UNDRR News

An €80-million package of funds from the European Union to support disaster risk management across Sub-Saharan Africa was unveiled today at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, winning praise for its potential impact.

Details of an €80 million package of support from the European Union to disaster risk management across sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years, were unveiled today at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

Known to many as little Africa, Cameroon is home to many natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, desertification, epidemics, lake eruptions and frequent flooding.

Like much of the continent, East Africa is frequently exposed to natural threats such as floods, droughts and landslides, as well as epidemics and man-made hazards, of all which affect livelihoods and development across the region.

World leaders will gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, next month to focus on the issue of global development financing. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) is another key milestone in the post-2015 development agenda aimed at reducing extreme poverty by 2030.

A cholera outbreak in Kenya that is concentrated in the informal settlements shows how entrenched poverty can combine with poor urban planning to breed disasters.

Urban planning is a key element in disaster risk preparedness and community resilience in Africa, say experts.

Experts want gender to feature strongly in the final text of the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction, due to adopted at the looming Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Lashed by torrential rains, Malawi and neighbouring countries are in the grip of a major flood crisis, with scores of lives lost, and over 600,000 displaced in Malawi alone.

African youth leaders are taking action to make their communities better informed and prepared to reduce their exposure to the effects of disasters.