UNDRR News

A three-day workshop took place in Libreville from 25-27 July to officially launch the activities of Gabon’s National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. There was a clear vision from the participants of the workshop that humanitarian response could not solve the problem of disasters.

Realizing the human and economic imperative to shift from a disaster response culture to one of prevention and risk reduction, parliamentarians from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are stepping up to the challenge.

The Government of the Philippines and the United Nations secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will launch the latest United Nation’s Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR11) this Tuesday, 26 July, from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m., at the Sen. Padilla Room, the Senate of the Philippines, Manila.

More than twenty journalists from Lebanese radio, television and print media, as well as communication officers from the Lebanese government, attended a two-day media training in Beirut on how to cover disasters from a prevention angle.

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc said the Ministry is working with relevant national and local departments to enact a law on disaster risk prevention and reduction, clearly defining the roles of the Government and to assure that citizens had access to information on disaster risks.

Sixteen Parliamentarians from the Philippine House of Representatives yesterday adopted "the Incheon Resolution of the Philippine Parliamentarians on Effective Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation" which calls for their mainstreaming in the national budget legislation.

The rallying call of the UNISDR led ‘Making cities resilient campaign’ to city authorities to build resilient, sustainable urban communities to reduce disaster risks, has just added the East African cities of Bujumbura in Burundi, as well Arusha and Moshi in the Republic of Tanzania to its ever expanding list...

So far this year, the economic losses from very severe natural hazards totals some USD265 billion. According to reinsurance giant Munich RE, 2011 is the highest-ever loss year on record, despite the fact the first half of the year has only just been completed.

The Africa Union Commission will hold a regional workshop for the East Africa region to accelerate action in the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy on disaster risk reduction and its Programme of Action to reduce the vulnerabilities of EAC Member States to natural hazards.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 5 July 2011 – Local governments released a joint action plan today to tackle hazard risk in Sri Lanka. The plan identifies key priority activities that follow the 'Ten Essentials' of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 'Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready!' in nine provinces in the country.