UNDRR News

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today praised Geneva for its management of the exceptional floodwaters which have threatened the city in recent days following torrential rain in the French Alps. Geneva is home to UNISDR and 40 other UN agencies.

POTENZA, 26 January 2015 - The Italian Province of Potenza was recognized at the weekend as a role model for inclusive resilience by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction for its unique network of 100 cities which are all enrolled in the Making Cities Resilient Campaign.

The new Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is pressing ahead with plans to strengthen measures across the 28 EU Member States to include persons with disabilities in disaster risk management activities.

Accounting for disaster losses in Serbia gained considerable ground at a special training event focusing on how to use DESINVENTAR as an effective tool to support decision-making about investments on prevention measures.

Montenegro today became the 27 th country in Europe to launch a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, a key step towards implementing the world’s first global blueprint for reducing disaster risk, the Hyogo Framework for Action.

Kamnik has become the first town in the Balkan state of Slovenia to join UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign. An event last week to mark the move brought together representatives from national and local authorities, and dozens of firefighter volunteers.

A new cross-border multi-hazard early warning system will be developed in the Western Balkans and Turkey to increase resilience to floods, landslides, droughts and heat-waves which often hit the region and to build on the lessons learnt from the devastating floods of May 2014.

The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, today called for a change in “the global mind-set towards disaster risk reduction” as she was confirmed as a Champion of Disaster Risk Reduction by UNISDR.

The recurrence of flooding, one of Europe’s most persistent natural hazards, presents both a challenge and an opportunity when it comes to disaster reduction, a conference heard on Wednesday.

The 5th European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) closed today with a strong call for joint action to face the common challenges of climate change, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction.