Press release

The head of UNDRR, Margareta Wahlström, today described the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano which claimed 25,000 lives in Colombia on November 13, 1985, as “a major turning point in the history of disaster risk management.”

The newly launched UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, ARISE, received a major boost today as 12 leading companies in the Philippines joined the global effort to ensure the private sector puts disaster risk information at the heart of investment strategies.

The Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today opened the 2015 Pacific Regional Disaster Resilience Meeting amidst fears that El Niño will result in more extreme weather events across the hazard-prone region of small islands and atolls.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today praised the Philippines for its successful efforts to reduce mortality and the numbers of people affected by the latest typhoon to sweep across the country despite tidal surges, heavy rains, floods and landslides.

Retrofitting all schools and better protecting tourist infrastructure are two urgent priorities to rebuild a safer Nepal, according to a new report released today that evaluates the damage caused by the twin earthquakes that hit the Kathmandu Valley on 25 April 2015, killing 8,800 people and destroying half a million houses and 50,000 classrooms.

Eight communities living with the threat of floods, storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were today recognised as Champions of Disaster Risk Reduction by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today marked the anniversary of the 7.8 Pakistan earthquake which killed 19,000 schoolchildren and their teachers with a call for more countries to join the new Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today said that urban areas must invest more in reducing the risk from flash floods such as those which have claimed hundreds of lives in Guatemala, South Carolina in the US and the south of France in recent days.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today congratulated the Chilean government on its successful efforts to reduce disaster risk and minimise the number of casualties from the 8.3 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which occurred last night.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today extended her condolences to the people of the small island state of Dominica as they enter a second day of national mourning for the 31 people who have died and the 35 reported missing in the wake of a tropical storm which arrived with little or no warning.