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UNDRR Asia-Pacific COVID-19 Brief: Combating the dual challenges of climate-related disasters and COVID-19

Less than a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Harold slammed into Vanuatu devastating large parts of this Pacific small island developing state. As several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region enter their cyclone, drought, heatwaves or monsoon seasons, the potential for a repeat of such an ‘unprecedented double disaster’ is increasing. How can countries confront a major climate-related or other disasters on top of ongoing prevention, response, and recovery measures to deal with COVID-19?

This brief, developed by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Regional Office for Asia-Pacific:

  • Builds on early lessons from Cyclone Harold in the Pacific.
  • Examines ongoing prevention and preparedness measures at the national and local level in other high-risk countries.
  • Provides recommendations on how to address climate and disaster risk in an era of COVID-19.
  • Points the way forward with a massively reinvigorated localization agenda. 

The brief reflects the interventions and feedback from the 16 April webinar under the same title, which UNDRR     co-organized with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).