UNDRR News

Cairo. – The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the world’s foremost gathering of disaster risk reduction stakeholders, will convene from 8 to 13 May in Geneva. The Arab region will be represented by over 100 participants from 21 countries. A governmental delegation from Egypt will attend this event as well as the Information and Decision Support Center (ISDC), the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport and the Regional Center for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Third Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction Global Platform, to be held from 10 to 13 May in Geneva, is being organized to discuss and decide on immediate actions that will reduce the economic cost of damage from disasters. UNISDR and the Swiss government invite all media based in Geneva to attend a press conference where they will be briefed on the Global Platforms's expected outcomes.

As part of the 124th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, a meeting was organized on the importance of disaster risk reduction and building sustainable development. Held from 15 to 20 of April in Panama City, the panel was moderated by Maureen Ballestero Vargas, former Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.

The cities of Blumenau, Jaragua do Sul, Rio do Sul, Itajaí, Tubarão and Florianopolis from the southern state of Santa Catarina, Brazil joined the Making Cities Resilient world disaster reduction campaign. Santa Catarina is in an area constantly hit by hydrometeorological phenomena that impact negatively on its population, the participation of these cities in the campaign is very relevant and demonstrates the political commitment of its authorities towards disaster risk reduction.

Four cities - Addis Ababa, Kampala, Narok and Yaoundé - joined the Making Cities Resilience campaign after their mayors took part in a debate on city resilience on Tuesday, 29 March, moderated by top Kenyan journalist Yvonne Okwara. Panellists pointed to poor planning, corruption, and “negative attitudes” as elements that could erode city resilience.

The inaugural meeting of the reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (AWGDRR) ended on Thursday, 31 March, with delegates agreeing to accelerate the implementation of the extended programme of action for the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (2006-2015), in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).The meeting took place after the Executive Council of the African Union had endorsed the Report of the Second African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in April 2010, where it also endorsed the extended programme of action.

On 22nd until 24th March the 20th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg to discuss issues including City Safety and the ISDR Making cities resilient 'my city is getting ready' world disaster reduction Campaign.

The Thai Government today launched the “One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals” initiative in Bangkok, promising to make safety a priority at 43,004 schools and hospitals. In recent years, intense disasters with increasing frequency has affected Thailand including "one of the worst natural calamities" to hit the country. In October and November 2010, a series of flash floods killed more than a hundred people and affected six million in 38 provinces. Thousands of students were forced to evacuate their schools, with more than a thousand schools reportedly damaged.

Several high-level African delegates will attend the inaugural meeting of the Reconstituted African Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction in Nairobi, Kenya from 29 - 31 March 2011. The meeting follows the endorsement of the Report of the Second African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction by the Executive Council of the African Union. This inaugural meeting will agree on the Terms of Reference of the Group as well as the Africa position paper to be presented during the Third Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2011.

Speaking to UN Radio, two of the UN's top officials on disaster reduction weigh in on the devastation caused by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that struck northeastern Japan on Friday and triggered a tsunami that engulfed coastal towns and cities along Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. In the interviews, they highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction and Japan's disaster preparedness.