UNDRR News

International Day for Disaster Reduction on October 13 will see the launch of a major awareness raising initiative in Australia on the role that gender plays in disasters and how improved understanding can help reduce the numbers of people affected by disasters, the theme of this year’s International Day.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today expressed his sincere condolences to the people and government of Mexico on the tragic loss of life from the September 19 earthquake.

Two years ago this month, Tropical Storm Erika, dumped an enormous quantity of rain on the small island of Dominica in the Caribbean.

Mexico has been working to improve its early warning systems and disaster risk management for over three decades. There are few countries in the world resilient enough to respond to a hurricane and the strongest earthquake in a century, accompanied by a tsunami threat, all within hours of each other. Such was the challenge that confronted Mexico last week.

The head of UNISDR, Mr. Robert Glasser, today issued a strongly worded statement in response to the unprecedented volume of extreme weather events unfolding around the world this week.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser today extended his condolences to the people of the US State of Texas for the loss of life in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey which has affected millions along the coastline.

Until recently it has been well understood that the main drivers of weather-related disasters were increased exposure and vulnerability due to poverty, the breakneck pace of urbanization in low and middle income countries, population growth, the destruction of protective eco-systems and low institutional capacity to manage disaster risk.

Rapid urbanisation and climate change are major drivers of the many forest fires which continue to sweep across parts of southern Europe claiming many lives and causing significant economic losses, according to a leading expert.

ULAANBAATAR, 4 August 2017 – UNISDR’s newest Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction has called upon youth leaders from around the world to make a bigger contribution to global efforts towards sustainable and resilient development.

International disaster prevention advocate Senator Loren Legarda has called for a strengthening of the resilience of critical infrastructure, in the wake of a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit Leyte in her homeland the Philippines last week.