Update

International efforts to mitigate climate change are insufficient to meet the goal of keeping global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a United Nations report warned, just a month before a major conference on the issue is held in Durban, South Africa.

UNISDR, the UN's disaster risk reduction office, in Egypt joined events around the world to celebrate the International Day for Disaster Reduction, 13 October, with the theme of recognizing the role of children and young people as partners in disaster risk reduction.

Earlier today, Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, said it was impossible to protect all of Bangkok from the worst floods in decades, describing the situation as a national crisis.

One of the world’s most earthquake-prone and heavily urbanized countries, Lebanon, is bringing together 96 mayors and other leaders from over 80 cities and municipalities for two days this week to discuss progress on disaster risk reduction across a wide range of threats.

On 12 October, following the launch of its Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC), Cape Town joined 14 other cities around the world who have been awarded ‘Role Model City’ status by UNISDR, the UN office for disaster risk reduction.

Myanmar, a country prone to natural hazards, has shown positive progress in the areas of early warning, emergency preparedness and responses in recent years. Now, the Government is stepping up cooperation with global and regional partners to reach its long-term target of becoming a disaster resilient country.

The annual monsoon season in South East Asia continues to wreak havoc on lives and economies across many parts of the region with Thailand reportedly suffering from the worst floods in 50 years.

Recognizing the importance of risk reduction, the Japanese city of Saijo expanded their disaster risk reduction (DRR) education program to train children and young people to be future leaders in DRR. The program, which now trains students older than twelve-years old, was launched as part of the International Day for Disaster Reduction celebrations in the city.

Some 80 plus countries commemorated the UN International Disaster Reduction Day (IDDR 11) yesterday. “This welcome groundswell of support concretely demonstrates the growing importance and awareness of risk reduction around the world,” said UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström today.

South Africa’s Western Cape Provincial Government announced this week that it was increasing the budget allocation for safe schools from Rand 19 million to Rand 21 million and is taking steps to incorporate disaster risk reduction into the school curriculum.