UNDRR News

On 29 July, Indonesia committed to increase the safety of 3,156 schools and 105 hospitals as part of its engagement to the One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals Campaign, launched globally in Manila last April 2010.

Three mayors from the Philippines joined 60 other mayors from around the world who have pledged to meet some or all of the "Ten Essentials" that will make their cities more resilient. A ceremony was held as part of a workshop on strengthening climate resilience, organized by Plan International, the Institute of Development Studies and Christian Aid, from 22 to 23 July 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Dominican Republic became the first country to receive a progress report from the United Nations and partners on its efforts to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action, receiving recommendations to strengthen building codes and incorporate “vulnerability reduction” targets in projects funded by both the public and private sector. Margareta Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, presented the report at an event at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo.

The event addressed current initiatives related to urban risk reduction, in particular in Port-of-Prince, Tijuana and Kathmandu. Eminent speakers from Haiti, Mexico and Nepal highlighted the importance of reducing risk in the urban context - relevant to achieving the Millennium Development Goals...

It has been six months since a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, causing major damage to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. “Reconstruction will take years but Haiti must emerge safer,” says Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. “After the tsunami six years ago, people have not yet fully recovered. Rebuilding involving all key national actors takes time and is a necessary step to make Haiti truly sustainable.”

A “Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction” will be hosted by DEVNET in collaboration with UNISDR, UN-Habitat and ICLEI in the context of the Shanghai Expo 2010 "Better City, Better Life." The forum will be held at the Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center in Shanghai from 28-30 July 2010.

Mayors from 22 cities in 19 countries gathered in Bonn, Germany to launch the Mayors Adaptation Forum - the first annual platform of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change to help local leaders with advocacy and local adaptation practices. The Bonn Declaration of the Mayors Adaptation Forum commits to the implementation and monitoring of the Making Cities Resilient campaign, and urges the international climate community to recognize the increased leadership of local governments in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The UNISDR ECOSOC side event was attended by over 70 participants including representatives from the Permanent Mission, UN agencies and civil society organizations. Panellist Marianne Fay of the World Bank said that disaster risk reduction and achievements of the Millennium Development Goals support each other – the converse is that a failure of one will undermine the other. Disaster risk reduction makes eminent sense from an economic point of view. > View full story

28 cities signed up to the new ‘Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready’ campaign at a regional launch event in New Delhi on 8 June. The event was hosted by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), SAARC Disaster Management Centre and the Indian Ministry of Urban Development. Among the cities that joined the campaign are New Delhi and Pune (India), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Karachi (Pakistan), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kabul (Afghanistan), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Thimphu (Bhutan) and Male (Maldives). All cities commit to sustainable development practices that increase their cities’ resilience to disasters and to take the necessary steps to put in place much-needed disaster risk reduction plans.

Parliamentarians from Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo, Kenya and Senegal gathered at a ‘Consultative Meeting for West African Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction: An Instrument for Achieving Millennium Development Goals by 2015’ in Dakar, Senegal. From 1-2 June they discussed ways to reduce disaster risk in the region and adopted a Plan of Action. MP Abdou Sane, Chair of the Parliamentarian Network on Disaster Risk Reduction at the National Assembly of Senegal, was appointed UNISDR’s Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction in West Africa for 2010-2011.