Second Meeting of HELP

2 December 2013
Paris, France

The Second Meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was held on December 2, 2013 at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France. The meeting was attended by more than 40 representatives of national governments, international organizations, civil society and private sector.

9:30 Opening

  • Opening Remarks: Dr. Han, Seung-soo, Founding Chair of HELP
  • Welcome Remarks: Mr. Yves Leterme, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
  • Address by H.E. Ms. Sarah Reng Ochekpe, President of AMCOW

 

10:00 TOR and Membership

  • Discussion and approval of TOR
  • Deliberation in support of HELP by Members
    –  Mr. Siebe Riedstra, Secretary General, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Kingdom of the Netherlands
    –  Mr. Toshiyuki Adachi, Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
       Transport and Tourism, Japan
    –  Mr. Steven Stockton, Director of Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, United States of America
       (Special Edition of Water Policy)
    –  Ms. Juanita Castano, Member of UNSGAB
    –  Mr. Loic Fauchon, Honorary President of World Water Council

 

11:30 Promoting Regular Discussion on Water and Disasters in the UN
 

13:30 Promoting Post-2015 Targets on Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction

  • Presentation by Coordinator
  • Presentations by Members
    –  Mr. Toshiyuki Adachi, Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,
       Japan (Japan’s proposal on Post-2015 Agenda on Water and Disasters)
    –  Mr. Siebe Riedstra, Secretary General, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Kingdom of the Netherlands
    –  Professor Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Director of ICHARM (Post-2015 MDGs/SDGs on Water and Disasters)
    –  Mr. Neil McFarlane, Chief, Regional Programmes and DRR Coordination, UNISDR
       (Towards post 2015 Disaster Risk Reduction Framework)
    –  Mr. Stephane Jacobzone, Counsellor, Mr. Jack Radisch, Project Manager, OECD High Level Risk Forum
       (Role of OECD Draft Principles on the Governance of Critical Risks)
    –  Dr. Ania Grobicki, Executive Secretary, Global Water Partnership
       (Joint OECD-GWP Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth)

 

15:00 Advancing the Agenda Manifested in HLEP/UNSGAB Action Plan

  • Presentation by Coordinator
  • Presentations by HELP Members
    –  Mr. Woochong Um, Deputy Director General, Regional and Sustainable Development Department,
       Asian Development Bank (ADB’s Experience in Managing Water Related Disasters in Urban Areas)
    –  Mr. Jean-Marc Kahan, Head of Department of Electricity Dams and Digues Security, General Direction of Risk
       Prevention, Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, France (French Policy on Water and Disasters)
    –  Ms. Blanca Jimenez-Cisneros, Director of the Division of Water Sciences, Secretary of the International
       Hydrological Programme (IHP), UNESCO (Addressing water-related disasters and hydrological changes including
       the IHP VIII Programme)
    –  Dr. Keizrul bin Abdullah, Chairperson, Network of Asian River Basin Organization (NARBO)
       (NARBO’s contribution to HELP)
    –  Mr. Wolfgang Kron, Head of Research for Hydrological Hazards, MunichRe (Severe Weather in East Asia)

 

17:00 Other matters
 

17:20 Wrap-up
 

17:30 Closing