The special session of the APMCDRR 20204 on Asia-Pacific Resilient Recovery Dialogue was organized in Manila, Philippine hosted by the Government of the Philippines, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the International Recovery Platform (IRP). The first segment speakers including Mr. Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Mr. Rajendra Singh, Member & Head of the Department, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, India, Mr. Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos, Undersecretary for Regional Development Group (RDG), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippines, and Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito R. Alejandro IV, Civil Defense Deputy Administrator for Administration and Education, Office of Civil Defense, Philippines.

All the distinguished speakers highlighted the need for Action to Build Back Better by investing in Recovery Readiness. Mr. Hans Guttman, Executive Director, ADPC called on adequate financing to reduce disaster risk and respond efficiently and effectively when disasters strike through our regional consultative committee (RCC) meeting.

The second segment, moderated by Mr. Aslam Perwaiz, Deputy Executive Director of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), engaged with Ms. Alexandra Galperin, Unit Head Disaster Risk Management, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Abhilash Panda, Deputy Chief, Intergovernmental processes, Interagency Cooperation and Partnerships Branch, The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Ms. Simonetta Siligato, Senior Advisor, The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Asia and the Pacific, and Ms. Shivangi Chavda, Head of Programmes, Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), discussing on the challenges and opportunities for implementing the ‘Call to Action’.

The speakers in this segment stressed on the gaps our readiness to recovery is the limited available data on expenditure on disaster risk reduction and preparedness versus humanitarian relief, early recovery and reconstruction. The discussion highlighted the the need for comprehensive tagging, tracking, and expenditure review systems for reliable data for planning effective recovery, and monitoring and evaluation.

Second, capacity development has been a key aspect of recovery initiative for decades, success is limited. We donot have proper mechanism to build capacities and sustained it. Capacity building opportunities and knowledge on recovery must be available and accessible to all for local-level adaptation. It must be tailored to address access issues based on language and technical capabilities.