UNDRR News

India’s UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction is confident his country will seize the huge opportunity of building sustainable and resilient development in the world’s second-most populous country.

The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, today released the country’s first ever National Disaster Management Plan, a document based on the global blueprint for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The powerful Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) has issued a pledge to support a key priority of the Sendai Framework and to promote a greater understanding of disaster risk among the public with particular focus on vulnerable groups.

It’s 6:00 am one September day when a powerful undersea earthquake rocks the Makran Trench along the coast of Pakistan and Iran. Minutes later, the tsunami warning centres in India and Indonesia issue simultaneous alerts, followed rapidly by their counterpart in Australia, and authorities across the Indian Ocean swing into action. It's all a test, and a critical component of the region's disaster preparedness.

Tsunami experts from across the Indian Ocean have gathered in Australia this week to work on ways to improve their ability to ward off a repeat of the tragedy that struck the region in 2004.

Disaster risk reduction is an election issue in one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines, which holds presidential, national and local elections on May 9.

The role of the private sector in making societies resilient to disasters and ensuring development is sustainable has been spotlighted as part of events commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Mayors and deputy mayors from 15 municipalities in Thailand have committed to reduce disaster risks and greenhouse gas emissions in order to strengthen the resilience of their cities.

Australian businesses are coming together to improve community safety and outcomes following natural disasters in a country that is confronted reguarly by events such as bushfires, floods, cyclones and severe storm activity.

This week last year the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was preparing to adopt the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction on March 18, 2014. The new head of UNISDR, Mr. Robert Glasser, has just paid his first visit to Sendai.