UNDRR News

Five years after Cyclone Nargis claimed over 138,000 lives, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is joining forces with the media in Myanmar to highlight the lessons learned as the anniversary of the tragedy comes around.

Early last Saturday morning, some 1,000 residents of the city of Hoboken in New Jersey, birthplace of the legendary crooner Frank Sinatra, came out in full force and high spirits to run a special race in aid of Hurricane Sandy disaster relief in both Hoboken and its sister city Port Maria in Jamaica.

Five years after energy black outs and major floods exposed serious weaknesses in the city’s infrastructure and services, the Spanish city of Barcelona was recognized today by the United Nations as a role model for urban resilience in recognition of its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and services.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, into UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hoboken brings to four the number of US cities who have joined UNISDR's global campaign which has 1,400 adherents.

UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström today participated in the launch of a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bosnia and Herzegovina where over 400,000 people have been affected by floods and drought since the beginning of the century, taking a major toll on the country's economic development.

Italy has moved to empower its leaders to make better informed decisions to reduce the country's overall disaster risk.

The Mayor of Mogadishu has got a result. After two tiring days traveling from his ruined city, Mohammed Ahmed Nur, was confident that something good would come out of the networking opportunity provided by the First Arab Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction organized by UNISDR and partners this week.

Mayors and local government representatives across the region now have ten days during which to comment on the Arab Declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction in Cities which was agreed yesterday at the First Arab Regional Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction organized by UNISDR and partners

Representatives from across the Arab world today called for continuity and further strengthening of the existing global framework for disaster risk reduction, the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) as they concluded the First Arab Regional Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

The host of this week's First Arab Regional Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, the busy Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, has become the first city in the region to be recognized by UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign as a role model.