Dr. Saini Yang (left), Executive Director, welcomes Mr. Kamal Kishore, the United Nation’s Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, to the IRDR IPO

On Tuesday, 4 November 2025, Dr. Saini Yang, Executive Director of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme, welcomed Mr. Kamal Kishore, the United Nation’s Assistant Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), to IRDR’s International Programme Office (IPO) during his visit to the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) .

During the visit to the IRDR’s secretariat, Dr. Yang introduced Mr. Kishore to the staff of the IPO and brought his attention to the research outputs of the programme to date through its various publications. Noting that IRDR was now in its second phase, Dr. Yang provided a brief history of the programme, of which the UNDRR has been one of its co-sponsors since its formal beginning in 2010.

On Monday, 3 November 2025, the IPO facilitated a high-level roundtable meeting to coincide with the third day of Mr. Kishore’s visit to China. During the event, discussions were had with SRSG Kishore and leaders from Chinese academia, the financial and insurance sectors, civil society, and public institutions to compile insights, identify actionable solutions, and to forge partnerships to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

Towards the end of Mr. Kishore’s visit to the IPO, Dr. Yang reiterated the IRDR’s commitment to accelerating the implementation of the Sendai Framework by promoting a better understanding of disaster risk and the effective use of risk science in decision-making, and closer collaboration and partnership with UNDRR.