UNDRR News

East African countries have reached a landmark in their efforts to curb the impact of natural and man-made hazards, by enacting regional legislation on the management and reduction of disaster risk.

This week last year the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was preparing to adopt the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction on March 18, 2014. The new head of UNISDR, Mr. Robert Glasser, has just paid his first visit to Sendai.

The Bangkok Principles were agreed today at the conclusion of the first international conference on the health aspects of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction which was attended by government officials from 54 countries.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today attended the fifth anniversary memorial service for those who lost their lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The Sendai Framework aims to achieve a substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health. It is fully aligned with the International Health Regulations, which aim to help the international community prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Health Organization today issued an appeal for national disaster management agencies to develop their preparedness and response capacities to include health emergencies alongside earthquakes, floods and storms as a top priority.

Delegates from across Africa have met to identify the continent’s priorities for sustainable urban development, addressing a critical component of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Women play an important role in advancing disaster risk reduction policies and we want to see more of them engaged in disaster management,” Mr. Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, said today, as the world marks International Women’s Day.

Five years after it was devastated by two major earthquakes, Christchurch, New Zealand, is continuing its transformation into one of the world’s most resilient cities with much to share with other urban centers on how to reduce disaster risk in an earthquake zone. UNISDR head, Mr. Robert Glasser, had a briefing today from government minister and Christchurch MP, Ms. NickyWagner.

Australia could see its annual disaster bill rise nearly fourfold by 2050, with the cost of social impacts such as stress-related illness playing a significant role, two reports commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities warn.