UNDRR News

The Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today opened the 2015 Pacific Regional Disaster Resilience Meeting amidst fears that El Niño will result in more extreme weather events across the hazard-prone region of small islands and atolls.

The Pacific region today was urged to use its respected voice on the global stage to rally against complacency over the mounting level of disaster and climate related risk.

A high level disaster resilience forum in the Pacific next week will have added importance as concerns grow over the potential impact on the region of this year’s El Niño.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today praised the Philippines for its successful efforts to reduce mortality and the numbers of people affected by the latest typhoon to sweep across the country despite tidal surges, heavy rains, floods and landslides.

Retrofitting all schools and better protecting tourist infrastructure are two urgent priorities to rebuild a safer Nepal, according to a new report released today that evaluates the damage caused by the twin earthquakes that hit the Kathmandu Valley on 25 April 2015, killing 8,800 people and destroying half a million houses and 50,000 classrooms.

India has had some significant success in reducing the death tolls from cyclones and flooding in recent years due to better preparedness and early warnings. In October 2014 and October 2013 large scale evacuations saved many lives as early warnings were disseminated in a timely and effective way to endangered populations along the Bay of Bengal.

International Day for Disaster Reduction arrived early today in the Philippines. Globally, the Day is marked next Tuesday on October 13 but the Philippines Senate today took time out to celebrate the Day’s theme of community and local knowledge for disaster risk management.

A small community on the disaster prone coast of Bangladesh is translating the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction into the local dialect as part of an ongoing community revival since it was hit hard by Cyclone Sidr in 2007.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today marked the anniversary of the 7.8 Pakistan earthquake which killed 19,000 schoolchildren and their teachers with a call for more countries to join the new Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools.

The head of UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the adoption of a global action plan by 24 countries to advance the Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools (WISS) in line with the targets for reducing disaster losses set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.