News Archive

Stay up-to-date with our work and activities with

Type

Region

Subject

872 Items

Title	Date	Type
EU creates academic network for disaster resilience Inspired by UNISDR’s flagship 'Making Cities Resilient' campaign, the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency is to boost disaster preparedness in European cities by turning higher education institutes into 'reliable partners to reduce society’s vulnerability to hazards.'	14 Mar 2012	News briefs
Private sector role in 'Safe Water for All' The private sector is making significant contributions to the delivery of reliable and safe water worldwide, providing services to around 160 million people in emerging markets, according to a report from World Bank Group's private arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).	13 Mar 2012	News briefs
Japan quake took toll on women and elderly One year ago, the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami took 13,007 lives in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima -- the country's three most affected prefectures; 54 percent of those fatalities were women and girls.	12 Mar 2012	News briefs
70th Coordination Group Meeting of the Arab Aid Consortium - Address by Margareta Wahlström Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured to have been invited to talk to you today on the occasion of the 70th Coordination Group Meeting of the Arab Aid Consortium, and in celebration of 50 years of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.	12 Mar 2012	Statements & speeches
Japan's success in risk reduction highlighted on March 11 anniversary The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today paid tribute to the resilience of the Japanese people as they prepare to mark the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.	9 Mar 2012	Press release
Empower women and girls in fight against disasters The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, marked International Women's Day today with a call to governments in the world's most disaster-prone countries to "empower girls and women through education and access to resources as part of building resilience to disasters at community level.	8 Mar 2012	Press release
Cooperatives take off in Japan's tsunami belt Almost one year ago Minami Sanriku was one of many coastal towns in the Northern Miyagi Prefecture that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.	7 Mar 2012	News briefs
A Seismic Crime Few people outside Italy are aware that six seismologists and a government official are on trial in the small city of L'Aquila. But the story has implications for scientists, engineers, administrators, and legal systems far beyond Italy's borders.	6 Mar 2012	News briefs
Japan’s resilience lessons Buried in the coverage of last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake is a success story of which the world should not lose sight, because it tells us much about how we manage risk in the twenty-first century. It is the story of how the Japanese people, through centuries of memory and shared experience, have built up their resilience to natural disasters. Indeed, as the sea reared up to ravage the country’s coast on March 11, 2011, more than 90% of the population in the affected areas had already fled to safety.	6 Mar 2012	Statements & speeches
UN kicks off discussions on new international blueprint for disaster risk reduction The UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, and HE Yoichi Otabe, the Japanese Ambassador to the International Organizations in Geneva, announced today the start of consultations on a new international blueprint for reducing disaster losses in advance of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction which the Japanese government is proposing to host in 2015.	5 Mar 2012	Press release
Urban planning fails children says UNICEF UNICEF'S flagship report, The State of the World's Children 2012: Children In An Urban World, urges governments to put children at the heart of urban planning and finds that for millions of children urban poverty is intensified by exposure to cyclones, floods, mudslides, earthquakes and other disasters.	2 Mar 2012	News briefs
UNISDR urges Mexican Mayors to join Cities Campaign Disaster risk reduction was at the top of the agenda today for over 2,000 mayors and municipal leaders in Vera Cruz, Mexico, attending the Conferencia Anual de Municipios 2012 at which the keynote address was delivered by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström.	1 Mar 2012	News briefs
Uncertain rainy season for Horn of Africa The 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
Morocco to create National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Morocco is taking steps to join 78 other nations whose governments have created National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction to support policies for building resilience to disasters.	28 Feb 2012	News briefs
Chile still living with quake effects The repercussions from the deadly earthquake and tsunami which hit Chile two years ago continue to play out in the country's courts and in expressions of frustration at the pace of reconstruction.	27 Feb 2012	News briefs
New drought threat in the Horn of Africa Government 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
New business attitude to risk The business world is on "the cusp of a major revolution" in its understanding of disaster risk reduction as insurance industry demands force a shift from traditional accounting-based management to risk-based management, according to Rowan Douglas, CEO Global Analytics at Willis Group.	24 Feb 2012	News briefs
PPP Days 2012 hosts first business forum A Business Forum featured for the first time at today's opening in Geneva of the biennial Private Public Partnership event, PPP Days 2012.	23 Feb 2012	News briefs
UNISDR welcomes Typhoon Sendong Post-Mortem The Head of the UN's Disaster Risk Reduction Office, UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström, today congratulated three Philippines Senators for leading an in-depth, two-day post-mortem with local leaders into the devastating losses caused to Mindanao island by Typhoon Sendong in December.	22 Feb 2012	News briefs
UNISDR issues flood warning as thaw sets in across Eastern and Central Europe The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, today said the European Flood Alert System could soon be put to its greatest test since widespread flooding ten years ago led to its creation by the European Commission.	21 Feb 2012	Press release
Winter proves better planning needed in Europe Europe's vulnerability to disasters and the current tough winter "are a clear sign that we need to plan better and manage more robustly the risks we face," warns European Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, who is responsible for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.	20 Feb 2012	News briefs
UNISDR welcomes mass earthquake drill in Delhi More than 40,000 people took part in a mass earthquake drill in Delhi yesterday to check the alertness and preparedness of the 16.7 million people living in the Indian capital in the event of a high intensity earthquake of 7.2 on the Richter scale.	16 Feb 2012	News briefs
Oxfam call for investment in risk reduction A new briefing paper from Oxfam identifies "the limited investment in building resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR), despite rhetoric to the contrary" as one of main failures of humanitarian aid in recent times.	15 Feb 2012	News briefs
Cyclone hits as evaluation team visits Madagascar For 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 warnings In 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
IPCC report on climate change and risk coming soon A new groundbreaking report due out next month underlines how the well-being of vulnerable, impoverished populations living in parts of the world most exposed to disasters fuelled by climate change, will be severely undermined in the coming century.	10 Feb 2012	News briefs
Panama Canal expert joins regional fight for risk reduction The dynamic new Vice-President of the National Assembly of Panama, Rony Araúz, is emerging as a leading advocate of disaster risk reduction in Central America following a career monitoring the passage of hazardous materials through the Panama Canal.	9 Feb 2012	News briefs
Awareness of risk driving Green Economy trend As world governments prepare for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June, the UN has published a practical guide "to promote a transition to an inclusive Green Economy."	8 Feb 2012	News briefs
Tsunami alert system tried and tested by Philippines earthquake The UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today extended her sympathy to the people of the Philippines on the tragic loss of life in yesterday’s earthquake. Over 50 people are reported to have died in the earthquake which was followed by over 150 aftershocks, and landslides in several places.	7 Feb 2012	Press release
January floods mark the beginning of the disaster year Floods that began in January and which continue to heap misery on communities in Africa, the Americas, Australia and the Pacific, are a strong indication that over 100 million people will again be affected by floods this year in line with long-term trends.	6 Feb 2012	News briefs