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News
79 Items
| Title | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
Green growth vital for reducing disaster riskAfrica's infrastructure is under pressure from increasing disasters but the infrastructure deficit is an opportunity for the continent to take a global lead on sustainable development and to leap-frog environmentally unfriendly technologies, said Mrs. Rhoda Peace, the Africa Union Commissioner for rural economy and agriculture, at a seminar marking the 11th African Day for the Environment hosted by the Tunisian government. |
4 Mar 2013 | News briefs |
Disaster risk is transforming African citiesRisks that have historically played out in rural areas like drought, floods and wildfires "are being transferred and transformed and expressed differently across Africa's fast growing cities and towns," said Dr. Ailsa Holloway in her keynote address to the 4th Africa Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction today. |
15 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Africa stakes out its position on HFA and the post-2015 development agendaThe 4th Africa Regional Platform concluded today with a detailed set of commitments and recommendations on the complex challenges Africa faces due to surging economic growth, rapid urbanization, climate change and a wide range of natural hazards. |
15 Feb 2013 | Press release |
UNISDR private sector initiative launched in AfricaA private sector initiative for Africa was launched today by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, at the 4th Africa Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. |
14 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Disaster databases essential to reducing risk in AfricaEthiopia is on course to build Africa's most comprehensive risk profile database by 2015 and today urged other countries on the continent to follow its example. |
14 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Africa seeks united position on disaster risk reductionRepresentatives of 40 African States are gathering today for the 4th Africa Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction to discuss Africa's position on a new global framework for disaster risk reduction amidst continuing concern over the ravages of climate change, drought, floods, heat-waves, wildfires and other natural hazards. |
13 Feb 2013 | Press release |
HFA: “We have early warning, now we need early action”It’s not instantly recognised, in Africa or anywhere else. But there was standing room only today for an intensive round-table discussion hosted by UNISDR, to tease out what this policy instrument has done for Africa over the last seven years and what direction should its successor take two years from now. |
13 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Climate change causes community conflict says MinisterSpeaking at the opening of the 4th Africa Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Tanzanian Minister for the Environment, Dr. Terezya Huvisa Luoga, expressed her fears that climate change could cause community conflict in her country. |
13 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Reporting why disasters happen in AfricaFor the last three weeks, the Maputo-based weekly newspaper "Domingo" has featured the Mozambique floods on its front page. Domingo editor, Jorge Ernesto Rungo, was today able to give journalists from across Africa an insight into the challenges of covering one of the largest disasters to hit the country since the floods of 2000 when he spoke at the latest media training organized by UNISDR with the support of ECHO. |
12 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
East African backing for Hyogo FrameworkThe East African Community (EAC) today announced that it is renewing its commitment to implement the global disaster risk reduction framework, the Hyogo Framework for Action, and that it had agreed last week on a new plan. |
11 Feb 2013 | News briefs |
Africa to address Post-2015 disaster resilience agendaGovernments from over 50 countries in Africa will meet in Arusha, Tanzania from 13-15 February for the Fourth Africa Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (ARP) to address the challenges of building a disaster resilient society. |
24 Jan 2013 | News briefs |
UNISDR report finds African towns struggling with disaster managementA new report published today by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, lays bare the huge challenges faced by medium-sized African towns struggling to cope with the rising tide of disaster events, rural-urban migration and ecosystem destruction without early warning systems or budgets to reduce risk. |
5 Dec 2012 | Press release |
Forum on conflict and fragility opens in LiberiaThe global burden of disasters and armed violence which affect over 200 million people and result in over 500,000 deaths each year will be the focus of a forum on conflict and fragility which opens in Liberia tomorrow. |
28 Nov 2012 | Press release |
2nd session of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) - Statement by Margareta WahlströmFirst of all let me convey my gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe for hosting this conference and to the organisers for their work. This event is an important step towards linking climate services to the needs of end users, mainly development actors, disaster risk managers and communities, in order to anticipate disasters and future changing climate. Climate science shall provide evidence and help inform decision makers to adapt to the expected changes and reduce related risks. |
15 Oct 2012 | Statements & speeches |
Africa must prioritize risk reductionThe top UN disaster risk reduction official on Friday urged African governments to acknowledge risk reduction as the first line of defense against the impacts of climate change. |
17 Sep 2012 | News briefs |
14th session of the Africa Ministerial Conference on Environment - Statement by Margareta WahlströmDisaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are central elements of sustainable development. They share common root causes and goals: reduction of the vulnerability and exposure of communities and nations. Recognizing and building linkages between them is effective and efficient development. |
16 Sep 2012 | Statements & speeches |
UNISDR champion applauds African Union for decision on disaster insuranceUNISDR Parliamentary Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction, Abdou Sané, Member of Parliament from Senegal, recently welcomed the African Union's decision to establish an African Risk Capacity Secretariat - a specialized agency of the African Union which will help elaborate a legal agreement on a pooled risk insurance facility for droughts, floods, earthquakes and cyclones. |
6 Aug 2012 | News briefs |
Writeshops successfully mentor young researchersYuwan Malakar has good reason to be focused and driven these days. The 30-year old environmental management major from Nepal has just had his first paper on climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) published in one of the highly respected online journals of the Policy Studies Organization. |
19 Apr 2012 | News briefs |
Uncertain rainy season for Horn of AfricaThe March to May rainfall season in the Greater Horn of Africa is likely to result in "near normal to below normal rainfall" over much of the region, according to a statement today from the 30th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF30). |
29 Feb 2012 | News briefs |
New drought threat in the Horn of AfricaGovernment representatives, climatologists, agricultural experts, disaster risk managers and others gather in Kigali, Rwanda, for three days next week to share information on the possibility of a third consecutive year of drought in the Horn of Africa. |
24 Feb 2012 | Press release |
Cyclone hits as evaluation team visits MadagascarFor the second year in a row, Valentine's Day on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has been marked by the arrival of a tropical cyclone. Cyclone Giovanna made landfall on the east coast shortly after midnight, bringing torrential rain and reported wind speeds of up to 231 km per hour. |
14 Feb 2012 | News briefs |
Horn of Africa crisis results in effort to improve action on early warningsIn 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. |
13 Feb 2012 | Press release |
Durban decision imminent on Green Climate FundTen years after the first Funds were established to support adaptation activities in developing countries, the world, and Africa in particular, is waiting to see if a deal can be brokered this weekend at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban which would amount to a quantum leap in the finance available to reduce disaster risk in countries bearing the brunt of climate change. |
9 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
No climate fund, No poverty reduction?The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told a major forum at the COP17 talks in Durban yesterday that ”failing to fund climate change is failing to fund poverty reduction.” |
8 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
Mexico City brings some good news to COP17While good news remains in short supply from the main climate change talks here in Durban, there is a growing sense that local government is taking the lead on mitigation and adaptation without waiting for their central governments to direct their efforts. |
8 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
Turn the science into action on climate change says UNISDR ChiefUNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, told an exclusive gathering of 35 eminent scientists and politicians from around the world at the COP 17 in Durban that "there is a huge need to translate the best science on climate change into practical action." |
7 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
Risk reduction must be priority in COP17 talks says IPUParliamentarians from around the world gathered in Durban, South Africa, yesterday to press for progress in the COP17 climate change negotiations and called on the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) "to prioritize disaster risk reduction and capacity building as cross-cutting issues and to give them the utmost attention." |
6 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
Adaptation Charter – good start to the weekThe Durban Climate Change Adaptation Charter for Local Government adopted yesterday was hailed by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlstrom, as "the best possible start to a critical week in the life of this planet when we so urgently need real leadership on mitigation and adaptation." |
5 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
UNISDR welcomes local government focus on climate adaptationThe Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the Durban Climate Change Adaptation Charter for Local Government agreed yesterday by Mayors from around the world as "the best possible start to a critical week in the life of this planet when we so urgently need real leadership on mitigation and adaptation. |
5 Dec 2011 | Press release |
DRR and climate change adaptation key to reducing extreme weather eventsLinking disaster risk and climate change is key to reducing the impacts of extreme weather events that have increasingly been on the rise, according to a high level debate today at the Climate Change talks in COP-17 in Durban. The discussions were part of a UNISDR side-event showcasing experiences on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR). |
3 Dec 2011 | News briefs |
UNISDR Africa
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PO Box 47074-00100
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Phone: +254 207626719
Fax: +254 207624726
isdr-africa@unep.org
www.unisdr.org/africa
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The Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction will take place in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2013.
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Drought contingency plans and planning in the Greater Horn of Africa
A desktop review of the effectiveness of drought contingency plans and planning in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia: This paper ...
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