UNDRR News

Montenegro today became the 27 th country in Europe to launch a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, a key step towards implementing the world’s first global blueprint for reducing disaster risk, the Hyogo Framework for Action.

Kamnik has become the first town in the Balkan state of Slovenia to join UNISDR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign. An event last week to mark the move brought together representatives from national and local authorities, and dozens of firefighter volunteers.

A new cross-border multi-hazard early warning system will be developed in the Western Balkans and Turkey to increase resilience to floods, landslides, droughts and heat-waves which often hit the region and to build on the lessons learnt from the devastating floods of May 2014.

The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, today called for a change in “the global mind-set towards disaster risk reduction” as she was confirmed as a Champion of Disaster Risk Reduction by UNISDR.

The recurrence of flooding, one of Europe’s most persistent natural hazards, presents both a challenge and an opportunity when it comes to disaster reduction, a conference heard on Wednesday.

The 5th European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) closed today with a strong call for joint action to face the common challenges of climate change, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction.

Scientists can, and should, play a greater role in the international effort to reduce the prevalence and impact of disasters, Margareta Wahlström, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNISDR told a conference.

The European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) today presented the mayor of the Spanish town of Lorca with the Damir Čemerin award for his work in caring for the elderly, and promoting disaster reduction awareness, following a devastating earthquake in 2011.

Host Spain told the 5th annual European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) today that it had a great opportunity to influence the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

Following devastating floods and landslides earlier this year affecting over one million people, a major regional insurance conference opens today in Belgrade to highlight the benefits that disaster risk financing can bring to a region where there is a growing culture of disaster risk reduction through implementation of the priorities laid out in the Hyogo Framework for Action.