News
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Sixth UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters will be held on March 21st in NY
The Sixth UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters will be convened on March 21st, 2023 at UNHQ in New York, right before the UN 2023 Water Conference.
The Session has been held biennially since 2013 as the first high-level UN event dedicated to the issue of water and disasters. The theme of this sixth edition is “Connecting Midterm Reviews of Water and Disaster Risk Reduction under Climate Change” and its objective is to provide recommendations to the UN 2023 Water Conference while raising awareness and promoting actions for building back better towards more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive society in the post-COVID-19 era by addressing the issues of water and disasters and other development issues.
Please find the latest concept paper from here. (as of March 10th, 2023)
The plenary of the Session will start at 3pm, where we will hear from the President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly and other high-level speakers. The two panel discussions in the morning will bring together many distinguished speakers, and I am attaching herewith for your information the latest concept note including the agenda for the session.
If you are interested in attending the Session, please register from online RSVP form no later than Tuesday, March 14th.
We look forward to seeing you in New York!
Contact: HELP Secretariat helpsecretariat@wateranddisaster.org
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HELP Message to G20 Leaders launched in Bali
HELP has launched the HELP Message to G20 Leaders in the occasion of the G20 Special Event “Building Back Stronger from Impacts of COVID-19, Climate Change, and Disasters – Actions towards Quality Society” in Bali, Indonesia on Friday, November 11th, 2022. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing of the Republic of Indonesia and HELP.
The statement presents a set of recommendations from a collective of experts and leaders in challenges related to water and disasters. Through this message, we urge the G20 Leaders to recognize and address the significance and accompanying threat of water in our lives and opportunities that water transformation will bring about to humanity. The statement focuses on five main themes relevant to water, namely energy and food crisis, peace, pandemic and disasters, economy and market, and climate change. Transformation on water management can mitigate and prevent catastrophes, place global and national economy back on track, stabilize regional politics, and help build back stronger post-corona world.
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Call for your participation: 5th UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters on June 25th, 2021
We are delighted to invite you to the 5th United Nations Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters which will be held virtually on Friday, June 25th, 2021. The Session is the highest-level event globally around this issue where representatives of the member states and diverse stakeholders share the recognition and understanding that addressing the issue of “water and disasters” is a critical element of achieving sustainable development.
This year’s session will be held under the title of “Building Back Better towards More Resilient and Sustainable Post-COVID-19 World” with Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) of Japan as co-hosts. (please see the concept paper for the details of the session.)
The Session will focus on sharing experience and promoting actions to realize more sustainable, resilient and climate adaptive post-COVID-19 world based on the lessons learned from the Pandemic. It will also provide a concrete step towards acceleration of SDGs and other globally agreed agendas to be back on track under and post-COVID-19 by providing with useful lessons, innovative ideas, and common understandings.
The Session will be organized on Zoom and broadcasted on UNTV.
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Urgent call for support to people and countries affected by eruption of Volcano La Soufriere
News from the HELP member – Global Water Partnership (GWP)
La Soufriere volcano erupted, first on Friday and with more explosions over the weekend (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56707956). These explosions have led to the cut off of water supply on the neighboring island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Please see below the media release from the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) of Grenada. Many citizens were indeed displaced to Grenada. Unfortunately, it now also looks like the ashes might also affect water supply in Grenada.
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY (NaDMA)
MEDIA RELEASE
Distributed @ 7pm
AN URGENT CALL FOR WATER AND OTHER SUPPLIES FOR ST. VINCENT
St. George’s, Grenada – Saturday 10th April, 2021.
As the La Soufriere Volcano continues to erupt in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the needs of displaced citizens are now of grave concern to Disaster Management officials on the Grenadine island.
Following the conclusion of a third emergency meeting of the National Emergency Advisory Council (NEAC) today Saturday, the urgent need for water was presented, as the eruption has compromised the islands main water source.
The water source being a surface water source as Grenada is contaminated by the ash from the Volcano, leading the water company to close of it source of supply to the reservoirs resulting in the depletion of the essential commodity.
Creating a situation of a dire need for water.
The National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) therefore makes an urgent call to the Citizenry of the tri island state to assist our brothers and sisters in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with water in this their time of need.
People with donations are asked to contact NaDMA on telephone numbers 440-8390/ 8391/8392 or cell phone 533-0766/ 405-5046.
In addition to the urgent request for water the following items are also needed:
• Water tanks (800 and 1000 gallons)
• Buckets
• Folding cots
• Portable potties
• Blankets
• Field tents
• Field kitchens
• Sleeping mats
• Respiratory masks
• Reflective vests
• Caution tapes
• Hygiene kits
• Disinfectants
• Liquid soaps
Let us lend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters in St. Vincent and Grenadines.
For additional information, please contact Ms. Oslyn Crosby Public Relations Officer NaDMA on 440-8390-2 & 440-0838, cell: 533-0733 or email: nadma@spiceisle.com and nadmapr@gmail.com .
NaDMA, the official source for all disaster related information in Grenada.