Pretoria, 25 June 2024 – The African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) organised its 8th Research Seminar in collaboration with academic institutions on the theme ‘A focus on Affrica’s fragility and resilience to exogenous shocks and disasters – sustainability, growth and development imperatives’. The Chief Executive Officer of the APRM Continental Secretariat, HE Marie-Antoinette ROSE QUATRE was invited to attend this important seminar. Dr Valery Yao, APRM Technical Coordinator on State Resilience, represented the CEO and delivered her remarks
In her statement, the CEO expressed her profound gratitude to AAPAM, for the invitation which is indicative of not only the relevance of the Mechanism in building resilience in Africa but also the joint commitment to ensure that the ‘Africa we all want’ will surely be the outcome of our respective deliveries. With respect to the extent of disaster risks, she concurred with the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which emphasizes that a significant proportion of humanity is already living in climate danger zones, with many ecosystems being at tipping points from which they may not return. In addition, Climate change, terrorism, poorly planned urbanisation, environmental degradation, poverty, and inequality, fragility and conflicts, present significant and growing threats to societies.
The remarkable increase in climate-related hazards and the rise in vulnerability and weak coping capacities often result in high disaster losses. The rise in disaster risks calls for further exploration of the increasingly complex relationship between society and the environment, suggesting that the unprecedented rate of change and the interdependencies of our connected world mean the struggle to anticipate the threats, cascading impacts and actions might minimise loss and speed of recovery. Mitigation and adaptation must therefore be pursued with equal force and urgency to avoid the spiral of destruction.
The CEO further indicated that the integration of state resilience to Shocks and disasters as the 5th Thematic area has broadened the scope of the APRM’s assessment of member states’ governance. APRM reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of global and continental frameworks on disaster risk reduction and climate change, including Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2063, the Sendai Frameworks for DRR and the Paris Agreements.
In the implementation of the 5th Thematic Area, APRM has undertaken various initiatives geared towards building a resilient Africa. These include mainly the conduct of Targeted Reviews on ‘Health Governance and Covid-19 Response, the pilot test of the State Resilience thematic area during the 2nd Generation review of the Republic of South Africa as well as the conduct of regional capacity building and Experience sharing workshops in West and Central Africa on urban resilience and food systems resilience.
