GPDRR25: Join our call to action

Call to Action for the 8th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR)

Ahead of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025, our members have identified eight key areas for action that global decision makers, member states and fellow civil society organisations need to work together on.

You can get involved in supporting our calls to action by downloading the images below and sharing them on social media.

GNDR urges all stakeholders to champion (1) localisation, (2) risk-informed development, and (3) civil society led collaboration for the meaningful implementation of an all of society approach to disaster risk reduction.  

Specifically, GNDR calls for global decision makers to support and champion the following messages with members states:

1. Listen to communities

• Strengthen localisation and community-based disaster risk reduction
• Our primary call is to listen to the community, to those on the frontline of risk, the first responders 
• Those living in communities on the frontline of risk have the local knowledge, expertise, and capacity to significantly strengthen risk governance in policy and practice
• Meaningfully include local leaders in the implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework
• Institutionalise the enabling environment for community voice, knowledge and recommendations to lead decision-making
• Avoid tokenistic inclusion and empower local voice to lead decision-making
• Empower the community to be key stakeholders in DRR – not just beneficiaries 
• Utilise the specific role CSOs have in achieving localisation, and locally-led risk reduction
• Support grassroots initiatives, and ensure that local communities have the resources and capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters 
• Strengthen cooperation and collaboration, and encourage investments in local actions – in particular, local and indigenous knowledge and information for risk prevention and reduction
• Within this, those representing indigenous communities have specifically called on the need to invest effort and resources into understanding and recovering ancestral indigenous knowledge for risk reduction and resilience strengthening through nature-based solutions

2. Finance local early warning & action

• Not enough at-risk communities have access to finance to be able to act quickly in the event of an early warning
• Prioritise locally accessible finance for multi-hazard early warning and early action for all
• Specifically, prioritising finance that can be accessed at the local level in the event of a warning, prior to a disaster, is essential 
• We call on member states to prioritise locally accessible early warning and finance for early action
• We call on all stakeholders to support member states to do this effectively

3. Strengthen DRR in conflict zones

• Global conflict is increasing and, combined with climate change, the intersection between conflict and natural hazards is intensifying  
• Those on the frontline of disaster risk in fragile states specifically call on the global community to implement risk governance
• We have failed to move forward and make progress on this in the past three years 
• We must support conflict-affected and fragile states to implement disaster risk reduction governance, policy, and plans
• Invest in understanding which conflict-affected states do not meaningfully include DRR governance; understand the barriers and identify solutions 
• Specifically understand how risk reduction finance can reach the local level in fragile states and what the international community needs to do to ensure this happens
• Tackle the root causes of conflict, establish resilient livelihoods and address displacement caused by conflict and disasters
• Without a conscious and collective effort to address this, those most at risk communities living with conflict and disaster risk will continue to be left behind

4. Make DRR legally binding

• Make disaster risk reduction legally binding – we advocate for the need for legal empowerment through legislation and legally binding commitments on disaster risk reduction 
• Apply a human rights-based approach to DRR 
• Reflecting on progress being made on the convention of human rights to include a specific law on the rights of persons affected by disasters, we call on member states to explore the possibility of moving from a voluntary commitment model to legally binding commitments
• Establish accountability mechanisms where all stakeholders can easily track and monitor progress being made in the Sendai Framework
• Increase the platforms, resources and opportunities for south-south risk reduction cooperation

5. Implement a whole-of-society approach

• Recognise the value of different stakeholders 
• We urge all stakeholders to champion the whole-of-society approach to risk reduction 
• Recognise that all stakeholders in society have value and a critical role to play in reducing disaster risk, from grassroots organisations to member states 
• Within this it is also important to understand which areas of society could be included more in disaster risk management to strengthen collective action 
• We recognise two stakeholder groups who could be engaged with more: 
  • Firstly, faith-based organisations. As well as recognising the crucial role grassroots organisations, CSOs and NGOs play in disaster risk management, there is also a need to recognise the specific role that faith-based organisations and networks could play in strengthening disaster risk reduction 
  • Secondly, financial services. We also recognise a gap in private sector engagement and call on member states to specifically engage with financial institutions and explore how financial services could help improve sustainable and equitable finance for disaster risk reduction

6. Institutionalise inclusive DRR

• A whole-of-society approach must include all members of society and make a specific effort to leave no one behind by including the expertise and needs of all
• This must meaningfully include those with disabilities, young people, women leaders, indigenous leaders and marginalised groups
• Empower young people by including DRR in educational syllabuses at all levels
• Institutionalise the inclusion of all actors in society in decision-making on risk reduction 
• Mainstream DRR in social protection programmes to address systemic inequalities

7. Invest in local green DRR

• The potential for technology, innovation and nature to align to reduce current and future risk is exciting yet underfunded
• Invest effort and resources in understanding how we can utilise innovation to enhance nature-based solutions. This includes capacity building, including DRR in formal education and ensuring communities on the frontline of risk have access to technology and expertise
• Advance green innovation to foster sustainable and tech-driven solutions for DRR 
• Integrate traditional knowledge with science for effective preparedness and response 
• Promote cross sectoral capacity building and sustainable resourcing for innovative risk reduction solutions

8. All development must be risk-informed

• Particularly prioritise urban resilience and disaster-ready infrastructure
• Specifically, we call on member states to invest in sustainable urban development policies that incorporate DRR measures, especially in rapidly expanding urban centres 
• This must include investment in resilient, green infrastructure, reforestation, and sustainable urban planning 
• With this, we highlight the important role of civil society in monitoring, advocating, and ensuring transparency in infrastructure development
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Download our full GPDRR call to action document

• English

French and Spanish versions will be available soon.