International Recovery Platform (IRP) members and national government representatives held an IRP retreat from 20 to 22 November 2006 in Turin, Italy. The aim of the retreat was to take stock of IRP work to date, to determine the strategic direction and future work plans of the IRP hubs in Kobe, Turin and Geneva, and to foster teamwork in the IRP network. Parallel to the retreat was the third IRP Steering Committee meeting on 22 November. UN-HABITAT is an important stakeholder and an active partner of the IRP which is a joint initiative established by the UN system and partners, with the support and encouragement of the Government of Japan, Hyogo Prefectural Government, and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center. Shared concerns related to the UN and international approaches and processes for post-disaster recovery at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) held in January 2005 have resulted in the formulation of the IRP initiative. The IRP is based on the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), a global plan for disaster risk reduction for the next decade adopted by 168 governments at the WCDR. The IRP seeks to fulfill the strategic goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action by functioning as an international repository of knowledge and as a networking mechanism for recovery, aiming to address the gaps and constraints in post-disaster recovery in order to transform disasters into opportunities for sustainable development. The full membership of UN-HABITAT in the IRP and the IRP Steering Committee was announced during the retreat. The next IRP Steering Committee meeting is to be held in Kobe-Hyogo, Japan, on 17 January 2007. For more information on the IRP retreat contact Esteban Leon of UN-HABITAT at leon.unhabitat@unog.ch, or visit the IRP website www.recoveryplatform.org. |
