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January
2004
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Welcome to 2004!
The ISDR Secretariat hopes you had an enjoyable and restful holiday.
Japan
to host World Conference on Disaster Reduction
On 23 December 2003 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution
A/RES/58/214 announcing the convening of a World Conference on Disaster Reduction,
to be organized by UN/ISDR and hosted by the Government of Japan at Kobe, Hyogo
from 18 to 22 January 2005.
The Conference will
aim to conclude the review of the Yokohama Strategy and its Plan of
Action; identify specific activities aimed at ensuring implementation
of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
on vulnerability, risk assessment and disaster management; share best
practices and lessons learned to further disaster reduction and identify
gaps and challenges; increase awareness of the importance of disaster
reduction policies; and increase the reliability and availability of
appropriate disaster-related information to the public and disaster
management agencies.
When the resolution
will have been put on-line, you can download it by going into
www.un.org/Main
Bodies/General Assembly/Resolutions.
Further information about the World Conference on Disaster Reduction is available
at http://www.unisdr.org/
On-line
extracts of Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction
initiatives
Following the overwhelming feedback received for the preliminary edition of
2002, the ISDR Secretariat is pleased to present on-line extracts of the upcoming
revised version of the publication Living with Risk: A global review of disaster
reduction initiatives (available for purchase in 2004). The revised version
takes into consideration those comments received based on the previous edition,
incorporating further developments, providing more in-depth analysis as well
as comprehensive coverage of current activities in disaster risk reduction.
To access the on-line extracts, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/eng/about_isdr/basic_docs/LwR2003/lwr-03-table-contents-eng.htm
2004
UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2004 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster
Reduction. Join us in rewarding individuals and institutions from around the
world who contributed, through innovative practices and outstanding initiatives,
to reducing the risk and vulnerabilities of communities to natural hazards!
To download the nomination form (available in English/French/Russian/Spanish),
please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/
For further information on the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction, please
refer to http://www.unisdr.org/eng/sasakawa/sk-about-eng.htm
Disaster
reduction and the information society
UN/ISDR has prepared a background paper contributing to the first phase of
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva (10-12
December 2003) entitled Information systems and disaster risk reduction, recommending
how to incorporate disaster risk reduction in the Summit's outcomes and follow-up
activities.
To download the paper, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/news/WSIS/WSIS.pdf
For further information on the WSIS, please refer to http://www.itu.int/wsis/
Disaster
reduction input to the 9th Conference of the Parties
At the first meeting the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice
(SBSTA) during the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-9) in
Milan, Italy, UN/ISDR made a statement concerning the linkages between the
disaster risk reduction and climate change agendas.
To download the statement, please refer to
http://www.unisdr.org/news/varios/ISDR Statement COP-9 SBSTA.doc
For further information on COP-9, please refer to http://unfccc.int/cop9/index.html
CD
ROM on Honduras launched at Mitch+5 Forum
Within the framework of project 'Central American Disaster Information Network',
the ISDR coordinated Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America
and the Caribbean (CRID), together with the National University of Honduras,
produced and disseminated a new CD with disaster related information focused
on Honduras. The product, which was presented at the regional Mitch +5 Forum
that took place in December 2003, includes 133 full-text documents, 13 websites
and 29 institutional contacts.
To download the contents of the CD ROM, please refer to http://www.crid.or.cr/crid/CD_Honduras/index.htm
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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
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