Jordan

Petra is the first of the "seven wonders of the world" to join UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign, an event which was officially marked this week during a visit to Jordan by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström.

More than 250 Representatives from the Arab States region gather today in Jordan for three days to agree on a common Arab position on the region's input to the international framework for disaster risk reduction which will be agreed at the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The 1st Arab Regional Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is being held under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society.

UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström met yesterday with senior government ministers of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan who briefed her on the challenge to disaster risk management in the resource-starved country as it seeks to meet the needs of an estimated 440,000 Syrian refugees.

This publication provides a short overview of disaster risk reduction in the Arab region.

A declaration by the Mayors and Local Government representatives together with National Government Officials emphasizing the importance of reducing disaster risk in Arab cities, in which the participants of the First Arab conference for disaster risk

This paper discusses a project in the Arab region aimed at enabling national and regional institutions to develop system wide capacities to monitor, archive and disseminate data on key hazards and vulnerabilities, and periodically assess emerging risk

A regional meeting of experts held in Cairo could result in a doubling of the number of Arab countries that systematically report on disaster losses. UNISDR brought together over 40 participants from 15 Arab countries to discuss and exchange experiences on establishing national disaster loss databases.

The UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability have completed a four-month pilot test of the Local Government Self-Assessment Tool (LG-SAT) designed to help disaster risk reduction efforts in over 1,000 cities and local governments that have signed up to UNISDR's global "Making Cities Resilient" Campaign. LG-SAT has been made possible with funding from the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid branch, ECHO.

The League of Arab States (LAS) and UNISDR move one step closer to a plan of action on disaster risk reduction for the Arab region. The action plan is expected to be endorsed at the first-ever Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab region planned for 2012.

UNISDR, the UN's disaster risk reduction office, in Egypt joined events around the world to celebrate the International Day for Disaster Reduction, 13 October, with the theme of recognizing the role of children and young people as partners in disaster risk reduction.