Dr Marie Aronsson-Storrier speaks at UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction event

10 Sep 2026

Dr Aronsson-Storrier was an invited speaker at a side event on 1 September at the meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the proposed international convention on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters organised by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Dr Aronsson-Storrier’s presentation highlighted the importance of including an obligation for States to take steps to prevent disasters and discussed how disaster risk reduction (DRR) is uniquely placed to address the intersectional challenges facing the world today. She stressed that the inclusion of DRR in this new instrument is beneficial to all States, whether engaging in this process primarily as a State living with high risk of disasters, as a donor country, or as a combination of the two.

Following a discussion of the current draft wording of the obligation to reduce disaster risk, Dr Aronsson-Storrier emphasised the importance of centring affected persons in any negotiations and how important it is for lawmakers not to leave their empathy and compassion at the door when entering the negotiation rooms. Drawing on learnings from the Home in Crisis project, she made a passionate call for everyone involved in the negotiations to carefully consider how they can make space for communities, non-state actors and diverse knowledge holders to make their voices and stories heard through various means of communication in the forthcoming conference as well as any implementation processes.