Port-of-Spain,

Trinidad and Tobago (May 17th, 2013) – The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Secretary

General of the Association of Caribbean States is expected to

make a presentation at the Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Reduction, which is scheduled to take place from 19th

– 23rd May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme of this year’s

Global Platform is: Invest Today for a Safer Tomorrow Resilient People –

Resilient Planet.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

This Global Platform, hosted by the United Nations

Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), will gather Governments,

intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, local communities, Mayors,

Parliamentarians, scientific and academic institutions, the private sector and

other social actors in the field of disaster risk reduction, to debate on

issues such as the progress made in risk reduction and resilience building in

this focal area.

Additionally, the Global Platform will be facilitating

multilateral stakeholder consultations on a post - 2015 disaster risk reduction

framework (HFA2) as the successor arrangement to the Hyogo Framework for Action

2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Communities and Nations to Disasters.

The Secretary General

will participate in the regional Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)

stakeholder Consultation on Monday 20th May as well as the Global

Platform. This IGOs Consultation will seek to develop a post 2015 disaster risk

reduction framework.