India has been unanimously chosen as co-chair of the consultative group for Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery for the 2020 fiscal, the Home Ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The decision was taken during the group’s meeting in Geneva,Switzerland, on Tuesday on the margins of the 6th session of the GlobalPlatform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GFDRR)-2019, it said.
The consultative group’s meeting was co-chaired by theAfrica Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states, the European Union (EU) andthe World Bank.
GFDRR is a global partnership that helps developingcountries better understand and reduce their vulnerability to natural hazardsand climate change.
It is a grant-funding mechanism, managed by the World Bank,which supports disaster risk management projects globally. It is presentlyworking on the ground with over 400 local, national, regional, andinternational partners and provides knowledge, funding, and technicalassistance.
India became a member of the GFDRR’s consultative group in2015 and had expressed its interest to co-chair its meeting in October 2018. India’scandidature was backed by its consistent progress in disaster risk reduction inthe country and its initiative to form a coalition on disaster resilientinfrastructure, the statement said.
This will give the country an opportunity to work withmember countries and organisations of GFDRR with a focused contribution towardsadvancing the disaster risk reduction agenda during the course of the year.
This is the first time that the country has been given theopportunity of co-chairing the consultative group’s meeting, it said.
India would like to pursue a focused agenda and developsynergies with ongoing work streams of GFDRR, the Home Ministry said. Disaster resilient infrastructure will be acentral theme of engagement with GFDRR partners and stakeholders.