The United Nations has endorsed a new global statistical
framework for disaster-related statistics to help countries
better understand and reduce growing disaster
risks.
The Global Disaster-Related Statistics
Framework (G-DRSF) establishes internationally agreed
guidance on how governments produce statistics on disasters
from their frequency and intensity, economic losses and
infrastructure damage, population and environmental risk and
impacts, to efforts we make in reducing disaster risk. Its
endorsement comes at a critical moment, as countries face
increasingly frequent and severe hazards that strain public
finances and threaten to reverse development
gains.
For the first time at the global level, the
G-DRSF brings together the work of National Statistical
Offices and National Disaster Management Offices under one
coordinated approach. By aligning data systems across
institutions, it is expected to strengthen national disaster
data governance and improve the consistency and reliability
of information used in policy decisions.
The G-DRSF
responds to longstanding calls to look beyond gross domestic
product as the primary measure of progress. It provides
governments with a more comprehensive evidence base for
planning and budgeting by better equipping them to measure
not only direct damage from disasters, but also exposure,
vulnerability and capacity to cope.
The development of
the G-DRSF has been coordinated by the Inter-Agency and
Expert Group on Disaster-related Statistics, co-chaired by
UNDRR, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the United Kingdom Health
Security Agency (UKHSA), in response to a 2019 UN
Statistical Commission decision to advance a common
statistical framework on disaster-related
statistics.
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The G-DRSF aligns with the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and supports reporting
on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Goal on
Adaptation.
“The Global Disaster-Related Statistics
Framework shows how regional innovation can shape global
progress. It consolidates and scales up the Asia-Pacific
framework endorsed in 2018 and sets a strong example of a
bottom-up pathway toward internationally coherent
disaster-related statistics,” said Armida Salsiah
Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.
“Cooperation to
prevent disasters relies on having a shared understanding of
risks, both within countries and across borders. The Global
Disaster-Related Statistics Framework is a major milestone
in creating a common language to drive disaster prevention.
This is a success for multilateralism, and I am grateful to
all partners whose commitment made this possible,” shared
Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
As
climate-related and other hazards intensify, the endorsement
of a shared statistical foundation is expected to strengthen
risk analysis, inform safer infrastructure and investment
decisions, and support efforts to protect vulnerable
communities
worldwide.
