Yaoundé, 23 July 2015 – The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region continues to be challenged by frequent natural and man-made emergencies as well as large-scale disease outbreaks that cause injuries, deaths, population displacements, destruction of health facilities and disruption of health care services.

The frequency and magnitude of these disasters is projected to increase substantially over the next decades due to a combination of climate risk, resource scarcity and drought, ecosystem degradation, livelihoods’ impoverishment, demographic changes, and limited capacities to manage risks from natural, technological and biological hazards, including epidemic-prone diseases. 

“Disaster risk reduction is a top priority as we seek to hold back the tide of rising economic and human losses during disasters. Now, more than ever, disaster risk reduction must be integral to sustainable development. Realization of the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) beyond 2015 depends on the active and immediate implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,” said Dr Ibrahima-Socé Fall, Director of the Health Security and Emergencies Cluster at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

Recognizing that improved health outcomes from emergencies and disasters require urgent additional action at country, regional and global levels, the WHO Regional Office for Africa is participating in the 7th Africa Working Group Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction which is scheduled to take place from 21-23 July 2015 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The meeting is following the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030 by Member States at the 3rd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, 14-18 March 2015, Sendai, Japan.

The main objective of the meeting in Cameroon is to offer African Regional Economic Communities and Member States an opportunity to pronounce themselves on the new framework and set forward the implementation of a forward-reaching agenda for Africa. The meeting will explore the practical implications of the SFDRR on the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy and its Programme of Action (POA).

In order to help countries improve the management of health risks from all types of hazards and protect the health of their communities before, during and after emergencies, WHO is calling on Member States to implement the Health Sector Regional Strategy for disaster risk management that was adopted during the WHO Regional Committee that was held in Angola in 2012.

WHO is fully committed to driving forward and guiding a process of strengthening preparedness and response capacities and capabilities at all levels – local, national, regional, and global. WHO introduced tools for the health sector capacity assessment for disaster risk management (DRM), hospital safety assessment and other important tools for the implementation of health sector DRM strategy in the African Region.

WHO plays an important role as a member of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction system and as the health cluster lead in the framework of humanitarian reform, and works closely with other members of the international community, such as the United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UNDP, UNICEF, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and other nongovernmental organizations, on supporting country capacity development and developing institutional capacities for multisectoral emergency and disaster risk management.

The meeting is being held by the African Union Commission (AUC), and hosted by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Government of Cameroon, with support from the Economic Community for Central African States (ECCAS) Secretariat in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

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For more information, please contact:

Technical contacts:

Dr Ibrahima-Socé Fall; Tel: + 472 413 9695; Email: socef [at] who.int
Dr François Nguessan; Tel: +472 413 9630; Email: nguessanf [at] who.int

Media contact:

Dr Cory Couillard; Tel: + 472 413 9995; Email: couillardc [at] who.int