Meeting held to promote int'l co-op on disaster risk reduction, emergency management under BRI
Photo: The First Coordinators' Meeting of the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management (BRIDRREM) is held in Beijing, Feb. 15, 2023.
The First Coordinators' Meeting of the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management (BRIDRREM) was successfully held, both online and offline, on Wednesday in Beijing.
The year of 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It has become a shared aspiration of the international community to strike a balance between development and safety, and ensure high-quality development through high-level safety. There is a growing demand for cooperation from all parties in disaster risk reduction and emergency management, which is an important part of the BRI, said Wang Xiangxi, Minister of Emergency Management at the meeting.
Photo: The First Coordinators' Meeting of the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management (BRIDRREM) is held in Beijing, Feb. 15, 2023.
According to Wang, China takes the lead in drafting the BRIDRREM Charter, as a framework for its operation and has continuously strengthened the fundamentals for BRIDRREM by enhancing cooperation with the United Nations and other international institutions and organizations, as well as regional and sub-regional cooperation.
China is willing to exchange and share with all parties the success experience in emergency management with Chinese characteristics and jointly improve disaster risk reduction and emergency management capacity, Wang added.
Attendees highly appreciated China's initiative to establish BRIDRREM to help improve global disaster governance.
Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction said that the development of BRIDRREM will provide strong support to international initiatives such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
The ambassadors of Pakistan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Chile and other countries, and the UN Resident Coordinator in China expressed their support for deepening emergency management cooperation under the BRI to help all parties effectively respond to various disasters and accidents and continuously improve disaster resilience.
Representatives of emergency management authorities of Cambodia, Mongolia and other countries voiced their support to the Beijing Declaration of BRIDRREM and its Charter as well as their willingness to strengthen policy communication and practical bilateral and multilateral cooperation to jointly promote the development of BRIDDREM.
The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Emergency Management of China. Representatives from 60 national and regional emergency management authorities from Asia, Africa, Europe, Americas and Oceania, eight international and regional organizations attended the meeting via video link. Participants were briefed about the latest developments of BRIDRREM and reached preliminary agreement on the BRIDRREM Charter.