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Disaster experts from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea today agreed to launch joint research aimed at enhancing the compatibility of disaster data and terminology across North-East Asia.

Senior disaster management officials and experts from across North-East Asia today endorsed the Hyogo Framework for Action as a consistent and guiding force for national progress in disaster risk reduction.

A new global capacity building initiative to strengthen resilience of cities around the world was launched today.

A major ‘City to City Learning’ forum on resilience heralds a renewed effort of global knowledge sharing ahead of the post-2015 international framework for disaster risk reduction. Ten cities in South Asia and Iran and 27 from the Republic of Korea have agreed to share experience and consolidate their commitment for local action, as part of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNISDR) Making Cities Resilient Campaign. The 37 cities focused on urban risk management, risk sensitive urban planning, local action and critical infrastructure safety with specific focus on school safety as part of their discussions on the post-2015 framework.

The Heads of disaster management from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have agreed to boost regional cooperation in the key areas of technology, information management and training programmes. The 3rd Trilateral Heads of Government Agency Meeting on Disaster Management issued a Joint Declaration emphasizing the vital role of regional cooperation to reduce disaster risk. The Vice Minister of Civil Affairs of China Gu Zhaoxi, Senior Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office of Japan Nishimura Yasutoshi, and Administrator of National Emergency Management Agency of the Republic of Korea Nam Sang-ho announced a series of collaborative initiatives.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Ms Margareta Wahlström, signalled the importance of the next generation taking up the challenge of building a safer and more resilient future.

Seoul's Cheong Gye Cheon, a once polluted river now restored to its former glory, captured the attention of development planners and disaster managers meeting here this week for a Leadership Forum at UNISDR's Global Education and Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction.

When it comes to critical infrastructure governments are increasingly aware of the role of disaster risk reduction in planning, and the value of applying the priorities for action in the Hyogo Framework for Action when it comes to protecting their investments.

Government officials from Armenia, Cambodia, Gambia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Republic of Korea arrive in Incheon today for a five-day "Leadership Forum on Mainstreaming Adaptation and Disaster Reduction into Development." Over 30 officials from a variety of backgrounds will examine entry points for introducing disaster risk reduction into economic development.

More than 1,200 participants including 49 Government Ministers and high level delegates from Asia will gather next Tuesday in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, at the Fifth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) where the devastating consequences of disaster losses across the region will be top of the agenda.