Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

Support for people with disabilities around the world who are preparing for disasters is “still in a symbolic stage”.

That’s the frank assessment of veteran activist and NGO chief executive, Carlos Kaiser from Chile, speaking at a recent UN-backed conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas.

A global conference on the issue takes place in Mexico in May, and represents the implementation phase of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, agreed in 2015.

The rapid growth of cities in the Americas has increased the risk people face from natural and man-made disasters; that’s according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Experts from the region are gathering on Wednesday at a ministerial-level meeting in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, to discuss how to mitigate that risk.