Press release

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today issued a warning that a lack of safe drinking water is emerging as a major natural hazard for many small islands in the Pacific.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) challenges are becoming greater every year. It is well known and understood by all disciplines in disaster prevention that previously unidentified threats are emerging, changes in technology are rendering formerly state-of-the-art systems obsolete or less effective, and migration patterns are causing population shifts to increasingly hazard-prone areas. However, despite the goal posts moving constantly, consistent progress is being made in efforts to reduce damage and losses inflicted by disasters on people, their communities and livelihoods. This is one of the findings of the European Regional HFA Implementation Report, launched today during the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland.

On the opening day of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mayors and local government representatives took part in an open debate on ‘Disaster Risk Reduction Measures at the local level in South Eastern Europe”. Floods, droughts and forest fires – all of which are cross-border hazards – are the main risks in South Eastern Europe, and projections indicate that climate change and variations could lead to more frequent and severe disasters related to weather, water and climate in the region.

The three-day 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, attended by a record 3,500 people and representatives from 172 governments, ended today with a call for "the immediate start of work to develop targets and indicators to monitor the reduction of risk" in the Chair's Summary at the closing plenary.

Details were announced today of the 2014 RISK Award -- "Disaster Emergency -- Resilience for the Most Vulnerable" and a call was made for applications for the Award which includes a grant of €100,000 for a project in disaster emergency planning which focuses on the most vulnerable. The deadline for applications is 31 December 2013.

Since the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, 146 countries have reported on their efforts to implement the sweeping reforms contained in the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) which was adopted by all UN member States in the wake of that catastrophe which took over 200,000 lives.

Two of the world's most disaster-prone countries, Bangladesh and Brazil, today shared the biennial UN-Sasakawa Award which was presented to the laureates by the Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, in the presence of the sponsor and chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa.

Representatives from 35 governments who met with business executives and senior experts at the 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, have issued a call "to develop nationally agreed standards for hazard risk assessments especially of critical infrastructure (including schools, health centers, electricity and water supply systems, nodal ITC centres, road and transport systems) by 2015."

A global gathering which will prove critical for the future of reducing risk from disasters opened to a record attendance today with many expressions of sympathy to the people of Oklahoma City over the loss of life caused yesterday by a deadly tornado that damaged schools and took many lives including those of at least 20 school children.

The United Nations today issued a stark warning to the world's business community that economic losses linked to disasters are "out of control" and will continue to escalate unless disaster risk management becomes a core part of business investment strategies.