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Displaying 15 of about 46 resultsNEW YORK, 13 April 2012 - There was a strong call for "the incorporation of disaster risk reduction in any future framework for sustainable development" during the UN General Assembly Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk Reduction yesterday which served as a major curtain raiser for Rio+20.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, delivered a sta…
GENEVA, 26 March 2012 - Disasters and climate related catastrophes are increasing the dangers facing children today such as child trafficking, according to a recent report by Najat Maalla M'jid, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
"Children's vulnerability is significantly increased when they are…
VERA CRUZ, MEXICO, 1 March 2012 - Disaster risk reduction was at the top of the agenda today for over 2,000 mayors and municipal leaders in Vera Cruz, Mexico, attending the Conferencia Anual de Municipios 2012 at which the keynote address was delivered by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström.
She warned against the rising cost of disasters to cities as…
GENEVA, 1 February 2012 - An insightful new report on the 2010 Haiti earthquake offers a scathing critique of an international community which “has much to learn from the response in Haiti where it has shown an ability to repeat its errors and shortcomings from past disasters.”
Two years after the event, the PAHO Report: Health response to the earthqua…
GENEVA, 25 January 2012 - Bequia is a delightful link in the chain of islands which make St. Vincent and the Grenadines such an attractive destination for sun worshipping tourists. With a population of 4,300 people and an area of just 18 km2, it is on the frontlines of the unfolding drama of climate change and Small Island Developing States. And, like m…
Geneva, 13 January – Some of the biggest names in the U.S. private and public sectors gathered in New York on Wednesday at a Pace University Summit on Resilience to see how best partnerships between these two sectors could be developed to strengthen resilience in cities and communities in light of increasing hazards.
The Summit entitled ‘Securing our…
GENEVA, 13 August 2012 - A new study by UNICEF and UNESCO is a timely assessment of just how some countries are faring, or not, with the implementation of disaster risk reduction education seven years after such education was requested by the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).
The HFA - the 10-year global disaster risk reduction action plan agreed upon…
RIO DE JANEIRO, 21 June 2012 - The UK's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington, used yesterday's UNISDR "Resilient Cities" event at Rio+20 to make an urgent appeal for scientists to use plain language if they are to play a larger role in policymaking on climate change.
"The next fifteen years are really problematic. We'll have a billion more peo…
GENEVA, 13 November 2012 - UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, has welcomed the recognition by the G20 group of countries that disaster risk financing is crucial for good disaster risk management.
"The accumulation of disaster risks and losses are hurting the economies of rich as well as poor countries. It's urgent and critical for sustainability to ma…
NEW YORK, 9 November 2012 - Development cannot be sustainable if it does not incorporate disaster risk reduction was a key message by Member States yesterday as the UN General Assembly's Second Committee (Economic and Financial Committee) began its two-day meeting on the issue of moving sustainable development forward.
In light of that key message, Mem…
Few people outside Italy are aware that six seismologists and a government official are on trial in the small city of L'Aquila. But the story has implications for scientists, engineers, administrators, and legal systems far beyond Italy's borders.
L'Aquila was largely destroyed by earthquakes in 1461 and 1703. The city was rebuilt, eventually grew to m…
GENEVA, 24 January 2012 - The Brazilian government has agreed to open a Centre of Excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction, one year after deadly landslides in the state of Rio de Janeiro prompted President Dilma Rousseff to devise plans to improve the country’s disaster readiness.
Last year, Brazil placed third on the list of countries where the world’s…
302 human impact disasters claimed 29,782 lives; affected 206 million and inflicted record economic damages of $366 billion in 2011
Geneva, 18 January 2012 – For two consecutive years the long-term disasters trend has been bucked by major earthquakes which claimed thousands of lives and affected millions in both 2010 and 2011, according to new statisti…
Geneva, 11 January 2012 - Estimates of between $350 billion to $380 billion in global economic losses from disasters have made 2011 the most expensive year in history for catastrophes, according to the insurance industry.
The earthquakes in Japan in March and New Zealand in February accounted for the bulk of these losses, according to estimates issued…
GENEVA, 13 July 2012 - Makati City in the Philippines has scooped an award for an innovative city-to-city learning partnership between Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.
The City-to-City Cooperation award was presented this week during the 25th anniversary meeting of CITYNET, the Asia-Pacific local authority network, in…