UNDRR News

Even by the standards of one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the August floods which hit Manila and other parts of the Philippines have been devastating. Latest reports indicate that four million people have been affected and as many as one million people are living with relatives or in evacuation centres.

Following 12 days of rains brought on by seasonal southwest monsoons, there are signs that the chronic floods which have submerged 50 percent of Manila as well as nearby areas are abating.

A series of radio and television commercials aimed at educating and sensitizing millions of viewers in the Philippines about disaster risk reduction have just begun airing throughout the disaster prone south-east Asian nation.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Cities Scientific Development Alliance (WCSDA) today announced the launch of the Resilient Cities Award to recognize excellence in land use planning and design and other activities that help protect communities from the impacts of natural hazards.

Makati City in the Philippines has scooped an award for an innovative city-to-city learning partnership between Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

The Mayor of Mashad, Seyed Mohammad Pezhman, is leading a major push for more Iranian cities to join UNISDR's "Making Cities Resilient" campaign as ten cities from disaster-prone Khorasan Razavi Province in north-eastern Iran signed up to the campaign yesterday.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Margareta Wahlström today said Google and other providers of information can make an important contribution to raising awareness about disaster risk reduction in disaster-prone countries.

The Indonesian government today announced details of the Fifth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which it will host in October as the region counts the cost of record-breaking disaster losses over the last year. Indonesia made disaster risk reduction a national priority following the 2004 Asian tsunami.

The Philippines Pampanga River Basin which floods once a year and provides 90% of the domestic water supply to the capital Manila, is the focus of a meeting convened today by UNISDR Champion, Senator Loren Legarda, to assist local government units in risk reduction.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, has just visited the site of a major reconstruction programme which is about to start in the earthquake-devastated centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.