UNDRR News

The latest news from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the lead UN agency for the coordination of disaster risk reduction.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean

Update

Mayors call for protection of heritage sites from disasters

Mayors from the 250-member strong Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) have called for member cities to include protection of cultural heritage in disaster risk management plans as set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
The President of Mexico, Mr. Enrique Peña Nieto, (right) with the head of UNISDR, Ms. Margareta Wahlstrom, at the National Civil Protection Awards ceremony in Mexico City in September. (Photo: UNISDR)
Update

How Mexico handled Patricia

Ten days ago, the news broke that “the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere” was about to slam into the Pacific coastline of Mexico.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
Walter Cotte, International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Ricardo Mena, UNISDR deliver “Giant Riskland” to young people from indigenous communities and the Panamanian Institute for Special Education (IPHE). (Photo: UNISDR)
Update

Knowledge for life among Colombia’s Nasa people

The resilience of the Nasa indigenous community in Colombia has been recognized 21 years after they lost over 1,000 people in a flood and earthquake which struck on June 6, 1994.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
This year's International Day for Disaster Reduction highlights the value of traditional, indigenous and local knowledge in disaster risk reduction.
Update

Knowledge recovery in Nicaragua

An important effort is being made in a disaster prone area of Nicaragua to create understanding and awareness of how indigenous people cope with natural hazards by tapping into their ancestral store of knowledge and keeping it alive.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
A gathering at the seek bank in El Solis, Guatemala. The community deploys local knowledge of biodiversity to reduce disaster risk and supports International Day for Disaster Reduction. (Photo: UNISDR)
Update

Banking seeds in a brutal climate

The tiny community of El Solís in rural Guatemala is tapping into its local knowledge on biodiversity and maintaining a native seeds bank to help it cope with drought, food insecurity and climate change.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
from left to right, At the National Civil Protection Awards in Mexico, Sergio Almazan, Founder and President of Project Chema Tierra, President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, and head of UNISDR, Margareta Wahlstrom.
Update

Mexico marks 30 years of progress

GENEVA, September 21, 2015 - The head of UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström, praised Mexico for its commitment to reducing disaster losses and avoiding the creation of new risk, during talks with the government and in a speech to mark the 30th anniversary of the deadly 1985 earthquake on Saturday.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
Mexico City marks the 30th anniversary of the 1985 earthquake with the launch of a new Seismic Warning System. (Photo: UNISDR)
Update

Mexico’s new seismic warning system

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, will take part tomorrow in the 30th anniversary commemoration of the earthquake which struck Mexico City on September 19, 1985.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR, met with Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, last year to discuss the country's disaster risk reduction efforts following two earthquakes (Photo: UNISDR)
Press release

Chile's investment in disaster risk reduction pays off

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today congratulated the Chilean government on its successful efforts to reduce disaster risk and minimise the number of casualties from the 8.3 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which occurred last night.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
The award-winning ‘Rescate de Cayo Granma’ project
Update

Cuban students win DRR design award

A group of Cuban students has won an international prize awarded to budding architects who deploy their talents to reduce the risk of disasters.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
Participants in the 2nd Regional Conference for the Exchange of Information in Civil and Military Operations for Disaster Risk Management, held in the Colombian capital Bogota (Photo: Colombian Civil Defense)
Update

Americas experts commit to Sendai Framework

Experts from the Americas have pledged to spur moves to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year global plan that aims to rein in mortality and losses caused by natural and man-made hazards.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean

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