UNDRR News

“In Sweden we have legislation that requires our communities, municipalities to work with a lot of aspects that are in the ‘ten essentials’ of the Making Cities Resilient campaign,” said Janet Edwards, International Coordinator of the Swedish National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the body that brings together institutions in the country whose work touches on disaster risk reduction.

Byblos, with its ancient port dating back 5,000 years, is dotted with Phoenician, Roman and medieval ruins along the waterfront that municipal authorities now fear are in danger from sea storms.

In Tyrol, Austria, a poster showing a green valley with snow-capped mountains in the distance greeted delegates to a conference on climate change – a beautiful summer scene which hides a potential nightmare scenario for winter tourism in the alps.

The municipality of Kristianstad in Southern Sweden, one of over a thousand cities that have now joined UNISDR’s World Disaster Reduction Campaign (2010-2015) - Making Cities Resilient: "My city is getting ready" was recently awarded role model status by UNISDR.

Vulnerability to natural hazards is rapidly on the increase in Europe, UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, told the Second Annual European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) yesterday in Skopje, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The UN-EU Partnerships Report for 2010 highlights the increasingly important role of disaster risk reduction in the joint activities of the United Nations and the European Union. The report was released following the opening of the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 September.

Serbia has taken a major step towards establishing a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction with the announcement that 32 Serbian cities have now formally joined the World Disaster Reduction Campaign – Making Cities Resilient: 'My city is getting ready!'

Recognizing the political importance and impact of recent disasters, UNISDR and the European Parliament organized a debate "Prevent or react: The EU approach to Disaster Risk Reduction" to discuss the European Union's approach to disaster prevention.

On 22nd until 24th March the 20th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg to discuss issues including City Safety and the ISDR Making cities resilient 'my city is getting ready' world disaster reduction Campaign.

In an official ceremony today, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, and the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, officially marked their cities’ participation in the United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready!” which involves over 600 cities worldwide. The Mayor of Milan, too, has officially declared her willingness to join the campaign.