Press release

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today welcomed 64 municipalities spread across Spain’s volcanic chain of seven Canary Islands into the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, which now has 1,800 adherents around the world.

GENEVA, 2 April 2014 – The Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today praised the prompt action of the Chilean government in issuing a timely tsunami warning in response to last night’s earthquake and the orderly evacuation of thousands of people out of harm’s way.

Experts from all over Africa, including government ministers, will meet in Abuja, Nigeria, 13-16 May 2014, to discuss the challenges that the warming continent is experiencing because of climate change and other risk drivers. Last year, 37 countries in the region experienced at least one major disaster event including droughts, floods and heat waves, affecting millions.

The 130th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union has concluded by urging its 164 member Parliaments to enhance their oversight role in reducing the impact and risk of disasters and “to take immediate action to review existing legislation related to disaster risk reduction.” The Assembly adopted a resolution on risk resilient development which stresses that “reducing disaster risk and protecting people’s lives are the legal responsibility of all public representatives.”

Bangkok/Geneva, 13 March 2014 – Some 3,000 experts including government ministers from 50 Asian countries are to meet in Bangkok, to discuss the disaster-prone region’s final inputs into a new global agreement on disaster risk reduction to replace the existing Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)...

GENEVA, 11 March 2014 – The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) is working with IBM (NYSE: IBM), and global planning, design and engineering firm AECOM to measure cities’ resilience to disasters.

The Philippines today publically committed to be a role model for safe schools and deliver a strong message to the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 on the importance of protecting school children and students in their education environment.

Mayor Giorgio Orsoni of Venice, Italy – a UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign Champion – emphasized the Cities Campaign in building resilient and adaptable cities during his speech today at the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed Russia’s declared intention of using its G8 Presidency to promote integrated disaster risk management and to focus the world’s major economies on cooperation in developing a new global agreement on disaster risk reduction to succeed the existing Hyogo Framework for Action which expires in March 2015. Ms. Wahlström said: “Russia’s G8 Presidency could be a major turning point in the struggle to gain political commitment to reducing exposure to disaster events worldwide and speeding up implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Economic losses from disasters are out of control and the timing is right for the G8 members to take concrete measures to mitigate climate change and to reduce the risk of major disaster events such as floods and earthquakes which disrupt the lives of over 200 million people every year.” At a meeting of the Gaidar Forum in Moscow last week, the Russian G8 Sherpa, Alexei Kvasov, said the core objectives of the Russian G8 Presidency will include global management of natural and man-made disaster risks along with global health security, the fights against drugs and global terrorism. He said the motto of Russia’s G8 Presidency is “Managing risks for sustainable growth in a secure world.” Ms. Wahlström said UNISDR and its partners look forward to contributing to the success of the Russian G8 Presidency and building on expressions of support at previous G8 Summits for implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.

UNDRR has teamed up with the global insurance industry to propose a major new approach to catastrophe risk financing for the PH in advance of this year’s typhoon season as the country continues to deal with the economic fall-out of $13 billion in losses.