UNDRR News

A strong turn-out of government ministers and top disaster management officials will ensure high-level political engagement in key discussions at this week’s 6th Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Thailand which formally opens tomorrow.

President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has stressed the importance of mounting “a focused international effort to address the threats posed by climate change, and to build communities that are resilient in the face of disaster.”

The head of one of the world’s leading property developers today called on business enterprises to take advantage of new market opportunities in products and services that address disaster risk reduction.

This week, the city of Cetinje (population: 16,800) became the first city in the Balkan state of Montenegro to join UNISDR’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign.“Reducing disaster risk and adapting to climate change is crucial for the sustainable future of our city and community” said Cetinje Mayor Alexander Bogdanovic, at a signing ceremony. UNISDR representative, Demetrio Innocenti, stated: "Cetinje’s beauty and cultural heritage are priceless and constitute a major economic opportunity given the potential of its tourism industry. It is economically, socially and culturally vital to ensure a disaster and climate resilient future for Cetinje.

Football fans from all over the world were joined in São Paulo this week by officials representing the hopes and aspirations of 37 million people who live in 59 municipalities which are now members of UNISDR’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign.

Eighteen students at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, have just completed the university’s first-ever course on disaster risk reduction, in part as a result of Hurricane Sandy which killed at least 117 people and caused $65 billion worth of damage in the US alone.

UNISDR’s Global Education and Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction (GETI) has strengthened its partnership with Mongolia’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to mark the department’s 10th anniversary this month.

The European Commission has adopted a Communication on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making strong reference to building resilience to disasters and pointing out the need to respond to new challenges that were not sufficiently covered by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as disaster resilience and risk management.The document titled “A Decent Life for All: From Vision to Collective Action” features disaster risk reduction (DRR) as a cross-cutting issue for sustainable development within the suggested targets and priority areas because they can have a “major impact on the economy as well as on well-being and on the security of citizens, and need to be addressed in the framework in a way that does not replicate or interfere with respective international processes and agreements.

The 6th Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management closed yesterday with a call for strengthened action to prevent risk accumulation and to build resilience.

The Pacific ‘would not be where it is today’ in terms of building resilience without the influence of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (HFA), according to a review presented at the 6th Pacific Platform for Disaster Management which concluded today in Fiji.