UNDRR News

GENEVA, 14 July 2014 - Indicators for the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction need to show what is happening locally as well as globally, the Preparatory Committee of the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction heard today...

The private sector and farmers took the stage today at preparatory talks on a new global framework for disaster risk reduction which are open to major groups from civil society as well as governments.

Preparations for the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction gathered momentum today as more than 600 government representatives and experts from around the world convened in Geneva for the First Session of an Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee.

A new review of disaster losses from 1970 to 2012 released today sets the stage for next week’s intergovernmental discussions on a new global framework for disaster risk reduction hosted in Geneva by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

This week’s European Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction has made a series of recommendations for the Post-2015 Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction in advance of next week’s Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meetings in Geneva which will produce the first draft.

Efforts to ensure political commitment to a new global agreement on reducing disaster losses have received a major boost as representatives from 40 European countries agreed to a series of sweeping recommendations designed to build resilience to disasters. Europe experienced over 40 major disaster events last year affecting millions. Major flood and hailstorm events generated $25 billion in economic losses.

Figures released today show that for the fourth consecutive year, direct economic losses from major reported disasters have exceeded $100 billion. It has happened on seven occasions since 2004 including the last four years: 2010 ($138 bn), 2011 ($371 bn), 2012 ($138 bn) and 2013 ($116 bn). Some 315 disasters killed 22,000 people in 2013 and affected 95 million.

Next week’s intergovernmental meeting (PrepCom) in Geneva is a major milestone on the road to Sendai, Japan, where the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction will convene in March, 2015, to adopt a new global agreement on reducing disaster risk, the head of UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström, said today.

China has succeeded in keeping its direct economic losses from disasters to within a target of 1.5% of GDP for three consecutive years, according to a new film which celebrates the country’s achievements in implementing the five priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the global blueprint for reducing disaster losses adopted in 2005 by all UN member States.

The major push for disaster-safe schools in the Kyrgyz Republic perfectly illustrates how good risk information can focus political will and help direct resources towards reducing underlying risk factors (in line with Priority 4 of the Hyogo Framework for Action, the global agreement on reducing disaster risk).