UNDRR News

UNISDR Briefing note 2 This note reports on examples of recent experience in eight countries where national and local governments and civil society participants have worked to strengthen their disaster risk reduction and adaptation actions. These cases

More than 90 world experts have assembled today in Panama City to start a new assessment on how climate change will affect disaster risks in future and how countries can better manage the expected increases in damaging weather events due to climate change. The meeting is being convened by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which decided in April 2009 to prepare a new IPCC Special Report called: “Managing the Risk of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation”. The assessment was proposed by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the government of Norway in response to the predictions in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report that more frequent and severe extreme events such as droughts, floods, storms, heat waves were likely in the future warmer world. View full story

UNISDR, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery of the World Bank, UNDP Syria and the Syrian Ministry for Local Administration convened a regional workshop on Urban Risk Reduction in Damascus on 4-5 November 2009. More than forty participants representing local authorities, researchers, academic experts, international and regional organizations have gathered to discuss regional priorities and challenges with respect to urban risk reduction as well as key actions to be undertaken regionally, nationally and locally to build safer cities and increase resilience to disasters. View full story

The “2009 UNISDR Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction” has been jointly published in Chinese, Japanese and Korean by the Cabinet Office of Japan (CAO), the National Emergency Management Agency of Korea (NEMA) and UNISDR . It was officially launched on

The launch of the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR), prepared by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, took place yesterday, 28 October 2009, in the urban village of Barangay Nangka, Marikina City, one of the Metro Manila cities severely affected by floods. The report highlights the underlying drivers of disaster risk; poor urban governance, vulnerable rural livelihood and the decline of ecosystems. View full story

Rachel Shebesh, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Kenya and Chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction, was appointed today as the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction champion for disaster risk reduction in Africa during the launch of the Black and Green, Ready to Lead campaign that took place at the Pan-African Parliament in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Global experts and policy makers working on disaster risk reduction begin discussions today at the 2009 Stockholm Policy Forum on Climate-Smart Disaster Risk Reduction. The Forum aims to address the issue of reducing risks associated with weather-related hazards, a key component of climate change adaptation. The Forum will also identify promising practices and critical actions for post-Copenhagen implementation of adaptation. View full story

A new climate change law that fully integrates the priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action – a ten-year blueprint for reducing risks to disasters worldwide - has been passed today by the Philippine Government to address increasing climatic risks.

UNISDR-lead advocacy results in recognition of crucial synergies between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation N’Djamena- Parliamentarians and Ministers from Central African countries met in Chad last Saturday and recognized disaster risk reduction measures as a main tool to adapt to future climate related disasters that are already affecting many countries in Africa.

Katmandu - A new disaster risk reduction initiative for Nepal was launched by a consortium of partners that comprises the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, other United Nations organizations, the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to mark the 2009 International Day for Disaster Reduction. View full story