Press release

Over 150 UN Member States are expected in Geneva today to negotiate the text of a new agreement on disaster and climate risk management almost ten years after the first such agreement was adopted following the Indian Ocean tsunami which claimed over 220,000 lives.

The United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and Esri today announced a new winner in the UN Global Disaster Resilience App Challenge. The competition challenged developers to create apps that support the UNISDR Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready. Guardian Evacuations—an app written by Leon Storey and Gareck Packer that gets people to their closest evacuation center during a storm—was awarded first place in the consumer/public facing category.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today said India has clearly demonstrated to the world that a “zero casualty” focus in the face of extreme weather events is both feasible and actionable following its second major success in 12 months at minimising the loss of life in the face of a severe cyclone packing winds of up to 200 kms per hour.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and HelpAge International today issued a joint call for greater involvement of older persons in disaster management efforts worldwide in order to bring down death tolls among those over 60.

A major initiative to examine climate risk stress testing for banking and securities regulation and accounting practices was unveiled at the UN Climate Summit in New York by public and private sector organisations working together in response to the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

Software developers from around the world were recognized today at the UN Climate Summit for their ingenuity in devising life-saving apps for use in reducing the impact of extreme weather events on cities and coastal communities.

As part of the build-up to the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, next March, Geneva Airport is offering passengers the chance to engage with the planet through an inter-active digital globe, the Tangible Earth, developed by the Earth Literacy Programme at Kyoto University, Japan

The 19 Arab States meeting in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, this week have made a sweeping series of recommendations for inclusion in the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction which will be adopted next March in Sendai, Japan, at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The Sharm-El-Sheikh declaration calls for a strong focus on water and food security, the effects of climate change and extreme weather events, including drought, on dry lands and arid zones which are home to two billion people around the world.

Greater Manchester today becomes the first UK city to join the UN’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign and has been recognized as a “Role Model for Total Resilience” because of its focus on implementing the Campaign’s entire ten-point checklist for building resilience to disasters.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in partnership with Help Age International, today launched a survey to solicit the views of older people on how they cope with disasters. A matching attitudes survey targeting governments and other agencies on the inclusion of older people in disaster management planning has also been placed online.