The Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), as the government body responsible for ensuring national safety against multi-hazards, is currently hosting the opening session of the two-day ‘National Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction Workshop’.

During the opening ceremony, paraphrasing Mr. Daniel Cetoupe, Chief of Operations at DRMD, he emphasised the importance of embedding Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives into Seychelles national policies and budgeting processes. He notably expressed that without this integration of DRR, even the best plans will remain merely as aspirations.

As DRMD is continuously striving towards integrating DRR and Climate Change Adaptations (CCA) initiatives into Seychelles national budgeting process, to develop a comprehensive national Disaster Risk Financing Strategy (DRSF) in alignment with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan (NPDRRP) 2021 – 2030.

Therefore, for day one of the workshop, the participants are concentrating on validating the NDRRP 2021 – 2030, carefully analysing the plan, ensuring it includes DRR initiatives from their respective sectors. Also, the costing process of mobilising national and international resources to efficiently implement the plan within its respective timeframe.

And as of tomorrow, the focus will be directed towards remodeling Seychelles’ current budget tagging process to include DRR initiatives into the annual budget. To enforce this, a DRR Financing Roadmap will be developed, outlining the appropriate methodologies to ensure the seamless institutionalisation and integration of DRR Budget Tagging.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and the workshop is currently being held at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort, from Thursday 13^th February to Friday 14^th February 2025.

Present for the workshop were representatives from the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trace, the Public Health Authority (PHA), the Health Care Agency (HCA), Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Seychelles Planning Authority (SPA), Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA), Tourism Department, Seychelles Land and Transport Agency (SLTA), Seychelles Police Force (SPF) and the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Service Agency (SFRSA).