UNDRR News

Reporters from main TV, radio and print media organisations in Georgia met over the weekend to discuss reporting on disasters as part of a growing global effort to improve disaster risk communication as called for in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted earlier this year.

Singapore and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) have teamed up to strengthen the disaster risk management capacity of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other countries that are on the front line of climate change.

The 15,000 people of the Cook Islands, who inhabit 15 islands spread across an area of Pacific Ocean the size of Saudi Arabia, know from experience that a stronger and coordinated approach to disaster risk governance reduces distance and builds resilience.

Building local disaster resilience is a matter of survival for the people of Tokelau, whose sole link to the rest of the world is a fortnightly boat service that takes 24 hours to their nearest neighbor, Samoa.

The Lord Mayor of Cyclone-hit Port Vila says the word ‘resilience’ now carries real meaning on the streets of the Vanuatu capital, an achievement he cites as one of the proudest of his time in office.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction represents a ‘groundbreaking’ agreement that sets a new benchmark in efforts to strengthen inclusion.

The Pacific region today recommended the development of national and regional targets and indicators as a key element to the successful implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today opened the 2015 Pacific Regional Disaster Resilience Meeting amidst fears that El Niño will result in more extreme weather events across the hazard-prone region of small islands and atolls.

The Pacific region today was urged to use its respected voice on the global stage to rally against complacency over the mounting level of disaster and climate related risk.

A high level disaster resilience forum in the Pacific next week will have added importance as concerns grow over the potential impact on the region of this year’s El Niño.