Sixth High-Level Meeting of Ministers and Authorities on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Format In person

Event language(s) English Spanish

Date 5 December 2024

• This is a hybrid event (with both in person and online participation)

Overview

The Sixth High-Level Meeting of Ministers and Authorities on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030 will take place in Saint Kitts and Nevis on December 5, 2024, in parallel with CDEMA’s Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Conference. The event will be conducted in a hybrid format to maximize participation from across the Americas and the Caribbean.

This meeting serves as a crucial milestone between the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework (2023) and the Eighth Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2025). Ministers and high-level authorities will gather to assess regional progress, define priorities for the coming years, and discuss a new regional mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Regional Action Plan (RAP). This mechanism, proposed by a Voluntary Commission of 16 countries, aims to track and promote more effective disaster risk reduction efforts across the region.

The meeting will also place a spotlight on the outcomes of the Americas and Caribbean Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems Regional Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which precedes the high-level discussions. The Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative and gender-responsive DRR approaches will be key focus areas, reflecting the Midterm Review's recommendations for integrated planning, risk-informed decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

This meeting comes at a critical time, as the Americas and the Caribbean remain the second most disaster-prone region globally, experiencing one in four of the world's disasters between 2005 and 2023. Economic losses from disasters have amounted to approximately 58% of global impacts, disproportionately affecting the region’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS). With the impacts of climate change worsening, the need for coordinated regional action has never been more urgent.

By aligning disaster risk reduction with sustainable development and climate action, the meeting aims to address socio-economic challenges such as inequality, political crises, unplanned urbanization, and environmental degradation, all of which exacerbate disaster vulnerability. It will also reaffirm regional commitments to key strategies, such as the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Resilient Prosperity (2024–2034) and contribute to the development of global frameworks that will shape the future of disaster risk governance.

Participants include ministers, regional authorities, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, international financial institutions, and other key stakeholders. Together, they will work towards resilient solutions that respond to the evolving disaster landscape, while paving the way for discussions at GP2025.

Agenda Highlights

• 14:30 - 14:45 Opening remarks Mr. Kamal Kishore, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis 
• 14:45 - 14:50 Cultural intervention 
• 14:50 - 14:55 Presentation of conclusions: Multistakeholder Regional Forum of the Early Warnings for All Initiative 
• 14:55 - 15:15 Presentation of Review on Progress and Mechanism for the Assessment of Progress of the Regional Action Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (RAP) 
• 15:15 – 17:05 Delegation interventions (4 mins per intervention) 
• 17:05 – 17:25 Break 
• 17:25 - 17:45 Observer statements 
• 17:45 - 17:55 Reading of Outcome Document 
• 17:55 – 18:00 Closing Remarks

Main Objectives

1. Adopt a regional mechanism to monitor RAP progress, developed by the Voluntary Commission.
2. Evaluate the RAP’s implementation progress and discuss recommendations from the March 2023 review.
3. Define regional priorities for the Americas and Caribbean ahead of GP2025.

Additional Goals

• Reaffirm support for the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for resilient prosperity (2024–2034).
• Promote regional initiatives such as the Gender Action Plan and EW4All.
• Present key outcomes in the Regional Assessment Report (RAR24) on disaster risk.

Event Outcomes

• Adoption of the RAP progress review mechanism.
• An outcome document to be presented at GP2025.

Participants and Organizers

• Participants: Ministers and high-level representatives from across the Americas and the Caribbean.
• Organizers: UNDRR, Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and CDEMA.

Observers: UN agencies, financial institutions, intergovernmental bodies, and other stakeholders.