UNDRR News

Disaster risk reduction is at the center of a raft of commitments and actions in the outcome document officially adopted today at the conclusion of the four days of the International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa. The outcome document is titled SAMOA – SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action – Pathway.

“I am not a leading expert but a leading victim in the issue of climate change. Sea level rise is already happening and what is happening in my island, it is not only a problem for all SIDS but for all of us as more than 75 per cent of the world population lives close to coastal areas,” said Anote Tong, President of Kiribati, when he opened the second Stakeholder Partnership dialogue on Climate Change and Disaster Management yesterday at the UN Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Samoa.

The need for animals to be included in disaster risk management planning was highlighted yesterday at the International Conference on Small Island Developing States which heard an appeal for them to be included in the revised Hyogo Framework for Action, the international framework for disaster risk reduction.

The private sector is set to have a major impact on the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which opened in Samoa on the 1st of September, with a strong focus on how to reduce the exposure of 52 million island dwellers to future disaster events amplified by climate change.

The Chilean town of Peňaflor is celebrating this week. A local NGO born out of the 2010 earthquake and tsunami has scooped the prestigious Risk Award at the 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference in Davos, Switzerland, which ends tomorrow.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in partnership with Help Age International, today launched a survey to solicit the views of older people on how they cope with disasters. A matching attitudes survey targeting governments and other agencies on the inclusion of older people in disaster management planning has also been placed online.

The clock is ticking for developers to meet the Global Disaster Resilience App Challenge that is set to benefit millions of urban dwellers around the world.

With the addition of Aguas da Prata, Brazil, 2,000 cities worldwide are now enrolled in the Global Campaign “Making Cities Resilient: My City is getting Ready!" promoted by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). About 25% of the cities are located in the Americas, and approximately 11% (226) of all cities are situated in Brazil...

Early warning has been credited with saving the lives of several residents during this week’s earthquake in Yunnan Province.

Zara Tonoyan is passionate about her work to make Armenian schoolchildren and their classrooms safer from disaster.