UNDRR News

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) have the pleasure to announce the Second Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Consultative Meeting scheduled from 5 to 7 May 2009 at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, Kenya.

The 6.3-magnitude quake that struck Italy early this morning is confirmation, once again that Europe is not immune from powerful earthquakes. The intensity of the Italian earthquake was 6.3 on the Richter scale comparable to the May 2006 earthquake in Indonesia island of Java, which killed more than 5000 people in the city of Yogyakarta.

WHO's theme for World Health Day 2009 is "Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies", reinforcing the message of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 'Hospitals safe from disasters', being led by UNISDR, WHO and the World Bank from 2008-2009.

The first meeting of the IAP in 2009 will focus on preparations for the Second Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, which will be held in Geneva Switzerland in June 2009.

Recommendations on climate-related hazards, and sectoral and national level planning, are available in a summary of a recent UNFCCC technical workshop on disaster risk. The workshop looked at integrating climate risk assessment and management and disaster risk reduction into national policies and programmes.

"Europe suffers significantly from disasters in both human and economic terms. Among them, European Union countries have chalked up major losses due to climate related disasters in the last decades and have already faced major storms and severe winter conditions since January this year" said today the Belgian WHO collaborating Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in a joint press conference with the Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

The UNISDR and WHO are inviting submissions from all stakeholders on good practices and lessons learned on making 'Hospitals Safe from Disasters'...

2008 saw a marked increase in the number of deaths and economic losses compared to the 2000-2007 yearly average, according to the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) which released the new figures today in Geneva at a joint press conference with UNISDR.

The UNISDR calls for nominations of individuals and institutions from around the world who have contributed to building the resilience of nations and communities to natural hazards through innovative practices and outstanding initiatives...

At the instigation of Senator Loren Legarda, UNISDR's regional disaster risk reduction champion for the Asia Pacific, the Philippines Senate have set up a Committee on Climate Change which will be tasked with climate and disaster risk management.