UNDRR News

As the international community gears up for the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in June next year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is calling for any future framework for sustainable development to include a “clear prescription for incorporation of disaster and climate risk management.”

Joseph Deiss, President of the General Assembly said DRR was crucial for protecting progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and for achieving sustainable development, at the GA Thematic Debate on DRR on 9 February. Throughout the day, he and other participants called for the enhancement of data collection and the scaling-up of investments in education, better urban planning, the sharing of information and technology, and the raising of awareness, especially to ensure that specific disasters and the needs of victims, remained high on the international agenda long after they had dropped from the news headlines.

The event addressed current initiatives related to urban risk reduction, in particular in Port-of-Prince, Tijuana and Kathmandu. Eminent speakers from Haiti, Mexico and Nepal highlighted the importance of reducing risk in the urban context - relevant to achieving the Millennium Development Goals...

The UNISDR ECOSOC side event was attended by over 70 participants including representatives from the Permanent Mission, UN agencies and civil society organizations. Panellist Marianne Fay of the World Bank said that disaster risk reduction and achievements of the Millennium Development Goals support each other – the converse is that a failure of one will undermine the other. Disaster risk reduction makes eminent sense from an economic point of view. > View full story

The UN Secretary-General’s report 'Keeping the Promise' presents progress made with regard to the Millennium Development Goals through a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learnt, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, leading to concrete strategies for action. The report stresses that reducing disaster risks is vital for the achievement of MDGs. It has been issued in all the six UN languages. > View full story