UNDRR News

It is truly humbling to see how easily we are fooled by nature but we can also draw hard-won insights from the defeats caused by earthquakes. We used to think that the age and speed of a subducting slab governs its maximum earthquake magnitude but the Great East Japan Earthquake forever puts to rest that view.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström, today praised the social cohesion and community solidarity which she observed during a two-day visit to Emilia Romagna where 13,000 people continue to live in tented camps and other emergency accommodation following two severe earthquakes in May.

UNISDR chief Margareta Wahlström today congratulated Switzerland for getting ready to face the consequences of a major earthquake even if the last one happened over 1,000 years ago.

UNISDR's "Making Cities Resilient" campaign received a significant boost today with the announcement that the Ibero-American Union of Municipalities (Unión Iberoamericana de Municipalistas (UIM) is now an official campaign partner.

Earthquake and flood-prone Arborg, Iceland, a member of the 'Making Cities Resilient' campaign, is boosting the preparedness of its new twin -- the Palestinian city of Jericho -- starting with a four-week crash course on disaster management that begins today.

The Mayor of Bonn, Jürgen Nimptsch, who helped launch the "Making Cities Resilient" campaign two years ago is now urging mayors around the world to get involved in the UNISDR-led consultations taking place on a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

A new survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, shows that 68% of cities are pursuing adaption planning for climate change but "only 7 per cent of cities surveyed believe that their national governments fully understand the realities of adaptation planning at the local level."

The UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for disaster risk reduction, Margareta Wahlström, has urged governments to commit resources to building national disaster loss data bases so they can better target spending on infrastructure to avoid recurring losses and damages.

UNISDR today backed a newly launched project from the European Commission, Adaptation Strategies for European Cities, designed to provide capacity building and support for European cities in developing and implementing an adaptation strategy for climate change.

The Mayor of the fabled city of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, has been chosen by UNISDR as Europe's first Champion of Urban Resilience in recognition of his efforts to build resilience to disasters and protect cultural heritage.