Resilience building in a changing risk landscape

Recognising that climate change, rapid and unplanned urbanisation, population growth, disasters and food and water insecurity place more people at risk of crisis and that disaster impacts from droughts, floods and extreme temperatures are increasing – and hit people in least developed countries and fragile contexts the most,

Realising that global trends also point to new health challenges, including rising inequality in access to health services, (re-)emerging infectious diseases, and a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease and cancers – increasingly affecting low and middle-income countries where health systems are often ill-equipped to tackle this new disease burden,

Recognising that building resilience – the ability to anticipate, reduce the impact of, cope with and recover from the effects of disaster, crisis and underlying vulnerabilities – is key to address these trends, and efforts need to be scaled up,

Affirming our determination to cooperate to build resilience against new and recurrent shocks and stresses as well as alleviate the impacts of the disasters that cannot be avoided or prevented,

Recognising that Resolution 1 of the 30^th International Conference entitled «Together for Humanity» committed the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies and their respective governments to address the increasing risks posed by climate change to the most vulnerable people,

Affirming the commitment to “enable healthy and safe living” of Strategy 2020 of the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),

The Government of Denmark and Danish Red Cross pledge to:

• Promote and engage in the multilateral IFRC initiated ‘One Billion Coalition for Resilience’ aimed at building resilience of people and communities in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
• Recognise health as a main underlying factor of resilience and mitigate the compounding effects of communicable as well as non-communicable diseases in disaster and conflict as well as in relation to migration, through strengthening support to health infrastructure and access to primary health with a focus on the most vulnerable.
• Explore options for identifying and developing innovative humanitarian financing mechanism that opens for gradual release of humanitarian funds as forecasts show increasing likelihood of disaster (“Forecast-based Financing”).

Danish Red Cross with [other relevant National Societies] commit to:

• Scale up anticipatory disaster management planning and capacity development of National Society partners in disaster prone countries to ensure disaster preparedness, contingency plans and early warning systems are coordinated across all levels; from national and sub-national levels to communities in disaster prone areas.
• To support at community level (rural and urban) disaster and health risk reduction efforts and humanitarian diplomacy efforts aimed at encouraging local authorities to provide adequate risk management support. To account for changing risk patterns, Danish Red Cross will promote, at all levels, climate-smart interventions, i.e. planned in anticipation of more extreme events.
• Continue to drive change that enables people in vulnerable contexts to be safer and healthier. We will focus on prevention of common communicable diseases caused by, for example, poor water, sanitation and hygiene; and promote better reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health care. DRC will also focus on integration of responses to new health threats according to specific contexts.

Action plan

Indicators

• The approach developed under the One Billion Coalition for Resilience form part of the priority setting in EU and UN, including their funding mechanisms.
• Support to health infrastructure and access to primary health continue to be part of humanitarian and development interventions.
• At least 2 pilot initiatives for testing a financing mechanism for gradual release of humanitarian funds have been developed.
• Danish Red Cross pre-disaster response agreements are developed or in the process of being developed in relevant partner countries and the response profile has been established and capacities developed accordingly;

• Number of National Society Partners that have staff capable of guiding colleagues and communities on how to use weather forecasts, climate risk information and other relevant early warnings to prepare for new and recurrent shocks and stresses
• 90% of Danish Red Cross’ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) related projects in the strategic period have achieved or partially achieved an increase in RMNCH coverage in 100% of targeted communities, with at least 75% of the targeted population being women and girls.