Press release

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will tomorrow officially recognise the appointment of the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as the first UNISDR global champion of disaster risk reduction at the 19th ASEAN summit in Bali as the region copes with the impact of record floods.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today announced that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, is to work with its partners over the next four years on developing a global disaster risk model which will provide the best information available on likely economic losses as climate change kicks in.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), The World Bank, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) are convening the “ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Forum” to help ASEAN Member States build greater financial resilience to natural disasters.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, is in China today for a first round of consultations on disaster risk reduction with entrepreneurs and business people.

The tragic loss of life in yesterday’s earthquake in the Ercis region of Turkey and the reported collapse of almost 1,000 buildings underlines the importance of providing the right incentives and information to builders and owners in the world’s most dangerous earthquake zones, says UNISDR, the UN office for disaster reduction.

The floods which have affected eight million people across South East Asia, and which now threaten Bangkok, have underlined shortcomings in disaster risk reduction with many children drowning because they cannot swim, and thousands of workers now unemployed because of poorly located manufacturing plants, the Head of the UN’s Bangkok Office for Disaster Reduction, UNISDR, Jerry Velasquez said today.

UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the news that both the Lebanese Army and the National Institute of Administration, the country’s civil service, are to make disaster risk reduction a core element of staff training.

The new Government of Myanmar intends to adopt the disaster risk reduction plan that was drawn up after Cyclone Nargis two years ago following a series of meetings with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström.

The UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, today marked International Disaster Reduction Day with a call for children and young people to be empowered and engaged in disaster risk reduction as the group most affected by disasters each year.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, arrived in Myanmar today at the invitation of the government, on a three-day visit during which she will engage with senior Government Ministers on a national action plan for disaster risk reduction and a Disaster Management Law.