Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat to the online webinar “Building back better: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to enhance the role of parliaments in disaster risk reduction”, 9 July 2020

Mr. Daniel Dulca, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, attended the online webinar entitled “Building back better: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to enhance the role of parliaments in disaster risk reduction”, jointly organized by the IPU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), on 9 July 2020.

It represented a global webinar and the target audience included parliamentarians and parliamentary staff from all the world regions as well as stakeholders and representatives of the ministries of health and of the WHO and its regional offices.

The meeting was moderated by Ms. Paola Albrito, Chief, UNDRR Branch Intergovernmental processes, Interagency cooperation, and Partnerships.

The main speakers included: Mr. Saber Chowdhury, Honorary President of the IPU, Member of the Parliament of Bangladesh, Ms. Bernadette Wuyatta Songa, Member of the Parliament of  Sierra Leone, Mr. Andries Gryffroy, Senator - Belgium and Ms. Ana Belén Marin, Member of the Parliament of Ecuador.

The webinar presented, from a parliamentary perspective, the countries’experiences in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for developing and implementing DRR strategies to build back better by engaging with sectors beyond health.

Also, it provided an opportunity for peer learning in order to strengthen the role of the governments in managing the current risks, through enhanced involvement of the parliaments and of the parliamentarians.