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UNISDR report finds African towns struggling with disaster management A 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
UNISDR Chief visits Sandy-affected communities Current estimates are that Hurricane Sandy may be the most expensive storm to have hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina with the final bill possibly reaching $50 billion. Last weekend, Margareta Wahlström, Chief of UNISDR, visited Hurricane Sandy affected areas in New York and New Jersey.	21 Nov 2012	News briefs
Djibouti joins growing ranks of Making Cities Resilient Campaign Djibouti's capital has joined 1,284 cities around the world who have signed up to UNISDR's World Disaster Reduction Campaign -- Making Cities Resilient-My City is getting ready.	21 Nov 2012	News briefs
Planners go Seoul gazing Seoul's Cheong Gye Cheon, a once polluted river now restored to its former glory, captured the attention of development planners and disaster managers meeting here this week for a Leadership Forum at UNISDR's Global Education and Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction.	8 Nov 2012	News briefs
Government officials debate planning challenges When it comes to critical infrastructure governments are increasingly aware of the role of disaster risk reduction in planning, and the value of applying the priorities for action in the Hyogo Framework for Action when it comes to protecting their investments.	6 Nov 2012	News briefs
Hurricane Sandy underlines global threat of climate change and more extreme events says UNISDR Margareta Wahlström, the UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, today said that the economic losses inflicted on the US and Caribbean island states by Hurricane Sandy underlined the growing threat posed by extreme natural hazards to the world economy.	31 Oct 2012	Press release
UNISDR declares tsunami-hit Sendai campaign role model UNISDR today recognized Sendai, the largest city in Japan's tsunami-struck region of Tohoku, as a role model for the Making Cities Resilient Campaign for "promoting community-based disaster risk reduction and empowering people to act on disaster risk reduction."	9 Oct 2012	News briefs
IDDR 2012 - Putting women and girls on the map On 13 October, the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) will be an occasion to pay tribute to millions of girls and women around the world who are on the frontline making their communities and societies resilient to the impacts of disasters and the effects of climate change.	5 Oct 2012	News briefs
World's Future Prosperity linked to Disaster Resilience, says New Report A new report by UN-Habitat links the world's future prosperity to the ability of cities to reduce risk and build resilience to adverse forces of nature.	28 Sep 2012	News briefs
Surge of support for cities campaign in Lebanon A total of 249 municipalities from Lebanon have now officially joined the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, a global initiative led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk reduction (UNISDR) to protect cities and vital infrastructure.	13 Sep 2012	News briefs
Guangzhou announces urban innovation awards One of China's fastest growing cities, Guangzhou, announced yesterday at the World Urban Forum that it is joining UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign and also invited applications for the new Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation.	5 Sep 2012	News briefs
World Urban Forum recognises Italian support for UN Global Cities Campaign There was a special ceremony today at the World Urban Forum to mark Italy’s strong participation in the two-year-old Making Cities Resilient Campaign with a formal signing ceremony for nine cities from the Basilicata Region and the commune of Bomporto which was severely damaged by the recent Emilia-Romagna earthquake.	5 Sep 2012	Press release
Study identifies political leadership as No 1 issue in managing disaster risk A new study of a major urban safety campaign launched by the UN two years ago has found that political leadership is more important than a city's wealth when it comes to protecting the lives and economic assets of cities and towns from disasters.	4 Sep 2012	Press release
Australian capital gets UN recognition as a role model city for disaster management Flash floods, bush fires, severe thunderstorms and even snowfalls have resulted in the Australian capital, Canberra, developing organization and coordination mechanisms for disaster risk reduction which have led to it being recognized today by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) as a Role Model for other cities to follow.	4 Sep 2012	Press release
Gothenburg becomes 400th European city to join UN campaign to protect cities The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today welcomed Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg, into the global "Making Cities Resilient" Campaign, a two-year old campaign to protect lives and reduce economic losses from disasters in urban settings.	4 Sep 2012	Press release
UN-HABITAT and UNISDR sign MoU to mark closer ties for building resilient cities The Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Dr. Joan Clos, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and chief of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, signed a Statement of Cooperation today, strengthening collaboration between the two agencies' efforts to promote disaster resilient cities.	4 Sep 2012	News briefs
Urbanization 'like a tsunami' for some countries At the opening of the 6th World Urban Forum in Naples today, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Joan Clos, said many countries were being overwhelmed by urbanization which he compared to a tsunami.	3 Sep 2012	News briefs
Community resilience tops Davos agenda Major roll-outs of UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient campaign in Austria and Iran were outlined yesterday at the 4th International Disaster and Risk Conference, in Davos, Switzerland, which has brought together experts from around the world.	29 Aug 2012	News briefs
Call for better planning in wake of Manila floods Even by the standards of one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the August floods which hit Manila and other parts of the Philippines have been devastating. Latest reports indicate that four million people have been affected and as many as one million people are living with relatives or in evacuation centres.	23 Aug 2012	News briefs
UNDP to double its support for disaster reduction UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark, said today the agency intends to double its overall support for disaster reduction over the next five years and will add five countries per year to the "growing list of countries on track to becoming champions in disaster resilience."	15 Aug 2012	News briefs
Unplanned urbanization increasing flood impacts Following 12 days of rains brought on by seasonal southwest monsoons, there are signs that the chronic floods which have submerged 50 percent of Manila as well as nearby areas are abating.	9 Aug 2012	News briefs
UNISDR and China launch new urban resilience award The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Cities Scientific Development Alliance (WCSDA) today announced the launch of the Resilient Cities Award to recognize excellence in land use planning and design and other activities that help protect communities from the impacts of natural hazards.	26 Jul 2012	News briefs
Sendai City joins UNISDR Cities Campaign Some of the most dramatic images of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami came from Sendai City where tsunami waves travelled up to 10 km inland resulting in many deaths, flooding of the airport and the sweeping away of cars and airplanes.	25 Jul 2012	News briefs
Cities campaign expands in Dominican Republic Panama, 23 July 2012 - Concern about earthquakes and tsunamis brought together 33 Mayors in the Dominican Republic this month to express their support for the UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient” campaign and to demand budgetary support from central government for disaster risk reduction measures in their cities and towns.	23 Jul 2012	News briefs
UNISDR reports on record-breaking year UNISDR's 2011 Annual Report is now available online and reveals that its two landmark Global Assessment Reports on Disaster Risk Reduction Reports (GAR) for 2009 and 2011, have had over 200,000 chapter downloads over the last three years.	18 Jul 2012	News briefs
Makati City scoops award for city-to-city learning Makati City in the Philippines has scooped an award for an innovative city-to-city learning partnership between Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.	13 Jul 2012	News briefs
Governor Ido talks about lessons from Hyogo Governor Toshizo Ido runs Japan's Hyogo Prefecture which has become synonymous with disaster risk reduction. Hyogo Prefecture, home to 29 cities, was tragically thrust into the limelight in 1995 when it was hit by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake which caused great destruction and the loss of 6,300 lives mainly in Kobe, Awaji and Takarazuka. Over 40,000 people were injured.	9 Jul 2012	News briefs
Ten Iranian cities join UNISDR Campaign The Mayor of Mashad, Seyed Mohammad Pezhman, is leading a major push for more Iranian cities to join UNISDR's "Making Cities Resilient" campaign as ten cities from disaster-prone Khorasan Razavi Province in north-eastern Iran signed up to the campaign yesterday.	5 Jul 2012	News briefs
Land management key to US wildfire problem The two largest and most destructive forest fires in Colorado’s history yesterday prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to issue a disaster declaration for the state.	29 Jun 2012	News briefs
Rio’s call to action on disaster risk reduction The largest UN summit ever organized closes today with an urgent worldwide call for accelerated implementation of the international blueprint for disaster risk reduction agreed by all UN member States seven years ago.	22 Jun 2012	News briefs