Fourth Meeting of HELP

17 Oct 2014
Washington D.C., US

The Fourth Meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was held on 17 October 2014 at St. Regis Hotel in Washington D.C., hosted by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The meeting was attended by about 40 participants from HELP member organizations representing national governments, international organizations, civil society and private sector.

9:00 Opening

  • Opening Remarks by Dr. Han, Seung-soo, Chair of HELP, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Water
  • Welcoming Remarks by Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, US Army Corps of Engineers, USA
  • Address by H.E. Mr. Saviour Kasukuwere, Vice-President of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Republic of Zimbabwe (Read by Mr. Bai-Mass Taal, Executive Secretary of AMCOW)

 

9:30 Launch of HELP Website
 

9:40 Discussion on the HELP Secretariat
 

10:10 HELP’s Action on Climate Change and Water-related Disasters
 
10:10 Sharing experiences on climate change and “water and disasters”

 

10:45 HELP’s Flagship Position Paper on Climate Change and “Water and Disasters” by H.E. Ms. Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister for Infrastructure and the Environment, Kingdom of the Netherlands
 

11:00 Discussion on HELP actions to raise profile and make use of the HELP Position Paper on Climate Change and “Water and Disasters”
 

11:30 HELP’s Action on Post-2015 Development Goals (SDGs) and UN Resolution for Regular Dialogue on Water and Disasters
Update on the progress of action by the Coordinator
 

12:30 Lunch (Astor Salon next to the meeting venue, in St. Regis Hotel)
 

13:30 HELP’s Action on developing case studies for Water Policy Journal
 

 

15:30 Contribution to the Tokyo Conference on International Study for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience and the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

  • Tokyo Conference on International Study for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience by Professor Toshio Koike, Director of ICHARM
  • Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction by Mr. Glenn Dolcemascolo, UNISDR

 

16:10 Contribution of HELP at the 7th World Water Forum
Mr. Lee Seong Hai, Director of Water Resources Development Division, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Republic of Korea
 

16:30 HELP’s Action on Provision of safe water and toilets during disaster/conflict strikes
Update on the progress of action by the World Water Council by Mr. Loic Fauchon, Honorary President of the World Water Council
 

17:00 Other Matters
Upcoming meetings
Next HELP Meeting
 

17:20 Wrap-up
 

17:30 Closing