International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 
 
 

UN/ISDR Latin America Africa
 
 

UN/ISDR
International Environment
House II, 7-9 Chemin de Balexert, CH 1219 Chatelaine, Geneva 10, Switzerland
New phone and fax numbers:
Tel: +41 22 917 8908/8907
Fax: +41 22 917 8964
isdr@un.org

Postal Address:
UN/ISDR
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

 
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Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribben

 


New Press Releases
Early warning systems can save lives when cyclones strike
After a Category 3 storm ripped through Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta region on Saturday, the United
Nations secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction stressed the importance of
having life-saving early warning systems and preparedness programmes in place when cyclones
strike. Read more.
Tackling drought essential for food crisis solution
Drought and unsustainable water management have been key contributing factors to the global food crisis. In turn, managing drought risk to prepare for the increasing drought impact of climate change, is a crucial part of addressing the food crisis long term. Read more.
New regional websites
http://www.unisdr-wana.org UN/ISDR West Asia & North Africa
UN/ISDR secretariat has launched a new website for its West Asian and North African regional office based in Cairo, currently featuring information about regional partnerships, upcoming and past events and publications on disaster risk reduction. Visit UN/ISDR, WANA www.unisdr-wana.org
http://www.unisdr.org/europe/ UN/ISDR Europe
UN/ISDR secretariat has launched a new website for its Europe regional office, currently featuring new publications on disaster risk reduction in South Eastern Europe, and information about regional partners. Visit UN/ISDR Europe
www.unisdr.org/europe
Sálvano Briceño

Message from Sálvano Briceño
Director of the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2008.

“A gender perspective should be integrated into all disaster risk management policies, plans and decision-making processes…” - Hyogo Framework for Action

English - French - Spanish

cover Indicators of Progress: Guidance on Measuring the Reduction of Disaster Risks and the Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action helps set priorities for implementing disaster risk reduction while regularly monitoring and reviewing achievements against clear indicators. It can be used by national authorities, civil society and community organizations, regional inter-governmental institutions, technical bodies, and international and donor communities. View document - Annexes
cover

ISDR-Biblio 3: Health, Disasters and Risk
supports the theme of the 2008-2009 World Disaster Reduction Campaign: Hospitals Safe from Disasters,  Reduce Risk, Protect Health Facilities, Save Lives. The biblio contains literature on health and disaster risk; disaster and emergency management; health facilities and services; environmental impact on health; climate change effects on health; mental health; mitigation and preparedness; public health; water and sanitation; and gender and health.

A CD-ROM complements the ISDR-Biblio 3 with its compilation of key documents and publications available in PDF. View document
Environmental Sustainability and Disaster Risk Reduction
The ISDR partnership on environment and disaster risk reduction prepared a document for consideration at the 10th Special Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Monaco, 20-22 February 2008. The paper provides a multi-agency statement on the intergovernmental mandates and principles for more integrated action on environment and disaster risk, as a key element of sustainable development and climate change adaptation.
View document

Handbook for estimating the socioeconomic and environmental
effects of disasters

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) - Chile , The World Bank (WB) - United States of America

This revised handbook incorporates new and significant developments while refining and improving the methodology for damage assessment contained in several sections included in the first version published in 1991.

View all

China Snow Disaster
Photo by Ruth Anderson

China’s freak snowstorms: ‘the new normal’?

The unprecedented scale, cost, and human impacts of China’s freak month of snowstorms, its worst in 50 years, herald a need for the world to get ready for “new kinds of disasters,” according to Sálvano Briceño, Director of the UN/ISDR secretariat.
see press release

UN/ISDR secretariat and WHO Launch the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009 on 25 January 2008 in Davos
The World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009: 'Hospitals Safe from Disasters' is a global campaign being launched in Davos, Switzerland on 25 January, by the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the World Bank.

Information kit

The campaign will focus on structural safety of hospitals and health facilities, on keeping health facilities functioning during and after disasters, and on making sure health workers are prepared for natural hazards striking.

Media Advisory: English - French
Press Release: English - French
More information click here

Disaster Figures For 2007

2007 saw a marked increase in the number of floods compared with the average of the last seven years, and Asia was the continent hit hardest by disasters according to figures from the Belgian WHO collaborating Center for Research on epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). “Current trends are consistent with the predictions of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, in that Asia, and also West Africa are already suffering from more severe and frequent floods,” says Professor Debarati Guha-Sapir, director of CRED.
Disaster Figures 2007
Press Release

New Issue
Disaster Reduction in:
Asia and The Pacific
3, 2007
  The Americas
14, 2007
Cover   Cover
An on-line game to teach children how to save lives and livelihoods
The secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction launches an on-line game aimed at teaching children how to build safer villages and cities against disasters. This initiative comes within the 2006-2007 World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School”.
To access the game please visit: www.stopdisastersgame.org
 
ISDR Highlights
Vacancies

Internship (Information Management)
Geneva, Switzerland

Deadline for applications: 
2 May 2008

Associate Documentalist, L-2
Geneva, Switzerland

Deadline for applications: 
25 April 2008

Climate Change
PIXEL

See basic documents for more information

 2006-2007
 World Disaster Reduction Campaign

 Disaster risk reduction
 begins at school
Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into
CCA and UNDAF
Guidelines
UN/ISDR - UNDP
Living with Risk:
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives

2004 version
English - Spanish
Know Risk
Publication available at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction
Flyer
www.know-risk.org
 
New issue
Disaster Reduction in
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