Update

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.

UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, yesterday introduced the Secretary-General's Report on the Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction to Member States at the Economic and Financial Committee -- also known as the Second Committee - of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

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.

UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlstrom spoke to the opening session of this week's extraordinary session of the World Meteorological Congress which is discussing the implementation plan and governance model for the Global Framework for Climate Services.

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, made a keynote address to last week's 5th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in which he explained why his administration has made "disaster reduction our top national priority."

A courageous disabled 24-year-old woman from a flood-prone part of Bangladesh was the centre of media attention today at the first UNISDR Asia Disaster Risk Reduction Film Festival in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as a story woven around her life took a top prize in the human interest category.

UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström today met with children from four of the world's most disaster-prone countries Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, who shared with her their views on the implementation of the five-point Children's Charter for Disaster Risk Reduction.

UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, praised the efforts of the Government of Lebanon over the last years to create a firm foundation in building resilience and reducing disaster risk in the country.

A panel of eight leading women experts meeting at the birthplace of the Hyogo Framework for Action called on UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, to exert pressure for gender equality in disaster risk reduction. The dialogue with Ms. Wahlström was part of Kobe's observance of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.