International Initiatives

The work of the Blue Shield is informed by international legal instruments, but also by the international cultural protection agenda set by the UN and UNESCO, and by international initiatives regarding environmental disaster.

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. It aims for the following outcome:

The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.

The Seven Global Targets

(a) Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020-2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
(b) Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020 -2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
(c) Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
(d) Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.
(e) Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.
(f) Substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for implementation of this Framework by 2030.
(g) Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030.

The Four Priorities for Action

  • Priority 1. Understanding disaster risk
  • Priority 2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk
  • Priority 3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
  • Priority 4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction

You can learn more about the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and download key documents and tools, on the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction website.

River Seine, Paris

February 2018

© Photo by E Cunliffe, Blue Shield International

UN Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, with 17 universal goals. The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. This is the first time culture has featured in the international development agenda.

In particular, culture has a crucial role to play in SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. (Read more about SDG 11 on the SDG website). Target 11.4 calls for strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.
In an article for the UNESCO Courier in June 2017, Jyoti Hosagrahar compiled a list of the work UNESCO is doing to embed culture into the sustainable development goals.

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