Thematic review: Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies-Building resilience TUESDAY,

The term ‘resilience’ describes the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management. to recover from or adjust easily to calamity or change. Building resilience is thus a multidimensional challenge and a cross-cutting issue that will impact progress towards the SDGs and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As shocks occur, the severity of their impact on society and the environment depend on the level of vulnerability and exposure, preparedness, and recovery capacities across multiple areas, including urban planning and infrastructure, food security, economic structures, and the way health systems and public institutions are designed. These sudden, disruptive events, caused by internal or external factors, expose countries’ vulnerabilities in their economic, social, political, environmental and institutional structures, as well as vulnerabilities resulting from their geographic situation. Such shocks include economic crises, natural disasters and technological hazards, and other environmental (or climate-related events), and health-related occurrences.

Countries with high exposure to risk and weak structural resilience, such as countries in special situations, are particularly vulnerable to shocks. New pathways and policies are needed to build resilient futures for each society which poses multidimensional challenges for all Member States at all levels of development.

Proposed guiding questions:

Who are the furthest behind and are we managing to build the resilience and improve the lives of those people?
What actions and policies have proven successful in increasing resilience of countries and people and addressing the impacts of climate change, natural disasters, conflict, and displacement on countries in special situations?
How can science, technology and innovation strengthen resilience and inclusion in an integrated manner? What has been most effective in your country?
How can integrated policies address resilience gaps and address underlying social, economic and environmental root causes for low resilience?
How do we move from incremental to transformational change for higher resilience?

Chair:

H. E. Ms. Inga Rhonda King, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Moderator:

Ms. Emily Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow, Risk and Resilience, Overseas Development Institute, UK

Panellists:

Ms. Isabelle Durant, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General
Mr. Dereje Wordofa, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA
Mr. Jeb Brugmann, 100 Resilient Cities
Mr. David Smith, Coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University Consortium for Small Island States (UCSIS), and the Caribbean Chair for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Jamaica

Lead discussants:

H.E. Mr. Vuk Zugic, Ambassador and Co-ordinator of the Economic and Environmental Activities, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Ms. Markris de Guzman, Regional Focal Point, Asia DRR Youth Network (Major Group of Children and Youth)

Followed by interactive discussion