2023 Nanjing Peace Forum, co-organized by UNESCO Beijing, the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government and the Nanjing Municipal Government, was held on September 29th-20th, 2023, in Nanjing. Pro. Qunli Han, Executive Director of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk International Programme Office (IRDR-IPO) was invited to address at the opening ceremony.

In his keynote address, Prof Han outlined the strong relevance of disaster risk to development safety. He pointed out transboundary nature of many disaster risks, such as climate extremes, and their cascading and systemic impacts. To address this, harnessing the expertise across the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus as well as comprehensive risk-management approaches are very important. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 has outlined four priorities and seven clear targets for actions to reduce existing disaster risks and prevent new risks, which will greatly contribute to building a sustainable and peaceful future. He briefed about the new global research agenda established by the International Science Council (ISC), UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction(UNDRR) and IRDR in 2021, and informed the audience that IRDR places emphasis on the empowerment of young professionals in reducing and mitigating all disaster risks, and in enhancing their roles in global governance.