UNDRR News

The 2013 International Day for Disaster Reduction has seen remarkable efforts by artists and the creative community at large to rally for an inclusive and resilient world.

UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, made a special plea this week for improved data collection in disaster situations in order to provide a better insight into disability-related injuries. In parallel with high-level proceedings at the United Nations General Assembly, leading disability and disaster risk reduction advocates came together in New York to share lessons from disasters past.

Why are persons with disabilities so disproportionately affected by disasters? This was the important, if often overlooked, question presented to the largest international meeting on disability issues, at the United Nations last week. The answer, simply put, is because disaster prevention measures are designed and implemented in many parts of the world without including or taking into account persons with disabilities. Often it is the attitude of viewing such persons as victims or burdens that prevents their inclusion.

UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström today welcomed a proposal that "resilient cities" should be one of ten top global priorities in the post-2015 development agenda.

Dawn Zimmer, Mayor of Hoboken, NJ (USA), is one of more than 50 Mayors from around the world who will attend the Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2013, taking place in Geneva, 19-23 May. The “Meet the Mayors” interview series aims to showcase the actions local governments participating in UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign are taking to reduce disaster risk and strengthen the resilience of their communities.

The United Nations today issued a stark warning to the world's business community that economic losses linked to disasters are "out of control" and will continue to escalate unless disaster risk management becomes a core part of business investment strategies.

Early last Saturday morning, some 1,000 residents of the city of Hoboken in New Jersey, birthplace of the legendary crooner Frank Sinatra, came out in full force and high spirits to run a special race in aid of Hurricane Sandy disaster relief in both Hoboken and its sister city Port Maria in Jamaica.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, into UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hoboken brings to four the number of US cities who have joined UNISDR's global campaign which has 1,400 adherents.

Reaching back hundreds of years to learn the lessons of history combined with the best of modern know-how is the ideal mix to build more resilient communities and nations.

The UN General Assembly confirmed that Japan will host the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015 when it passed its annual resolution yesterday on the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.