October 2003

International Day for Disaster Reduction - Wednesday 8 October 2003
Each year, the International Day for Disaster Reduction is celebrated on the second Wednesday of October. In 2003 the Day falls on 8 October, with activities taking place worldwide highlighting the importance of reducing the impacts of water-related hazards. We welcome your stories, media coverage and photos of activities that take place on the day! Please send them to isdr@un.org

To access UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message for the International Day for Disaster Reduction and download a copy of the information kit (available in English/French/Spanish), please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/unisdr/campaign2003/campaign2003.htm

Integrating early warning of natural disasters into public policy
The Second International Conference on Early Warning (EWC-II) will take place from 16 to 18 October in Bonn, Germany. The event will be opened by the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Joschke Fischer and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humaniatrian Affairs, Mr. Jan Egeland.
Regular updates on the EWC-II agenda and related documents may be found on the website http://www.ewc2.org

WATER - Floods in Central Europe
On the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction, the ISDR Secretariat in conjunction with the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations have organised the photo exhibition: WATER - Floods in Central Europe, on display at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The exhibition comprises a selection of photographs of Central European floods from the 2002 Czech Press Photo contest
To view the photographs and others of Czech Press Photo, please refer to http://czechpressphoto.cz/indexEng.htm

A framework to guide and monitor disaster risk reduction
Thank you to all who participated in the ISDR and UNDP organized on-line conference (held 26 August-25 September) on the proposed framework to understand, guide and monitor disaster risk reduction.The conference proved extremely successful, generating valuable discussions that will be synthesized and will play a major role in the review of the Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action.
Also thanks to the Regional Disaster Information Center (CRID) who provided the technical support for the conference
To access the draft framework, the dialogue and conclusions resulting from the conference, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/dialogue

Euro-Mediterranean Forum on Disaster Reduction 6-8 October Madrid, Spain
A background paper is now available for the Euro-Mediterranean Forum on Disaster Reduction, coorganised by the Council of Europe (Major Hazards Agreement) and the ISDR Secretariat.
To download the background paper (English/French) and for further information on the conference please refer to http://www.unisdr.org.

Strenthening international cooperation to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires on humanity and the global environment
The 3rd International Conference on Wildland Fire will be held in Sydney, Australia on 3-6 October, followed by the International Wildland Fire Summit that will bring together policy makers, international organizations, and others to develop and promote solutions to reducing the negative impacts of wildland fires.
For more information, please refer to http://www.wildlandfire03.com

UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction
The 2003 Sasakawa Laureate and Awardees of Certificates of Distinction and Merit, will be officially announced on the International Day for Disaster Reduction (8 October), with a special edition of ISDR Highlights on the subject to be circulated - in addition to being posted on the ISDR website - on that day. The annual Sasakawa Award Ceremony will take place on Thursday 16 October in Bonn, Germany, during the Second International Conference on Early Warning.
http://www.unisdr.org

ISDR Highlights is a monthly email update on current news in disaster reduction published by the Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR). Please direct all enquiries (including subscription requests) to: isdr@un.org