UNDRR News

The President of the Cape Verde National Civil Protection Service, Arlindo Lima, has warned that the situation on the island of Fogo is likely to get worse in the coming days as volcanic activity continues and lava pours out of the Chã das Caldeiras crater where it has already destroyed two villages.

RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, 14 October 2014 – Senior government figures and several mayors from across South Africa have marked International Day for Disaster Reduction by signing a unique national pledge to implement minimum standards to both engage older persons in disaster risk reduction and to meet their needs.

Africa today became the first world region to make a comprehensive set of recommendations for a new UN global agreement on reducing disaster risk, recognizing that most disasters in Africa are water-related and that efforts are needed to prevent conflict as part of overall efforts to build resilience to disasters.

A disaster-resilient future for Africa will have to take account of the fact that it is the region of the world that will suffer the most from climate change and which struggles the most when it comes to capacity to manage present and future disaster risk, the 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction heard yesterday.

From school to university education, from early warning to data collection, and from national development plans to community-based participation, Ethiopia has made solid gains in implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action, the global agreement on disaster risk reduction adopted in 2005.

The African Union (AU) will integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in its new Africa Climate Change Strategy, AU Commissioner Rhoda Peace told the opening session of the 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) yesterday attended by a record 800 participants including representatives from 48 AU countries.

A record attendance is expected for this week’s 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction which opens today in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Some 700 politicians, disaster managers and civil society representatives from across Africa are registered to attend on May 13-17 and will review the continent’s progress in disaster risk management.

UNISDR today welcomed the outcome of East Africa’s Second Drought Resilience Summit as an important contribution to next month’s Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and preparing for a future in which climate change will amplify existing stress on water availability in Africa.

Experts from all over Africa, including government ministers, will meet in Abuja, Nigeria, 13-16 May 2014, to discuss the challenges that the warming continent is experiencing because of climate change and other risk drivers. Last year, 37 countries in the region experienced at least one major disaster event including droughts, floods and heat waves, affecting millions.

The Prime Minister of Senegal has reiterated her country’s commitment to implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) during high level talks with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. Prime Minister Aminata Touré said that Senegal’s international commitments were consistent with domestic priorities under the country’s Economic and Social Development Plan. In the presence of nine of her key ministers, the Prime Minister told Special Representative Ms Margareta Wahlström that good governance and institutions were crucial to build resilience in the face of continued climate change.