UNDRR News

The worst flooding since records began 120 years ago hit Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina over the weekend, when three months' worth of rain fell on the region, bursting river banks and revealing areas at risk that need to be addressed.

For the first time, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) held a special session on private sector contributions to the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction at the European Business Summit. UNISDR’s session, "Reducing Risks in post-2015: Contribution of the Private Sector to Building Resilience to Disasters", addressed three themes that are fundamental to the private sector: Business Opportunity, Business Continuity Management, and Access to Risk Information and Resilience Solutions. Specifically, the discussion focused on how to capitalize on and optimize incentives for disaster resilient business practices and identifying investment opportunities.

The flood-prone capital, Pristina, joined the Making Cities Resilient Campaign today, making it the first city in Kosovo to do so. Floods are a recurring problem in Pristina. The UNISDR Campaign will help bring about a higher level of awareness that there is a compelling need for investment in disaster prevention, rather than focusing on response and allocating resources to cover the damages and economic losses after a disaster strikes.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today welcomed 64 municipalities spread across Spain’s volcanic chain of seven Canary Islands into the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, which now has 1,800 adherents around the world.

A powerful State committee for safeguarding Venice will meet today in Rome for the first time in three years to consider a proposal from the Mayor of Venice and UNISDR Champion, Giorgio Orsoni, to ban large cruise ships from sailing past the city’s most famous landmarks including the Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace.

The city of Gaziantep, Turkey, officially joined the UNISDR’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign today at a special event “Making Gaziantep Resilient: My City is Getting Ready” co-organized by Turkey’s Prime Ministry, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) - Regional Office for Europe.

A major step towards implementation of a disaster risk financing framework in South Eastern Europe has been taken with the completion of a first round of training workshops on new approaches to earthquake insurance last month.

The last time a major flood threatened Ireland’s largest inland town, Clonmel Borough Council distributed 7,000 sandbags. Food packs and accommodation were prepared for evacuees. Traffic diversions were agreed. Vulnerable households were contacted by phone.

This time two years ago half of Albania was covered in snow and the country appealed for international assistance. The country and the capital Tirana (pop. 418,000) also lives with the threats of earthquakes, floods, heat waves and drought.

Mayor Giorgio Orsoni of Venice, Italy – a UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign Champion – emphasized the Cities Campaign in building resilient and adaptable cities during his speech today at the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.