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Displaying 15 of about 173 resultsDAKAR, SENEGAL, 5 December 2012 - A new report published today by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, lays bare the huge challenges faced by medium-sized African towns struggling to cope with the rising tide of disaster events, rural-urban migration and ecosystem destruction without early warning systems or budgets to reduce risk.
When i…
PARIS, 20 November 2012 - It's a scenario from hell which could rival the 2010 Haitian earthquake in terms of human losses.
Conservative estimates are that the next big earthquake could result in 100,000 dead, 200,000 injured and one to two million people displaced in the fabled Kathmandu Valley where memories live on of the 1934 earthquake which took…
GENEVA, 31 October 2012 - UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlstrom spoke to the opening session of this week's extraordinary session of the World Meteorological Congress which is discussing the implementation plan and governance model for the Global Framework for Climate Services.
Ms. Wahlstrom congratulated the World Meteorological Organization on the initiat…
GENEVA, 18 April 2012 - The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today launched a new initiative to support cities around the world to manage risk following the worst year on record for economic losses from disasters. It also announced today that over 1,000 cities have now joined its "Making Cities Resilient" Campaign.
Campaign Director, Hele…
BANGKOK, 2 April 2012 - A visit to a disaster-resilient habitat in Bangladesh has prompted UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström to acknowledge the south Asian country as leading developing nations in the global fight against climate change impacts.
On the final day of a three day visit, she went Friday to the village of Bainpara, Dacope, in Khulna Division…
VENICE, 28 March 2012 - The Mayor of the fabled city of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, has been chosen by UNISDR as Europe's first Champion of Urban Resilience in recognition of his efforts to build resilience to disasters and protect cultural heritage.
Margareta Wahlström, United Nations disaster risk reduction chief, appointed Mr. Orsoni a champion as part…
GENEVA, 14 February 2012 - For the second year in a row, Valentine's Day on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has been marked by the arrival of a tropical cyclone. Cyclone Giovanna made landfall on the east coast shortly after midnight, bringing torrential rain and reported wind speeds of up to 231 km per hour.
One death has been reported so far i…
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…
BANGKOK, 23 January 2012 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Margareta Wahlström, met today with Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Kittiratt Na-Ranong, to discuss new government proposals on risk management and to urge Government support for business continuity plans following the costliest disaster in the…
YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, 23 October 2012 - A UN Report released today at the opening of the Fifth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk reduction shows that Asia and the Pacific is paying a huge price for extreme weather events which are now impacting negatively on the continent's economic development.
Increasing disaster risks in Asia-Pacific ar…
SENDAI, 9 October 2012 - UNISDR today recognized Sendai, the largest city in Japan's tsunami-struck region of Tohoku, as a role model for the Making Cities Resilient Campaign for "promoting community-based disaster risk reduction and empowering people to act on disaster risk reduction."
Following the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011, Se…
GENEVA, 20 September 2012 - UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed a major policy decision by Pacific Island States to help formulate a new international framework on disaster risk reduction to replace the current Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in 2015.
The 4th session of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management committed today in…
GENEVA, 9 August 2012 - Following 12 days of rains brought on by seasonal southwest monsoons, there are signs that the chronic floods which have submerged 50 percent of Manila as well as nearby areas are abating.
The crisis is the worst in the Philippines since 2009 when hundreds died in flash floods. It came as over half a month's rain fell on Manila…
GENEVA, 18 July 2012 - UNISDR's 2011 Annual Report is now available online and reveals that its two landmark Global Assessment Reports on Disaster Risk Reduction Reports (GAR) for 2009 and 2011, have had over 200,000 chapter downloads over the last three years.
It also demonstrates that, "despite some degree of unpredictability in its voluntary funding…