UNDRR News

Joseph Deiss, President of the General Assembly said DRR was crucial for protecting progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and for achieving sustainable development, at the GA Thematic Debate on DRR on 9 February. Throughout the day, he and other participants called for the enhancement of data collection and the scaling-up of investments in education, better urban planning, the sharing of information and technology, and the raising of awareness, especially to ensure that specific disasters and the needs of victims, remained high on the international agenda long after they had dropped from the news headlines.

Building on last year’s UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations General Assembly will convene on Wednesday its first thematic debate on disaster risk reduction to encourage governments to take action and invest more in reducing risk and exposure to disasters. The one-day UN debate on disaster risk reduction is being organized under the auspices of the office of UN General Assembly President Joseph Deiss, with support from UNISDR.

The province of Tyrol and all its 279 municipalities joined the Making Cities Resilient campaign, with the City of Lienz taking the lead. Tyrol follows an innovative approach to disaster risk reduction: Between 2010 and 2013, each municipality will hold expert-led workshops in order to prepare a comprehensive risk portfolio following a standardized methodology. Tyrol will share its extensive disaster risk reduction knowledge in the context of the campaign.

North-eastern Australia suffered no casualties after Cyclone Yasi, which UNISDR says was due to a high level of risk awareness and planning, rather than a “miracle,” as some call it. Tropical Cyclone Yasi crossed the Australian mainland at midnight local time on Wednesday, but despite its category-5 strength, there were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities, according to a situation update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

This briefing note highlights that climate change adaptation relies on the reduction and management of climate-related disaster risks and why both need to become central to development planning and investment. It incorporates evidence that illustrates how climate risks are constructed and which risks can be reduced cost effectively.

Geneva – Some 373 disasters killed over 296,800 people in 2010, affecting nearly 208 million others and costing nearly US$110 billion, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). The top two most lethal disasters -- the

Geneva – Some 373 natural disasters killed over 296,800 people in 2010, affecting nearly 208 million others and costing nearly US$110 billion, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). The top two most lethal disasters -- the 12 January earthquake in Haiti, which killed over 222,500 people, as well as the Russian heat wave in summer, which caused about 56,000 fatalities made 2010 the deadliest years in at least two decades.

Some 102 Municipal leaders in the State of Orissa battling with recurrent cyclones, floods, droughts and heat waves agreed today to make their cities more resilient to multiple hazards, by signing up to the UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient” campaign. Orissa, despite being one of the poorest states in India, is slowly becoming the hub for industries, IT, education and medical infrastructure.

UNICEF MENARO is currently researching and developing a pilot mechanism for securing disaster risk reduction expertise for UNICEF projects and programmes. The UNICEF Pool of DRR Experts is designed to initially support UNICEF's DRR initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Should the pilot be successful, UNICEF hopes that such a pool of talent is of value to all DRR actors, not only in MENA but ultimately at the global scale.

In a message from Helena Molin Valdes, Deputy Director of UNISDR, all campaign cities and partners are encouraged to submit a nomination for the UN-Sasakawa award to highlight good practice and achievements against as many of the "ten essentials" for making cities resilient as possible.