Secretary Carlito Galvez, Secretary Christina Frasco, colleagues from the different national government agencies and the private sector, distinguished guests, good afternoon.

It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the pre-launch of the 2024 Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which will be hosted next year by the Philippine government.

During the previous AMPCDRR held in Brisbane in 2022, the Philippines reaffirmed our commitment to the realization of the agreements on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and meeting our targets in AMPCDRR by 2030. We committed to prioritizing the reduction of risk to new and possibly compounding and cascading hazards, increasing exposure, and intersecting vulnerabilities.

We shared that the Philippines’ DRRM Plan 2020-2030 paved the way for disaster risk reduction to be integrated into our country’s policies, plans, programs, budgets, and organizations. Moreover, the strong alignment between this plan and the Sendai Framework priorities facilitated the adoption of guiding principles into our investments, governance, and science, technology, and innovation towards disaster risk reduction.

I’d like to say for the outset that this administration understands how inextricably linked disaster risk reduction, climate change, biodiversity loss, eco-tourism prospects, as well as human development and security are. The President asked that we lead the Delegation previously in Brisbane in 2022, but also in COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, the CBD Conference in Montreal, the recently held conference of the UN on water, and the upcoming Sendai Framework.

The Asia Pacific region is considered to be among the most affected by climate change and risk associated to hazards that are both rapid and slow in onset. Because of our unique location and the nature of our geology and our exposure and vulnerability, the risks our region face require an urgent and fundamental shift towards an all-hazards, whole-of-society, transdisciplinary, and systems approach to governance.

It is in this light that the Philippines is fully committed to being part of the solution. The 2024 AMPCDRR is critical to this role, purpose, and goals for many reasons which we look forward to discussing further this afternoon. This year’s conference is critical because it comes after the mid-term review of the Sendai Framework which will be held next week.

Here, we are looking to work with leaders, practitioners, scientists, and communities themselves in the Asia Pacific in exchanging knowledge, experience, and expertise, as well as devising innovative approaches to address the unique, complex, systemic and dynamic risks that we all face. During this conference, we look forward to concrete and substantive commitments and timelines that ensure impactful collaboration among all countries in the region that decreases vulnerability in order to be truly transformational.

The hosting of the 2024 APMCDRR is both a privilege and a responsibility. The Philippines is called upon to urgently support a new kind of critical agency across national boundaries, sectors and scales for our country and for the Asia Pacific region, the challenges we face are real and they are a matter of equitable, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development. Our country has emerged as a model in the region, and it is for this unique reason and for public-private partnerships, and the work we are doing with academia, and CSOs, that we are fortunate to have been given support to host the next conference.

I’d like to thank Secretary Galvez for graciously agreeing to be our co-chair for this very important event and to all of you, especially Secretary Frasco and the Department of Tourism for your support and commitment by simply being present here today.

Before we give an overview of the 2024 APMCDRR, I am honored to share a recorded message from Mr. Marco Toscano-Rivalta, chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Thank you very much.