Legarda in Kuala Lumpur to accept appointment by UN body as
Regional Champion on Disaster Reduction

Senator Loren Legarda was chosen by a United Nations agency as the regional champion of Disaster Risk Reduction for the Asia-Pacific region.

The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) is the UN agency responsible for building disaster-resilient communities to lessen human, economic and environmental losses brought by natural hazards and disasters.

UNISDR Director Salvano Briceño formally informed Legarda of her appointment in a letter dated November 28. In said letter, he cited Legarda's "notable leadership in building resilience to hazards and adapting to climate change in the Philippines."

Legarda, upon receiving the news of her appointment, was elated over her appointment and expressed eagerness to assume her duties.

"I thank the UNISDR and Director Briceño for giving me this rare opportunity to actively promote in the Asia-Pacific region the urgent tasks of reducing the vulnerability of people to disasters and adapting to climate change," she said.

As regional champion, Legarda is expected to help the agency in tackling climate change and reducing dangers brought by disasters triggered by natural hazards in the Asia-Pacific region.

"It's time to propel to international focus the pressing challenge of reducing the dangers of natural disasters through effective adaptation to climate change," Legarda said.

Legarda flew to Kuala Lumpur yesterday to formally accept her appointment from Briceño in the plenary session of the 3rd Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

After accepting her appointment, she will address the high-level roundtable discussion of the conference which will be attended by top ministers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last November, Legarda twice spoke before the UN General Assembly in New York. She urged world leaders to refocus attention on the climate change despite the global financial crisis and comply with the Hyogo Framework of Action, a multilateral treaty on reducing disasters which 168 countries drafted in the aftermath of the 2005 Asian killer tsunamis.

In October, she co-convened a consultative meeting of parliamentarians from all over the world.

The outcome of the meeting is The Manila Call for Action, a document calling on governments to craft and implement effective laws on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

Legarda, by being appointed as the regional champion of a UN agency, joins the ranks of celebrities tapped by various UN agencies as ambassadors of goodwill. Among these are Angelina Jolie who was chosen by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and world soccer superstar David Beckham by the United Nations Childrens' Fund (UNICEF).