UNDRR News

The Bangkok Principles were agreed today at the conclusion of the first international conference on the health aspects of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction which was attended by government officials from 54 countries.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today attended the fifth anniversary memorial service for those who lost their lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The Sendai Framework aims to achieve a substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health. It is fully aligned with the International Health Regulations, which aim to help the international community prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Health Organization today issued an appeal for national disaster management agencies to develop their preparedness and response capacities to include health emergencies alongside earthquakes, floods and storms as a top priority.

Australia could see its annual disaster bill rise nearly fourfold by 2050, with the cost of social impacts such as stress-related illness playing a significant role, two reports commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities warn.

A landmark public-private cross-border partnership in Asia is gathering pace in an effort to protect a multi-billion dollar industry on the frontline of hazard exposure.

A new training centre located close to the scene of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis, one of the worst disasters of recent decades, is championing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction’s call to engage all sectors and levels of society for effective risk management.

The International Recovery Platform was established after the 2nd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2005 to support implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. The Sendai Framework has given it a new lease of life with a focus on sharing experience and lessons associated with build-back-better.

Greater disaster resilience at community and national level is an important element of a new era of closer integration and cooperation in Southeast Asia, a high-level ASEAN-China cooperation forum was told today.

India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs and UNISDR Champion, Mr Kiren Rijiju, was today on his way to the country’s north-east to oversee initial rescue and relief efforts hours after a 6.7 magnitude earthquake rocked the area.