Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates,

We thank the Office of the President of the General Assembly and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction for the successful organization of this High-Level Meeting.

We also thank Australia and Indonesia, as co-facilitators of the Political Declaration we adopted on May 18th, for their able leadership of the intergovernmental consultations.

The 8th anniversary and the Mid-Term Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction comes at a challenging time.

The increasing frequency and intensity, as well as the number and scale of disasters and their devastating impacts are deeply concerning.

These catastrophes result in massive loss of life, displacement and dislocation, coupled with enormous humanitarian needs.

The hard-won development gains are at constant risk of being swept away by a devastating earthquake, a forceful tropical storm, the onset of a severe drought or the emergence of an epidemic.

This is why we need to focus our attention and efforts to reducing and preventing disaster risks, in addition to managing disasters and their impacts. Towards that objective, the Sendai Framework constitute a globally agreed blueprint supporting the resilience of communities and countries.

In addition to the steps to be taken at the national level, regional coordination and international cooperation are also critically important to address, reduce, prevent, manage and respond to disaster risks and losses.

Türkiye, drawing from its own experiences, has always been a strong advocate of international solidarity and partnership, with a view to building a safer world, saving human lives and protecting the environment, through a sustainable and collective strategy.

We experienced the importance of international solidarity first hand after the devastating earthquakes of February 6th. The magnitude of the earthquakes and the area affected was so massive that no state could have overcome such a disaster alone.

Search and rescue teams from 90 countries, including INSARAG teams, came to our assistance in the first difficult days.

We are grateful to the international community for the solidarity and support extended to us.

The earthquakes also underlined the significance of disaster preparedness.

As an earthquake-prone country, Türkiye has placed a particular focus on disaster risk management in recent years.

We developed, updated and implemented several disaster reduction and response plans and projects at national or provincial levels, defining the activities, responsibilities and cooperation of all stakeholders before and after possible disasters. These plans were indeed utilized in responding to the earthquakes in February.

Another instrument used during the earthquakes was the “Integrated Warning and Alarm System”, which allows citizens to transmit data by their smart phones during a disaster. We also launched the “Deep Well Seismometer Network” to monitor closely the fault lines in the Marmara Sea.

Türkiye stands ready to share its experiences with all relevant parties, to foster the culture of disaster preparedness, create awareness and most importantly to build a safer world.

Mr. President,

Let me also briefly touch upon our national experience in post-disaster contexts, again with a specific a focus on the February 6th earthquakes.

Right after this disaster, we started the damage assessment work. The preparation of a “Türkiye Earthquakes Response and Recovery Assessment” (TERRA) report in 40 days from the earthquakes was remarkable.

We appreciate the EU, the UNDP, and the World Bank’s constructive input and expertise. We are also grateful for the strong solidarity shown by the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency by hosting an International Donors’ Conference in Brussels on 20 March 2023.

The recovery and reconstruction process will be a long journey for us.

We will not simply re-build the destroyed structures and replace the losses. We aim to build back better, greener and smarter, with disaster resilience and energy efficiency at the core.

We will continue to collaborate with our partners in the process ahead.

Thank you.