The International Online Conference to address Water-Related Disasters under COVID-19 was held virtually on Thursday 20th August 2020. The Online Conference was jointly organized by the High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan. Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, attended and viewed the conference.

The conference was chaired by Dr. Han Seung-soo, HELP Chair, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, and the 56th President of the UN General Assembly. Introductory remarks were made on behalf of the conference co-organizers by:  Mr. Liu Zhenmin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Prof. Akihiko Tanaka, President of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).  Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Mr. Danilo Turk, Former President of Slovenia and current Chair of the Global High Level Panel on Water and Peace, were keynote speakers.  During the conference, leaders, government officials, representatives of international/UN organizations as well as civil society organizations, and experts on disaster risk reduction, water and health discussed effective ways to address water-related disaster risk reduction in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Gretchen Kalonji, Dean of IDMR, Sichuan University, and Prof. Toshio Koike, Executive Director of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHARM), served as Co-Chairs for the session of Scientific Omnibus Presentation “Role of Science and Technology to Cope with Challenges on Water, Disaster, and COVID-19”. In her introductory presentation, Prof. Kalonji emphasized the vital importance of:  strengthening global alliances and networks to address these coupled challenges; establishing new models of collaboration across multiple disciplines and with multiple sectors of society, and; mobilizing the contributions of youth and young professionals (YYP), who are closely connected to local communities.  She also called for transformation of higher education, prioritizing new models of both education and research. In the session, five speakers from the fields of engineering, nursing, hydrologic and geologic hazards provided excellent examples of innovative approaches to S&T in the context of COVID-19.  U-Inspire Alliance, an alliance of youth and young professionals working in 12 countries to support Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), was represented by its Secretary-General Dr. N. Rahma Hanifa and shared their remarkable experiences on tsunami evacuation and DRR responses to floods under COVID-19.  This contribution built on the highly successful conference held in Chengdu in December 2019 on “Youth and Young Professionals in Disaster Reduction and Response.

After the online conference, Prof. Kalonji, together with the other speakers, were invited to a virtual courtesy session with their Majesties. During the session, Prof. Kalonji had a chance to continue the conversation with their Majesties.  All in all, the meeting was very successful in highlighting to leaders worldwide the importance of strategic approaches to addressing water-related disasters in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It also gave us opportunity to highlight the important roles played by IDMR, and Sichuan University, in addressing both water-related disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.