As the regional development arm of the UN, ESCAP provides the intergovernmental platform for the member States to address natural disaster challenges, discuss and adopt regional disaster risk reduction strategies. ESCAP provides member States with high-quality analysis, strategies and policy options in disaster risk reduction, including those related to resilience and adaptation for multiple disasters including that of COVID-19. ESCAP work on disaster risk reduction has a socio-economic focus built on analytical and normative activities and provides a multi-disciplinary approach to disaster risk management and its integration with inclusive and sustainable development.
The Asia Pacific Disaster Resilience Network (APDRN) has been established by ESCAP to support integrated multi-hazard early warning systems and close data gaps therein. As a network of networks, the APDRN serves to mobilize expertise and resources to establish multi-hazard early warning systems. The network is built around four work streams which all support establishing multi-hazard early warning systems. In response to the cascading disasters amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the APDRN has already delivered a series of products and services. These products have supported countries in better understanding of complex risk scenarios and served as the evidence base for a series of webinar with key stakeholders for COVID-19 recovery and to build back better. The APDRN has been activated to support building cascading risk scenarios that integrate both natural and biological hazards.
