Update

Some of Asia's most influential business leaders today agreed to adopt Business Continuity Management (BCM) as a first step towards safeguarding their businesses against disasters.

UNISDR chief, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the focus on the importance of systematic recording of disaster losses and impacts contained in the 2012 MDG Gap Task Force Report launched by the Secretary-General yesterday.

UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed a major policy decision by Pacific Island States to help formulate a new international framework on disaster risk reduction to replace the current Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in 2015.

The top UN disaster risk reduction official on Friday urged African governments to acknowledge risk reduction as the first line of defense against the impacts of climate change.

The 4th Session of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management opened today with a strong call for Pacific Island Countries and Territories, and donors to address the challenges of climate change in a smarter way.

A total of 249 municipalities from Lebanon have now officially joined the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, a global initiative led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk reduction (UNISDR) to protect cities and vital infrastructure.

One of China's fastest growing cities, Guangzhou, announced yesterday at the World Urban Forum that it is joining UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign and also invited applications for the new Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Dr. Joan Clos, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and chief of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, signed a Statement of Cooperation today, strengthening collaboration between the two agencies' efforts to promote disaster resilient cities.

At the opening of the 6th World Urban Forum in Naples today, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Joan Clos, said many countries were being overwhelmed by urbanization which he compared to a tsunami.

The Government of Tunisia announced that it will establish a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), a multi-stakeholder national mechanism that will provide coordination and analysis of DRR at different levels in the country. There are now 82 National Platforms worldwide supporting implementation of the priorities outlined in the Hyogo Framework for Action.