UNDRR News

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.

UNISDR welcomes the report of the Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) as an innovative and critical contribution to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of international cooperation frameworks for the delivery of aid. The analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the multilateral system is very interesting and reiterates familiar issues, particularly on the perceived weaknesses; some of which require solutions that are not always possible for organizations in isolation.

In an official ceremony today, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, and the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, officially marked their cities’ participation in the United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready!” which involves over 600 cities worldwide. The Mayor of Milan, too, has officially declared her willingness to join the campaign.