India sees investment in disaster management as key to sustainability

Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, stressed the need to invest in responsive and resilient infrastructure to minimise disaster risks.

Addressing more than 120 participants at the second meeting of the Mumbai-based G20 working group on disaster risk reduction, Pawar said the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of constant emergency preparedness.

"We must ensure that our health systems are resilient to the impact of future disasters," she told representatives of bloc member countries, invited guests and national and international organisations.

Pawar added that funding requires a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional approach. The second meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group, which began the day before, aims to bring together disaster management initiatives in vulnerable communities by identifying opportunities and exploring innovative funding mechanisms.

The event brings together government officials, industry experts and representatives of the private sector. A parallel session on "Financing for Disaster Risk Reduction" looked at existing policy and institutional frameworks as well as strategies to enhance alternative instruments and public-private partnerships.

The role of the social protection system in reducing the impact of disasters on the most vulnerable was also discussed, as reported by Prensa Latina, a partner of TV BRICS.

Photo: Prensa Latina