News

49 Items

Title	Date	Type
Cities to help create Post-HFA framework The Mayor of Bonn, Jürgen Nimptsch, who helped launch the "Making Cities Resilient" campaign two years ago is now urging mayors around the world to get involved in the UNISDR-led consultations taking place on a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.	15 May 2012	News briefs
Cities 'going it alone' on climate change adaptation A new survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, shows that 68% of cities are pursuing adaption planning for climate change but "only 7 per cent of cities surveyed believe that their national governments fully understand the realities of adaptation planning at the local level."	14 May 2012	News briefs
IPCC climate change report gets European launch The UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for disaster risk reduction, Margareta Wahlström, has urged governments to commit resources to building national disaster loss data bases so they can better target spending on infrastructure to avoid recurring losses and damages.	11 May 2012	News briefs
UNISDR backs European cities climate adaptation project UNISDR today backed a newly launched project from the European Commission, Adaptation Strategies for European Cities, designed to provide capacity building and support for European cities in developing and implementing an adaptation strategy for climate change.	3 May 2012	News briefs
Mayor says Venice will be an icon of resilience The Mayor of the fabled city of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, has been chosen by UNISDR as Europe's first Champion of Urban Resilience in recognition of his efforts to build resilience to disasters and protect cultural heritage.	28 Mar 2012	News briefs
Risk reduction promise at World Water Forum Prevention and response to water-related disasters and crises are high on agenda at this week's Sixth World Water Forum which has resulted in a Ministerial Declaration that "we intend to develop and strengthen national and trans-boundary disaster prevention and response strategies."	16 Mar 2012	News briefs
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
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
Third International Conference on Safety and Security 'Resilient citizens in a resilient society' - Address by Margareta Wahlström I am honoured to have been invited to share the UN experience and perspective on risk, risk management and risk reduction on the occasion of the third International Conference on National Safety and Security.	6 Feb 2012	Statements & speeches
France developing 'culture of risk prevention' Speaking at France’s first-ever conference on hazards, the UN disaster risk reduction chief, Margareta Wahlström, yesterday commended the French government for its efforts to implement disaster risk reduction nationally, saying that the country could be a model for others in Europe.	20 Jan 2012	News briefs
Assises Nationales des Risques Naturels - Address by Margareta Wahlström I am honoured to have been invited to to share the United Nations’ perspective on risk, risk management and risk reduction on the occasion of the important discussions that the “Assises Nationales des Risques Naturels” represent in the French political agenda.	19 Jan 2012	Statements & speeches
Swedish National Platform boosts Resilient Cities Campaign “In Sweden we have legislation that requires our communities, municipalities to work with a lot of aspects that are in the ‘ten essentials’ of the Making Cities Resilient campaign,” said Janet Edwards, International Coordinator of the Swedish National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the body that brings together institutions in the country whose work touches on disaster risk reduction.	17 Jan 2012	News briefs
Campaign cities share ideas for protecting world’s ancient sites Byblos, with its ancient port dating back 5,000 years, is dotted with Phoenician, Roman and medieval ruins along the waterfront that municipal authorities now fear are in danger from sea storms.	4 Jan 2012	News briefs
Alpine cities feel heat from climate change In Tyrol, Austria, a poster showing a green valley with snow-capped mountains in the distance greeted delegates to a conference on climate change – a beautiful summer scene which hides a potential nightmare scenario for winter tourism in the alps.	29 Nov 2011	News briefs
Kristianstad inspires with flood protection measures The municipality of Kristianstad in Southern Sweden, one of over a thousand cities that have now joined UNISDR’s World Disaster Reduction Campaign (2010-2015) - Making Cities Resilient: "My city is getting ready" was recently awarded role model status by UNISDR.	22 Nov 2011	News briefs
Vulnerability to Natural Hazards Rising Rapidly in Europe Vulnerability to natural hazards is rapidly on the increase in Europe, UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, told the Second Annual European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) yesterday in Skopje, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.	11 Oct 2011	News briefs
Disaster risk reduction increasingly central to UN-EU partnership The UN-EU Partnerships Report for 2010 highlights the increasingly important role of disaster risk reduction in the joint activities of the United Nations and the European Union. The report was released following the opening of the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 September.	22 Sep 2011	News briefs
32 Cities across Serbia join World Disaster Reduction Campaign, as work continues to establish a National Platform Serbia has taken a major step towards establishing a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction with the announcement that 32 Serbian cities have now formally joined the World Disaster Reduction Campaign – Making Cities Resilient: 'My city is getting ready!'	14 Sep 2011	News briefs
Equal priority is needed to strengthen policies on disaster response and prevention says European Commissioner Recognizing the political importance and impact of recent disasters, UNISDR and the European Parliament organized a debate "Prevent or react: The EU approach to Disaster Risk Reduction" to discuss the European Union's approach to disaster prevention.	14 Jun 2011	News briefs
Making Cities Resilient on the agenda at the 20th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe On 22nd until 24th March the 20th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg to discuss issues including City Safety and the ISDR Making cities resilient 'my city is getting ready' world disaster reduction Campaign.	30 Mar 2011	News briefs
Cities in Italy to join the “Making Cities Resilient” campaign, just as UNISDR launches Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action In an official ceremony today, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, and the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, officially marked their cities’ participation in the United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready!” which involves over 600 cities worldwide. The Mayor of Milan, too, has officially declared her willingness to join the campaign.	9 Mar 2011	Press release
The province of Tyrol, Austria, and all its 279 municipalities join the Making Cities Resilient campaign The province of Tyrol and all its 279 municipalities joined the Making Cities Resilient campaign, with the City of Lienz taking the lead. Tyrol follows an innovative approach to disaster risk reduction: Between 2010 and 2013, each municipality will hold expert-led workshops in order to prepare a comprehensive risk portfolio following a standardized methodology. Tyrol will share its extensive disaster risk reduction knowledge in the context of the campaign.	7 Feb 2011	News briefs
Strengthening climate change adaptation through effective disaster risk reduction This briefing note highlights that climate change adaptation relies on the reduction and management of climate-related disaster risks and why both need to become central to development planning and investment. It incorporates evidence that illustrates how climate risks are constructed and which risks can be reduced cost effectively.	2 Feb 2011	News briefs
Campaign cities and partners urged to nominate candidates for the UN-Sasakawa award In a message from Helena Molin Valdes, Deputy Director of UNISDR, all campaign cities and partners are encouraged to submit a nomination for the UN-Sasakawa award to highlight good practice and achievements against as many of the "ten essentials" for making cities resilient as possible.	17 Jan 2011	News briefs
Covering disasters from a DRR perspective National media organizations play an important role in promoting national disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. They need to know about disaster risk reduction and to establish contact with their national disaster risk reduction representatives who can provide them with accurate and timely information. To support this, UNISDR, Thomson Reuters Foundation, UNRIC and ECHO, are organizing a two-day media training in Brussels from 15 to 16 November 2010 with ten media organizations and national platform representatives from European countries.	15 Nov 2010	News briefs
Call for good practices and lessons learned for the “Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready!” campaign UNISDR is launching a call for "good practices" and lessons learned by cities/local governments in support of the "Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready!" campaign. Selected examples will be published by the end of 2011, and others will be showcased during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction on 8-13 May 2011.	9 Nov 2010	News briefs
Call for nominations for the 2011 Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction From promoting women’s empowerment in Indonesia, to teaching architects to build structures resilient against hurricanes and earthquakes, the Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction has helped fund innovative disaster reduction work by a range of professionals from geologists to engineers for the past 23 years. Nominations are now open for the 2011 Sasakawa Award to be given to an individual or organization for outstanding and internationally recognized action that contributes to building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters.	25 Oct 2010	News briefs
2010 International Day for Disaster Reduction This year's theme: My City is Getting Ready! To mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction, the UNISDR secretariat is calling on its partners to play a more active role to protect cities against disasters. Many cities have been disrupted this year by disasters: earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and New Zealand; floods and heavy rainfalls in Pakistan, Eastern Europe, Mozambique and other parts of Africa; forest fires in Russia; and volcanic eruptions in Indonesia and Iceland. All have caused huge human suffering and economic damage. Cities have never been so at risk.	12 Oct 2010	Press release
Parliamentarians urged to take action on disaster reduction The Inter-Parliamentary Union passed a resolution, which calls on their governments to provide adequate and accessible resources to support the UN in developing a parliamentary programme on disaster risk reduction that focuses on mitigation, prevention and preparedness and UN agencies involved in providing disaster assistance. UNISDR, the UN’s agency for disaster risk reduction, is calling on international lawmakers to take action on disaster risk reduction as a means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and adapt to climate change.	7 Oct 2010	Press release