The Government of the Maldives has signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for sustainable disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and mitigation in the Maldives.
The agreement was signed by UNDP, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC), and UNDP and the University of Bicocca-Milano, and the University of Dubai, at a ceremony held in Hulhumale’. The agreement is funded through the small island developing states (SIDS) Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund.
UNDP and NDMA have been working hand-in-hand to place Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in support of Maldives Climate Change and Adaptation (CCA) efforts and to revamp national and sub-national development planning to ensure stronger resilience and preparedness in line with the Maldives Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and Agenda 2030. UNDP stated the signatory agencies seek to strengthen and deliver concrete actions, collaboration, and communication between national and sub-national governments to implement DRR and CCA efforts supporting the country’s policies and create enabling conditions to sustain DRR/CCA planning and execution at the island community level. It will be achieved by the establishment of new implementing regulations, national sub-national institutional coordination mechanisms, and island-level standard operating procedures and capacities to operationalise the country's vision for locally driven resilience building. It is expected that it will generate long-term development benefits for populations at higher risk; in particular women, unemployed and at-risk young men and women, migrant workers, older persons, children, persons with disabilities, and populations living in remote communities with high exposure to climate-induced disasters.
With NDMA and MRC, the partnership will explore creating shared baselines of natural and human-induced disasters and impacts of environmental degradation as well as strengthening existing national data and information management systems for DRR/CCA monitoring, in addition to work in reviewing/updating school and community preparedness plans to include multi-hazard preparedness at national/sub-national levels.