Search
Results for " "
Displaying 15 of about 37 resultsGENEVA, 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, 11 April 2012 - Following a massive earthquake earlier today in the Indian Ocean and the threat of a tsunami, Indonesian President and UNISDR Global Disaster Risk Reduction Champion, Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, told the press, "Our early warning system is working well". There were no tsunamis in Banda Aceh or other places which were hard hit by the…
NAIROBI/GENEVA, 13 February 2012 - In advance of critical rainfall forecasts for the Horn of Africa, the UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, today announced a partnership with the WMO-supported African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) to ensure rapid dissemination of weather updates to disaster managers.
Pedro Ba…
GENEVA, 3 February 2012 - A 15-day state of disaster is currently in effect in areas on the west coast of Fiji that have been ravaged by floods which began on 22 January.
A flood watch is in place as periods of heavy rain are expected. All those living in flood-prone areas have been advised to evacuate and take with them food, water and a change of clo…
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…
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…
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…
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, 12 June 2012 - UNISDR chief Margareta Wahlström today congratulated Switzerland for getting ready to face the consequences of a major earthquake even if the last one happened over 1,000 years ago.
"It is good to see Switzerland setting an example for earthquake preparedness. Taking this threat seriously and involving its neighbors in an ambitio…
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, 08 February 2012 - As world governments prepare for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June, the UN has published a practical guide "to promote a transition to an inclusive Green Economy."
The inter-agency Green Economy Report - Working towards a Balanced and Inclusive Green Economy: A United Nations…
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…
GENEVA, 27 August 2012 - The flood-prone coastal city of Beira in Mozambique was named today as the winner of the first RISK Award, a collaboration between UNISDR, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Munich Re Foundation and the Global Risk Forum, Davos. The €100,000 prize for project implementation is funded through the Munich Re Foundation.…
RIO DE JANEIRO, 21 August 2012 - The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, Sir John Beddington, recently spoke to UNISDR about how migration triggered by natural hazards is actually taking people into areas of increasing vulnerability.
Sir John leads the Technology Foresight Programme, which produced the report "Migration and Global Environmen…