UNDRR News

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today discussed with the Bangladesh Government the country's huge shortfall in cyclone shelters and the protection of the country's coastline from rising sea-levels at the start of a three day mission to Bangladesh where the cyclone season starts on April 1.

The Mayor of the fabled city of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, has been chosen by UNISDR as Europe's first Champion of Urban Resilience in recognition of his efforts to build resilience to disasters and protect cultural heritage.

Kokusai Kogyo is one of several Japanese companies bound to the government by a bond called saigai kyotei, a service agreement activated by the occurrence of an emergency.

Disasters and climate related catastrophes are increasing the dangers facing children today such as child trafficking, according to a recent report by Najat Maalla M'jid, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The newly formed Group of Friends for Disaster Risk Reduction this week launched a powerful photo exhibition at the UN in New York to coincide with the opening of the so-called "informal-informal" negotiations leading up to the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today urged people to think about how much water they will be responsible for using today on World Water Day.

Mayors and other representatives from some of Asia's largest cities are gathering for three days in Manila to focus on urban resilience across the disaster-prone region.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today launched a new report by Development Initiatives which highlights major discrepancies in the way that donors allocate funding for disaster risk reduction despite economic losses of over one trillion dollars from disasters so far this century.

The 2,000 year-old Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a UNESCO world heritage site often described as the 8th Wonder of the World. Their preservation is at the heart of an environmental campaign launched last weekend by UNISDR's Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Champion, Senator Loren Legarda.

Prevention and response to water-related disasters and crises are high on agenda at this week's Sixth World Water Forum which has resulted in a Ministerial Declaration that "we intend to develop and strengthen national and trans-boundary disaster prevention and response strategies."