Global Platform, the last slice
Yes, we’re finished! We ate the entire sandwich, to stay with Susan’s way of speaking. But: was it a sandwich worth buying and eating? Let me try to summarise briefly what we did today and see if it was...
It definitely was the second slice of bread of the sandwich today, although some taste of meat had stuck to it. Two long plenary sessions, with loads of declarations. Mind you, not all declarations were boring. At least the NGO network’s declaration in the morning (yes, we got a full three minutes!) kept up the spirit and reminded us what DRR is all about: the people that are now suffering from the effects of disasters. And also in the afternoon, some very useful statements were made on the very first draft of a chair’s summary of the meeting. Again stating that we need to include the local communities. And also that the statement needs to be more action oriented, stating targets and benchmarks that can be monitored and not be too much UN talk, which basically means not firmly committing to anything at all.
But again: was the sandwich worth eating? I think, definitely, that yes it was. The NGO’s have now a seat at the table, although we have been seated at an awkward corner. We’re in and that means that we can now work on being included more and more during the two years until the next Global Platform meeting and will be able to make our points, in an ever stronger and stronger manner.
I will not bother you with the draft chair’s summary of the meeting now. It will be presented on the website and we still have two weeks to comment on it. Please look it up and see for yourself. Please let us know what you think of it and let’s try to react in a concerted fashion.
The latter is also what the NGO Global Network decided to do, during the after-meeting. A steering group was formed and some first topics the NGO Network should work upon were mentioned. Again: I will not present any details at this moment, but rest assured that news from the Network will be coming to you during the next months.
What did I forget? Oh, yes. I attended a meeting which was called by the group of NGO’s and UN agencies working on the crossroads between DRR and Climate Change. We decided that the group should continue as a thematic platform within the ISDR system and that we should try and persuade the IPCC to come up with an additional report on DRR and Climate Change Adaptation. In the plenary, this was also mentioned and the chair said that, if they could, they would fit something in.
I hope you don’t mind me not giving very detailed information. I gather that all information will be available online shortly and it does not make sense for me to be typing it al up here. All the same: if anyone is interested in more specific information or has some question, please do not hesitate to drop me an e-mail and I will be happy to answer it or send any stuff I have.
It was a good experience to be participating at this Global Platform, and I think we all learned a lot. It was also nice to have this first (for me) experience in blogging. A bit frightening, but all the same nice to do.
Talk to the ECB3-ers on Monday. And cheers.
It definitely was the second slice of bread of the sandwich today, although some taste of meat had stuck to it. Two long plenary sessions, with loads of declarations. Mind you, not all declarations were boring. At least the NGO network’s declaration in the morning (yes, we got a full three minutes!) kept up the spirit and reminded us what DRR is all about: the people that are now suffering from the effects of disasters. And also in the afternoon, some very useful statements were made on the very first draft of a chair’s summary of the meeting. Again stating that we need to include the local communities. And also that the statement needs to be more action oriented, stating targets and benchmarks that can be monitored and not be too much UN talk, which basically means not firmly committing to anything at all.
But again: was the sandwich worth eating? I think, definitely, that yes it was. The NGO’s have now a seat at the table, although we have been seated at an awkward corner. We’re in and that means that we can now work on being included more and more during the two years until the next Global Platform meeting and will be able to make our points, in an ever stronger and stronger manner.
I will not bother you with the draft chair’s summary of the meeting now. It will be presented on the website and we still have two weeks to comment on it. Please look it up and see for yourself. Please let us know what you think of it and let’s try to react in a concerted fashion.
The latter is also what the NGO Global Network decided to do, during the after-meeting. A steering group was formed and some first topics the NGO Network should work upon were mentioned. Again: I will not present any details at this moment, but rest assured that news from the Network will be coming to you during the next months.
What did I forget? Oh, yes. I attended a meeting which was called by the group of NGO’s and UN agencies working on the crossroads between DRR and Climate Change. We decided that the group should continue as a thematic platform within the ISDR system and that we should try and persuade the IPCC to come up with an additional report on DRR and Climate Change Adaptation. In the plenary, this was also mentioned and the chair said that, if they could, they would fit something in.
I hope you don’t mind me not giving very detailed information. I gather that all information will be available online shortly and it does not make sense for me to be typing it al up here. All the same: if anyone is interested in more specific information or has some question, please do not hesitate to drop me an e-mail and I will be happy to answer it or send any stuff I have.
It was a good experience to be participating at this Global Platform, and I think we all learned a lot. It was also nice to have this first (for me) experience in blogging. A bit frightening, but all the same nice to do.
Talk to the ECB3-ers on Monday. And cheers.
Paul Borsboom
Head of Programme
CARE Nederland
posted by Emergency Capacity Building Project Team Blog at 3:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home