UNDRR News

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.

A group of Cuban students has won an international prize awarded to budding architects who deploy their talents to reduce the risk of disasters.

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.

Argentina has rolled out a new plan to ensure that the interests of people with disabilities are part of its efforts to tackle disaster risk, an inclusive approach that reflects the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Volunteers in Nicaragua are deploying the graphic power of comics to spread the message that disasters are not natural but a result of the collective failure of communities to cope with hazards.

Disaster risk reduction needs to be a key component of development in order to secure sustainable results, UNISDR’s head Ms. Margareta Wahlström told a key meeting in Central America, one the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world.

Central American countries are driving forward to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a global pact which focuses strongly on regional cooperation and the incorporation of integrated disaster risk management within existing national development priorities and policies.

Moves to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction have received a boost from international funding to help Caribbean governments achieve the goal of making communities more resilient in the face of natural hazards.

Latin American and Caribbean countries have etched the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction into a regional declaration that sets out their common position ahead of a key United Nations humanitarian summit next year.

The United Nations has unveiled a multimedia application that showcases the work done to help Santiago de Cuba to recover from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which lashed the island’s second-largest province in October 2012.