Adoption by the UN General Assembly of Resolution 75/216 on Disaster Risk Reduction

On 21 December 2020, the General Assembly (GA) adopted its yearly Resolution on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). In the document, the GA urges States to conduct inclusive and multi-hazard disaster risk assessments that consider the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as climate change projections.

The Resolution has the merit of using the coronavirus emergency to bring to the foreground the poor understanding of disaster risk as well as the interdependencies between different sectors of society in the areas of disaster prevention and response.

The text stresses that the approach to DRR is still largely based on single-hazard tools and methodologies that are not always able to address economic, social, environmental and political drivers of disaster risk.

Amongst the factors that prevent multidimensional risk assessments are the lack of a common methodology or terminology for the collection and analysis of disaster risk data across sectors and regions, as well as limited capacity and inadequate coordination among stakeholders.