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Displaying 15 of about 24 resultsGENEVA, 21 May 2013 - Senior government officials from developing small island states and climate change experts have warned of a massive increase in human, economic and material losses in these countries if risk reduction measures are not taken urgently to mitigate the impacts of major hazards and climate change.
The warning was issued by repres…
MELBOURNE, Australia, 13 May 2016 – It’s 6:00 am one September day when a powerful undersea earthquake rocks the Makran Trench along the coast of Pakistan and Iran. Minutes later, the tsunami warning centres in India and Indonesia issue simultaneous alerts, followed rapidly by their counterpart in Australia, and authorities across the Indian Ocean swing…
CANCUN, Mexico, 25 May 2017 – Efforts to reduce disaster death tolls in Portugal, Iran, Brazil and Fiji have been honoured by an international award from the United Nations and Japan’s Nippon Foundation.
Issued at the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the biennial Sasakawa Award recognised projects that have made a substantial contribut…
GENEVA, 21 November 2013 – The small islands of the Pacific continue to lead the world in efforts to unite climate change and disaster risk reduction initiatives under one development agenda.
“Sustainable development for us is a matter of national security,” said Mr David Sheppard, the Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environ…
Stuart Mawbey is an emergency service volunteer worker and manager as well as a person living with disabilities. He has spent the last 15 years assisting in emergencies in the Australian States of South Australia and New South Wales. Here he reflects on the immense personal satisfaction he derives from his volunteerism as well as the ongoing challenges…
GENEVA, 10 October 2016 - There were fears of very large loss of life when Fiji was hit in February this year by the first category 5 cyclone in its recorded history, and the strongest ever seen in the southern hemisphere.
Cyclone Winston brought wind speeds which would have lifted an airplane, averaging 220 kilometres per hour and gusts of 315 kilomet…
MELBOURNE, Australia, 10 May 2016 – Tsunami experts from across the Indian Ocean have gathered in Australia this week to work on ways to improve their ability to ward off a repeat of the tragedy that struck the region in 2004.
The five-day session, run by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and hosted by the Australian Bureau of Meteoro…
GENEVA, 3 March 2016 – Australia could see its annual disaster bill rise nearly fourfold by 2050, with the cost of social impacts such as stress-related illness playing a significant role, two reports commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities warn.
Issued just two weeks before the first anniversary…
GENEVA - The leader of Fiji’s disaster-hit Western Division has pledged to forge an integrated cross-sectoral strategy to achieve a safer and more resilient future.
Western Division Commissioner Mr Joeli Cawaki and his team of technical experts told the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Ms Margareta Wahlström, that integrated…
GENEVA, 21 June 2013 - Two countries sitting at opposite ends of the world are emerging as beacons of good practice in terms of innovative public-private partnerships that have been proven to reduce disaster risk.
More than 18,000km separates New Zealand from Scotland but the two countries are much closer when it comes to pursuing proactive partnership…
Suva – International collaboration must be made stronger to make communities resilient to tsunamis, which are among the deadliest of natural hazards. This is especially important for the Pacific countries which are experiencing both arise in sea levels due to climate change, and the need to manage compounded and cascading disasters.
This was the mes…
The year 2020 was a difficult year for Southeast Asia which, in addition to dealing with the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, faced several disasters caused by extreme weather events, most notably in the Philippines and Vietnam, two Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Highlighting the urgent need to strengthen regional c…
13 October 2016, GENEVA –The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today marked International Day for Disaster Reduction by recognising five outstanding examples of successful efforts to reduce disaster mortality.
Today marks the beginning of the “Sendai Seven Campaign: Seven Targets, Seven Years…
GENEVA, 6 June 2012 - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, has just visited the site of a major reconstruction programme which is about to start in the earthquake-devastated centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.
"Over 300 million people live in urban seismic zones around the world which ar…
GENEVA, May 22, 2013 - Community voices from around the world today urged disaster management and climate change adaptation practitioners to take greater account of indigenous knowledge and expertise in building community resilience to withstand natural hazards.
While acknowledging technical and scientific advances in climate change adaptation and disa…