EAC AT THE 6TH AFRICA REGIONAL PLATFORM AND 5TH HIGH LEVEL MINISTERIAL MEETING ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN MAURITIUS

East African Community

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania: The 6^th Africa Regional Platform (AfRP) on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) concluded over the weekend in Mauritius. It was organized by the African Union and United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and co-hosted by the SADC and the Government of Mauritius. The East African Community was represented both at the Experts segment and in the High Level Ministerial Session by Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana, the Director for Productive Sectors.

The AfRP is a biennial forum that brings together African Member States, intergovernmental organizations and development partners to review progress in the implementation of the continental and global disaster risk reduction frameworks.

The 6th AfRP on DRR is the first continental meeting on DRR organized after the adoption of the Sendai framework on DRR by UN member states in Sendai, Japan in March 2015. The Framework provides a critical strategy for building resilience and addressing the impact of disasters representing a serious threat to millions of people in Africa and across the world. The 6^th AfRP was a concrete opportunity for Africa to set up a functional path to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable communities in Africa.

The Platform also enabled delegates sharing of good practices, success stories and lessons learnt with a view to enhancing coordination, increasing awareness, and mobilizing commitments to disaster risk reduction across Africa. 

The outcome of the 6^th Africa Platform on DRR is an Africa Statement of DRR, the Mauritius Declaration on continental commitment and a revised Programme of Action on DRR for Africa.

During the Experts segment, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana was a panelist under the theme: “Risk governance to showcase the status of EAC in implementing the Sendai Framework and the role of the DRR Act in achieving priority two of the Sendai Framework - Enhancing Risk governance”. Mr. Havugimana further presented during the Ministerial Session the EAC Position Paper and Commitment in the implementation of the Sendai Framework. The Statement was a summary of discussions held by all EAC delegations during their session as a REC.