World Reconstruction Conference 4: Inclusion for Resilient Recovery

The World Reconstruction Conference is a global forum that provides a platform to collect, assess, and share disaster reconstruction and recovery experiences and take forward the policy dialogue for an effective international disaster recovery and reconstruction framework.

The Fourth edition of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC4) will take place in Geneva on May 13-14, 2019. The WRC4 theme is “Inclusion for Resilient Recovery.”

WRC4 will be held in conjunction with the 6th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR, May 13-17, 2019).

WRC4 will bring together leaders, experts, policy makers, and practitioners from government, international organizations, NGOs, academia, and the private sector from both developing and developed countries.

Theme: Inclusion for Resilient Recovery

Social inclusion is defined throughout Inclusion Matters as both "the process of improving the terms for individuals and groups to take part in society" and, more specifically, as "the process of improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of people, disadvantaged on the basis of their identity, to take part in society."

Inclusion in disaster recovery and reconstruction is a key condition for the people’s resilience. A more inclusive recovery fosters equal rights and opportunities, dignity and diversity, guaranteeing that nobody from a community is left out because of their age, gender, disability or other factors linked to ethnicity, religion, geography, economic status, political affiliation, health issues, or other life circumstances.

The international frameworks set up by the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement on climate change all advocate for an increasing focus on resilience and inclusion.

Objectives

The overall goal of the WRC4 is to build consensus and to renew and accelerate efforts towards realizing inclusive recovery processes. To this end, the conference will discuss the challenges and inherent biases in the process of recovery and the reasons for which certain population groups are systematically excluded.

The conference will have the following specific objectives:

The WRC4 will further contribute to the international discourse on inclusion by raising awareness, facilitating discussion, sharpening the thinking, and setting the agenda for future engagement.

• Identifying effective ways to ensure inclusive recovery and reconstruction processes
• Building consensus on gender responsive approaches to promote shared recovery benefits
• Enhance inclusion of people with disabilities in recovery and reconstruction
• Fostering inclusion in disaster preparedness and response. 

Audience

The WRC4 is expected to bring together experts, practitioners and stakeholders from various institutions and community-based organizations (associations active on gender equality and/or women’s empowerment, disabled people’s organizations, indigenous peoples’ rights, ex-combatants, youth participation, and migrants integration).

Partners

The traditional WRC partners (EU, UNDP, World Bank) will have the opportunity to renew and expand their partnership with UNISDR for a common platform on the two events.

Registration

A common registration webpage is set up for the Global Platform for DRR and the World Reconstruction Conference 4. Register now on the Global Platform page.