enhance preparedness, and improve our ability to respond to and recover from crises.
Finally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Honourable Chair and Ministers for the opportunity to speak today. I also wish to thank our colleagues at SPC for their unwavering support in coordinating this week’s events. I wish you well in your deliberations and look forward to continued collaboration to ensure the safety, resilience, and well-being of our people across the Pacific.
Vinaka vakalevu.
[ENDS]
