United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)
Mission
ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions.
1. Subregional Risk Analysis and Localized Early Warning Action Plans: In 2024, ESCAP launched the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report - Subregional Editions, providing localized climate risk diagnostics and early warning gaps across five subregions. These analyses support national planning and risk-informed development strategies.
ENEA - https://shorturl.at/sY9IN NCA - https://shorturl.at/T6nLZ SEA - https://shorturl.at/6wcLI SSWA - https://shorturl.at/i53Qu Pacific - https://shorturl.at/WLaxs
2. Strengthening Early Warning for All (EW4All) Through Regional Cooperation To operationalize the UN Secretary-General's Early Warnings for All initiative, ESCAP expanded and customized the Asia Pacific Risk and Resilience Portal to function as a decision-support tool for national and subnational stakeholders. The Portal integrates high-resolution data on hazards, exposure, and infrastructure with user-uploadable layers, enabling rapid, location-specific risk assessments. In countries like Tajikistan, the Portal has supported implementation of Sendai Priority 1 (risk knowledge) by localizing climate risk information, and Priority 2 (governance) by aligning national actors on early warning gaps across all four EW4All pillars. Its impact-based forecasting features further support real-time monitoring and Pillar 2 (observation and forecasting), helping countries strengthen preparedness and anticipatory action systems.
3. ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness Report Since 2005, the ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness has served as a regional mechanism to strengthen early warning systems in the Indian Ocean and beyond. In 2024, under this Trust Fund, ESCAP released the policy report Tsunami Preparedness Within a Multi-Hazard Context, which assessed the exposure of over 20 million people and $203 billion in critical infrastructure across 13 Indian Ocean countries.
The report catalyzed regional dialogue on aligning tsunami early warning systems with broader climate adaptation and multi-hazard frameworks, reinforcing the Trust Fund's value in advancing Sendai Priority 1 (understanding disaster risk) and Priority 4 (enhancing preparedness for effective response). It also spotlighted gaps in localized risk knowledge, last-mile communication, and inclusive preparedness, offering evidence-based recommendations to strengthen tsunami risk governance and integrate it into national and regional resilience strategies
4. Joining the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage ESCAP officially joined the Santiago Network as a technical organization supporting loss and damage efforts, bringing its analytical capacity and regional platform to assist vulnerable countries in accessing expertise, data, and financing to address climate-induced disasters.
5. Advancing Science-Based Policy for the Third Pole Region In response to escalating glacial melt risks, ESCAP facilitated multi-country collaboration through the Third Pole Climate Forum, promoting early warning systems and regional water governance for transboundary river basins such as the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong. This work directly benefits over 1.3 billion people across South and Central Asia.[SS1]
Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness
The Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness was established by ESCAP in 2005. The destructive Indian Ocean Tsunami that occurred in December 2004 stressed the need for an effective regional disaster preparedness mechanism in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. The Trust Fund contributes to narrowing the capacity gaps in the region and ensures the development of an integrated regional early warning system.
Contact: [email protected]
Voluntary Commitments
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.
