From December 2-3 2020, UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) South Asia and Pacific & Government of Maldives organized 4th South Asian Forum of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2020 virtually.During the Forum, a special dialogue on disaster and climate resilience in South Asia was also organized.
- The Forum is a part of the preparatory process for the 8th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) to be held in March 2021, which in turn contributes towards the High-Level Policy Forum (HLPF) 2021.
- It was virtually addressed by Minister of State (MoS) Nityanand Rai, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Objective of Dialogue:
-To identify the opportunities to overcome the challenges of disaster and public health risk management.
-To formulate strategies for existing regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms and preparedness systems for future cascading disasters.
Key Points:
–South Asian nations are facing challenges of extreme weather events like floods, cyclones, heat waves, cold waves, landslides and drought as well as COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery along with public health issues.
–To overcome the above mentioned scenario, a strong collaborative framework for cooperation is required.
–Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for eliminating single-use plastics; expansion of forest cover, improvement and restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 have started showing results.
–Notably, India took the initiative for the coalition for resilient infrastructure and announced the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 held in New York City on 23 September 2019.
–India is also hosting SAARC Disaster Management Centre, it works closely with Universities of SAARC and BIMSTEC member States.
Other Participants: Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Qasim Haidari, Deputy Minister, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Md. Enamur Rahman, State Minister, Bangladesh; Ms. Khadeeja Naseem, Deputy Minister, Maldives; Mr. Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Government of Pakistan.
Recent Related News:
i.The Union Cabinet approved the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, which was amended and notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on October 17, 2020.
ii.On 1st September 2020, The National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs released an annual report titled “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India(ADSI) 2019”. This is NCRB’s 53rd edition of the series which was started in 1967.
About Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA):
Union Minister – Amit Anilchandra Shah
Minister of State (MoS) – Gangapuram Kishan Reddy, Nityanand Rai
