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Displaying 15 of about 175 resultsAs the world celebrates World Humanitarian Day, UNISDR, the strategic arm of the United Nations working on disaster risk reduction, recognizes the valuable contribution of humanitarian workers who risk their lives everyday to help others, whilst emphasizing their crucial role in reducing disaster risk.
“On this day we recognize the importance of humani…
GENEVA, 4 July 2011 – As Europe and North America move into the summer season, the risk of wildfires will increase. While these natural hazards may not get the attention of earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, their destructive potential is considerable and reducing the risks they present should be a priority for countries who face this threat.
Over two…
Cairo, 9 June - The first comprehensive training on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab region gathered thirty leading specialists to discuss regional and global disaster risk trends. The course, organized by the UNDP Regional Centre for Arab States in Cairo (RCC), was held from 23-26th May in Cairo and provided valuable insight on disaster risk assessm…
Disasters are not natural; hazards are, says a new UNISDR media book launched at the Third Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction last week by Tim Sebastian of BBC Hard Talk.
“Around twenty years ago I covered an earthquake in El Salvador and I wish I had had this book with me at the time. Nobody told me I had to go beyond the broken…
Cairo, 22 May - The United Nations report titled “Revealing risk, redefining Development”, launched this May by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the Third Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, reveals a new interest and concern for disaster risk reduction in the Middle East and North Africa.
The second edit…
Geneva, 20 May -- After announcing last week that Geneva would take part in the United Nations "Making Cities Resilient" campaign, Pierre Maudet, the incoming Mayor of Geneva as of 1 June, said the city would share experiences with other local governments seeking to manage risk.
Mr. Maudet made that comment at a meeting convened by the United Nations s…
GENEVA, 28 December 2011 – When a city joins the “Making Cities Resilient” campaign, the media gets very active, explained Piyush Ranjan Rout, co-founder and Executive Director of the Local Governments Network, a non-government organization in Bhubaneswar, India.
“They see that a city has joined the campaign and begin asking, ‘But what are they doing?’…
GENEVA, 27 December 2011 – A week after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the Philippines, aid agencies are focusing attention on an estimated 14,000 children who make up about a third of displaced persons in evacuation centres, including those separated from their families.
Children who are left to cope with disasters on their own face a range of risks, said…
GENEVA, 26 December 2011 – The Dead Sea rift, which separates the African and Asian plates, is the deepest and most deadly fault line in the Middle East, making its way from Ethiopia up into southern Lebanon and the country’s eastern Bekaa valley.
An estimated 40,000 people from Beirut and Damascus died in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 1759. Experts pr…
GENEVA, 19 December 2011 - The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today extended her sympathy to the people of Mindanao in the Philippines, following the great loss of life resulting from Typhoon Sendong.
The UNISDR Chief, Wahlström, said: “There are many lessons to be learned about risk manag…
DURBAN, 8 December 2011 - The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told a major forum at the COP17 talks in Durban yesterday that ”failing to fund climate change is failing to fund poverty reduction.”
The AfDB Head emphasized that rich countries urgently need to address the issue of carbon taxation to scale-up climate funds.
Afr…
GENEVA, 12 December 2011 - Disaster risk is now a key factor influencing the way corporations look at living standards, particularly when structuring compensation packages for expatriate employees.
According to Slagin Parakatil, a Senior Researcher at Mercer, “Companies need to keep on top of current developments to ensure that their compensation packa…
GENEVA, 28 November 2011 - It's one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Over the last twenty years a yearly average of some four million people have been affected by disasters in the Philippines each year and over 33,000 people have lost their lives in 363 major reported events.
Most recently, back-to-back typhoons combined with monsoon…
GENEVA, 17 November 2011 - The flood crisis affecting over eight million people in Thailand will be discussed at the 19th ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) Summit which opened today in Bali, Indonesia.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, following a tour of the flood-affected areas yesterday, said he was told by Prime Minister,…
GENEVA, 14 November 2011 – Seeking new ways to strengthen community resilience, city officials from Thailand and Viet Nam today began a two-day exchange with counterparts in the Philippines to examine the award-winning “Purok system” used by the city of San Francisco, Philippines, to empower ordinary people to find solutions for disaster risk reduction…