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  • HELP launched the Principles to address Water-related DRR under the COVID-19 Pandemic and translated the document into different languages.

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  • The International Online Conference to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the COVID-19 Pandemic was held on August 20th, 2020.

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  • Summary of Proceedings

    Program of the Symposium with link to the speeches/presentations

    Video recording of the Conference

    The International Online Conference to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the COVID-19 Pandemic was jointly organized by the High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)/United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) on August 20th, 2020.

    Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan together with approximately 300 participants from 40 countries attended and viewed the Conference virtually.

    As the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, the threats of water-related disasters remain as imminent now as before COVID-19. Numerous people around the world have been affected and thousands of people have lost their lives due to water-related disasters, which are increasingly frequent. In light of the current pandemic, competition and complications among disaster risk reduction (DRR) emergency responses and the COVID-19 health care responses exacerbate the challenges and could magnify negative impacts in certain countries and cities. (Please see the concept note for more detailed background and objectives of the Conference.)

    In this Online Conference on Water-related Disasters under COVID-19, leaders, government officials, representatives of international/UN organizations as well as civil society organizations, and experts on disaster risk reduction, water and health discussed effective ways to address water-related disaster risk reduction in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaired by Dr. Han Seung-soo, HELP Chair and Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, the keynote speeches were delivered by Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and H.E. Dr. Danilo Türk, Former President of the Republic of Slovenia, Chair of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace and Lead Political Advisor of the Geneva Water Hub.


  • The 15th Meeting of the High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was held virtually on May 29th, 2020

    Fifteenth Meeting of HELP


  • The Fifteenth Meeting of The High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was held on Friday, May 29th, 2020 virtually using web meeting platform for the first time in the HELP history.

    The meeting was attended by about 84 participants from HELP member organizations representing national governments, international organizations, academia, civil society and private sectors.

    Draft Summary and Minutes

    Opening Plenary (75 minutes)

    1. Opening
      • Opening Remarks by Dr. Han Seung-soo, Chair of HELP
    2. Approval of Agenda
    3. Discussion on HELP matters
      • Membership issue
    4. Keynote remarks by HELP members
      • Mr. Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Public Works and Housing, Republic of Indonesia
      • Mr. Roald Lapperre, Vice-Minister of the Environment and International Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Kingdom of the Netherlands
      • Mr. Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner, Crisis Management, European Union (video message)
      • Mr. Kunihiro Yamada, Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,Transport and Tourism, Japan
      • Mr. Bambang Susantono, Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asian Development Bank
      • Mr. Damon Lilly, Senior Executive Service, US Army Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division
      • Mr. Janos Bertok, Director for Public Governance, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
      • Mr. Yusuke Amano, Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
      • Prof. Howard Bamsey, Chair, Global Water Partnership
      • Mr. Loic Fauchon, President, World Water Council
      • Dr. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Professor of ITB (Institute of Technology Bandung), Republic of Indonesia
      • Mr. David Boys, Deputy General Secretary, Public Services International

    Discussion (90 minutes)

    1. Discussion on the 2020 HELP Actions under COVID-19 Pandemic

    • HELP activities between the 14th Meeting and outbreak of COVID-19
    • Briefing on COVID-19 and DRR
    • Guest speakers:
      • Dr. Ryoma Kayano, Technical Officer of World Health Organization Centre for Health Development in Kobe of Japan (WHO Kobe Centre)
      • Professor Emily Ying Yang Chan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong / Director of Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC)HELP 2020 Actions under COVID-19

    2. HELP 2020 Actions under COVID-19

    • “Principles to Address Water-related DRR under COVID-19 Pandemic” and the way forward (including approval of the Principles)
    • International Online Conference “Addressing Water-related DRR under COVID-19 Pandemic”
    • HELP Web-based communication on DRR under COVID-19
    • Other HELP actions to address DRR under COVID-19

    3. HELP Flagship Initiatives under COVID-19

    • Flagship Initiative on Climate Change (the Netherlands)
    • Flagship Initiative on Financing and Investment for Water-related DRR (MLIT, Japan)
      • Presentation by Dr. Tetsushi Sonobe, Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)
    • Flagship Initiative on Alliance of Alliances for Water-related DRR Researches (ICHARM and Sichuan U.)

    Closing (5 minutes)

    • Wrap up by Chair


  • Globally, water-related disasters already account for 90% of all natural disasters. Their frequency and intensity are rising due to rapid development, population increase and climate change, causing enormous damage to life and property worldwide. Water–related natural disasters have emerged as a major obstacle hindering our common aspirations for eradicating poverty, promoting inclusive economic growth, preserving the environment, and ultimately, moving towards sustainability.

    The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 adopted in the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction highlighted “investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience” as one of the four priority actions, and called to promote public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural measures in order to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural resilience of persons, communities, countries and their assets, as well as the environment. The framework also set targets to substantially reduce global disaster mortality, number of affected people and direct disaster economic loss by 2030.

    Furthermore, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set out ambitious goals and targets to address the issues of water and disasters, including targets to substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity, and the economic losses and the number of deaths and people affected by water-related disasters. 

    Political commitments made in Sendai Framework and 2030 Agenda must be matched by finance. Investment in water infrastructure and disaster risk reduction, both structural and non-structural, not only prevents frequently occurring disasters but also mitigates the catastrophic impacts of mega-disasters. It can save lives, avoid the destruction of vital infrastructure, and make a significant difference in achieving the national and international goals of ending poverty and ensuring sustainable and equitable growth for all.

    In this context, HELP launched a flagship action on investment and financing for water-related disasters in order to promote and strengthen investment for preventing and mitigating water-related disasters around the world.

    Building on a cooperation between the Global Water Partnership (GWP), the HELP and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT), several sessions on DRR were organized in late 2018 and early 2019 in several regions to consult on the draft principles on investment and financing for water related-disaster risk reduction. These Principles were launched at Fourth UN Special Session on Water and Disasters in June 2019.


  • Bajo el contexto actual del COVID-19, se ha prestado atención especial a la mitigación de las infecciones relacionadas al COVID-19 y al tratamiento de los enfermos por dicha enfermedad. Sin embargo, las amenazas de desastres relacionados con el agua siguen siendo tan apremiantes ahora como antes del COVID-19. La competencia y las complicaciones entre las respuestas de emergencia que utilizan la reducción de riesgo de desastres (RRD) y las respuestas de atención sanitaria del COVID-19 podrían tener impactos negativos en algunos países y ciudades.

    Con esta crisis global en mente, HELP creó los Principios para abordar la reducción del riesgo de desastres relacionados con el agua (RRD) bajo la pandemia COVID-19, para apoyar a líderes, que emplean un enfoque de RRD y manejan las respuestas hacia el COVID-19, y a todas las partes interesadas en hacer frente a diversos desastres que ocurren de forma simultánea. Los Principios se finalizaron mediante consultas con las principales agencias de las Naciones Unidas, organizaciones internacionales, gobiernos, ONG, sector privado, sindicatos y jóvenes, grupos inclusivos y de diversos intereses. HELP hace un llamado al uso de los Principios en países, ciudades y hospitales y campos para gestionar de una mejor forma retos críticos que pueden ocurrir en el futuro.

    Si bien este documento cubre todos los elementos clave sobre desastres y COVID-19 extensamente, se actualizará periódicamente, ya que hay muchos aspectos que aún se desconoce del COVID-19 incluyendo elementos emergentes asociados con la pandemia que deben estar fácilmente disponibles.

    Contacto: HELP SECRETARIAT helpprinciples_covid19@wateranddisaster.org


  • 2020年5月29日に開催された第15回水と災害ハイレベルパネル（HELP）会合において、「新型コロナウイルス感染症大流行下で水関連災害に対処するための原則」が承認されました。

    現下の状況においては、新型コロナウイルス感染症感染拡大の緩和と感染した方の治療に注目が集まっています。しかしながら、水関連災害の脅威は新型コロナウイルス感染症の前と同様に差し迫っています。災害リスク軽減の緊急対応と新型コロナウイルス感染症ヘルスケア対応の競合は一部の国と都市では状況をさらに悪化させる可能性があります。

    このグローバルな危機を念頭に置き、HELPは政治指導者、防災対応及び新型コロナウイルス感染症対応責任者、さらにすべての利害関係者が新型コロナウイルス感染症パンデミック下で災害が起こった場合に同時発生する様々な課題に対処するため「新型コロナ肺炎感染症大流行下で水関連災害に対処するための原則」を作成しました。この原則は、主要な国連機関、国際機関、政府、NGO、民間セクター、労働組合、ユースグループ、ジェンダーグループ等様々な利害関係者との協議を通じて作成されました。HELPは、国、都市、病院及びフィールドで直ちにこの原則を用い、いつ発生してもおかしくない重大な問題により適切に対処することを求めます。

    原則では災害のすべての主要な項目と新型コロナウイルス感染症を網羅していますが、COVD-19は、未だ多く点で不明なことがあり、パンデミックに関連する新たな課題に対応するため「原則」の文書は定期的に更新される予定です。

    お問い合わせ先：HELP事務局helpprinciples_covid19@wateranddisaster.org


  • 在当今新冠肺炎全球肆虐期间，人们往往将大部分注意力放在减少感染与治疗病患的工作上。然而水相关灾害的威胁其实与新冠病毒爆发之前一样迫在眉睫。在一些国家和地区，防灾减灾工作和抗击新冠病毒的工作有时会相互竞争并交错，从而有可能导致灾害和疫情带来的负面影响最大化。

    面对这次的全球危机，水与灾害高层专家与领导组 （HELP）制定并通过了《新冠肺炎全球大流行期间水相关灾害防灾减灾的处理原则》，旨在帮助领导人、防灾减灾和抗疫的管理人员、以及所有利益相关者更好地应对同时发生的多重灾害。这些指导原则是在广泛征集包括联合国及其下属机构，国际组织，政府，非政府组织，私营企业，青年组织，女性组织等利益相关机构与群体的意见之后汇总编辑而成。HELP呼吁各个国家，城市，医院以及相关机构即刻将这些原则投入使用，以更好地应对随时可能发生的灾害及其带来的各种挑战。

    尽管这些原则涵盖了防灾减灾和抗击新冠病毒工作的各个方面，但是我们仍将定期更新这些原则，因为新冠病毒在很多方面对我们来说都尚属未知。此外，在新冠病毒全球肆虐的情况下很多新的挑战会不断涌现，因此我们应该提早准备，沉着应对。

    联系我们：HELP秘书处 helpprinciples_covid19@wateranddisaster.org