Thematic review: Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies-Building resilience
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Conference Room 4, UNHQ
The term ‘resilience’ describes the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management. to recover from or adjust easily to calamity or change. Building resilience is thus a multidimensional challenge and a cross-cutting issue that will impact progress towards the SDGs and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
As shocks occur, the severity of their impact on society and the environment depend on the level of
vulnerability and exposure, preparedness, and recovery capacities across multiple areas, including
urban planning and infrastructure, food security, economic structures, and the way health systems
and public institutions are designed. These sudden, disruptive events, caused by internal or external
factors, expose countries’ vulnerabilities in their economic, social, political, environmental and
institutional structures, as well as vulnerabilities resulting from their geographic situation. Such
shocks include economic crises, natural disasters and technological hazards, and other environmental
(or climate-related events), and health-related occurrences.
Countries with high exposure to risk and weak structural resilience, such as countries in special
situations, are particularly vulnerable to shocks. New pathways and policies are needed to build
resilient futures for each society which poses multidimensional challenges for all Member States at
all levels of development.
Proposed guiding questions:
- Who are the furthest behind and are we managing to build the resilience and improve the lives of
- What actions and policies have proven successful in increasing resilience of countries and
people and addressing the impacts of climate change, natural disasters, conflict, and
displacement on countries in special situations?
- How can science, technology and innovation strengthen resilience and inclusion in an
integrated manner? What has been most effective in your country?
- How can integrated policies address resilience gaps and address underlying social, economic
and environmental root causes for low resilience?
- How do we move from incremental to transformational change for higher resilience?
- H. E. Ms. Inga Rhonda King, Vice-President of ECOSOC
- Ms. Emily Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow, Risk and Resilience, Overseas Development
- Ms. Isabelle Durant, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General
- Mr. Dereje Wordofa, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA
- Mr. Jeb Brugmann, 100 Resilient Cities
- Mr. David Smith, Coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University
of the West Indies (UWI) and the University Consortium for Small Island States (UCSIS), and
the Caribbean Chair for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Jamaica
- H.E. Mr. Vuk Zugic, Ambassador and Co-ordinator of the Economic and Environmental
Activities, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- Ms. Markris de Guzman, Regional Focal Point, Asia DRR Youth Network (Major Group of
Children and Youth)
Followed by interactive discussion