On 8 and 9 November, PIROI–French Red Cross invited the members of its disaster risk management programme to Reunion Island.
The Presidents and Secretaries-General of the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, and Tanzania, as well as representatives from the French Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) gathered in St Denis for two days.
This meeting – normally held biennially – could not take place last year due to COVID-related travel restrictions. The year was thus an opportunity for participants to review disaster risk management activities carried out between 2019 and 2022, and to define the priorities for the 2023-2025 strategic programme. As part of this commitment to regional cooperation led by PIROI, experience sharing about best practices and feedback have both contributed to the common goal of reducing the impact of disasters, health crises and climate change on the people of the south-west Indian Ocean.
By common agreement, member partners reiterated the importance of disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness and response, epidemic control, and the training of risk management stakeholders. In view of the positive results of twenty-two years of cooperation between the National Societies, the French Red Cross, and the IFRC, the members chose to renew the mandate granted to the French Red Cross for coordination of the PIROI regional programme.
This meeting was organised with the backing of Reunion Island’s Regional Council and the European Union’s INTERREG programme.
