The Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Reconstruction Conferencemet in Geneva, 8-13 May 2011. Opened by the United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon and chaired bythe Deputy Secretary-General, the Global Platform recognized H. E. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President ofthe Republic of Indonesia as a Global Champion of Disaster Risk Reduction.
The 2011 Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which also featured the first-ever World Reconstruction Conference, was by far the best attended of these biennial events. Among the record-setting 2, 600+ participants were representatives from more than 163 governments, 25 inter-governmental organizations, 65 nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, academic institutions, and United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes.
The Global Platform has become one of the international community's leading vehicles for wide-ranging and comprehensive discussions on disaster risk reduction. This Third Session featured attendees with formidable expertise and skills in risk planning, response and mitigation, who are driven by a desire to find tangible solutions to the impacts of the increasing number and intensity of hazards being experienced in all regions.