Governments from the world’s most disaster-prone region will meet in Mongolia in July to discuss acceleration of efforts vital for the sustainable future of the region including how to prevent disasters and tackle climate change while reviewing progress in disaster mitigation.

The Government of Mongolia and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) will host the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction on July 3-6 in Ulaanbaatar under the theme of “Preventing Disaster Risk: Protecting Sustainable Development.”

It is estimated that the region lost USD 1.3 trillion in assets between 1970 and 2016 as a result of disasters. In 2017, a total of 6,543 people lost their lives in over 200 major disasters affecting 66.7 million people.

Disaster risk across the region is exacerbated by high levels of poverty, climate change, rapid urbanisation and exposure to the entire spectrum of natural hazards including drought, floods, cyclones, earthquakes,  heatwaves, and, in the case of Mongolia, extremely cold winters, which kill livestock.

Mongolian Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh said: “It is three years since the UN Member States adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan to reduce disaster losses. In Asia we have a regional plan for implementation and this Conference will be an opportunity for governments and partners to review progress in areas such as reducing the numbers of people affected by disasters and reining in economic losses.”

Over 3,000 delegates are expected to participate in the event, where the governments will adopt the ‘Ulaanbaatar Declaration’ and the stakeholder groups will issue voluntary commitments.

The conference will be supported by several partner organisations and will feature a ministerial segment, technical and thematic sessions, featured events and a public forum.