UNDRR News

In a part of the world struggling with climate-related hazards such as drought and flood, experts are meeting to discuss ways for Africa to cope with disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Addressing participants at the opening of the International Conference on Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, Abbas Gullet, Secretary-General of the Kenya Red Cross Society, said that climate-related hazards had far-reaching impacts on the Kenyan economy.

Kisumu, Kenya – Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya will join the UNISDR-led campaign “Making Cities Resilient -- My city is getting ready!” at a ceremony on 8 December, adding to the list of over 150 other municipalities worldwide. Kisumu is the leading communication and trading centre for countries of the Great Lakes Region that includes Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Like many cities in Africa, Kisumu is vulnerable to risks brought by climate change, which coupled with rapid urban growth, will pose mounting challenges for the local government as it seeks to protect citizens from disaster.

ADDIS ABABA -- Delegates of the the 11th Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa) in Addis Ababa, November 14-15, 2010 closed the meeting on a high note confirming that they will strengthen their efforts to deliver as one for the AU and its NEPAD Programme. Key presentations focused on the need for the RCM, cluster and sub-clusters to be more result and impact oriented. Clusters were requested to develop programmes in consultation with the AUC and RECs based on their priorities and programmes. The participants also recommended to improve interaction among the AU Departments and inter-cluster relation especially on some cross-cutting issues.

High level officials from the UN, African Union Commission (AUC), NEPAD Coordinating and Planning Agency (NPCA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other international, regional and sub-regional organizations will meet in Addis Ababa on 14-15 November for the 11th session of the regional coordination mechanism (RCM- Africa). > View full story

Investors in partnership with UNISDR held an Entrepreneurial Finance Seminar on 25 October to provide Kenyan entrepreneurs with training on capital formation options in the over-the-counter market in the United States. > View full story

Nairobi is one of the latest cities to join the World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient - My city is getting ready!” The signing in ceremony was led by Pedro Basabe, Head of the UNISDR Regional Office for Africa and it took place on 13 October during the celebration of International Day for Disaster Reduction at the Korogocho informal settlements. > View full story

Tackling urban risk is everybody's business -- from national to local governments, community groups, professional associations and the international community -- and will help reduce poverty, said an UNISDR official today at the global launch of the World Disasters Report 2010 in Nairobi, published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The report’s focus on urban risk coincides with the theme of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign "Making cities resilient- My city is getting ready!", which was launched by UNISDR and partners last May in Bonn, Germany.

Maputo (Mozambique) and Overstrand Municipality (South Africa) are the latest local governments to join the World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient - My city is getting ready!” The signing ceremony took place yesterday at the campaign launch held by the United Nations secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) with its partners UNHABITAT at the Planning Africa 2010 conference, in Durban, South Africa. > View full story

On 25 to 26 August, the UNISDR Regional Office for Africa is holding a pilot workshop on “Training of Trainers” in the Rift Valley Province to test a toolkit to “train trainers” in disaster risk reduction. “The outcome of this training will create a super highway for spreading hazard and disaster risk reduction information to local communities, thereby increasing their knowledgebase and consequently their resilience to natural disasters,” said Pedro Basabe, Head of the UNISDR Regional Office for Africa. Expected to attend are 30 Disaster Risk Reduction platform members from the provinces, and five regional participants from Burundi, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Kenya. > View full story

The extended Africa Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction was adopted by African ministers. The ministers were among more than 280 participants from 42 African countries who gathered at the Second Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction that took place from 14 to 16 April 2010 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya in parallel to the First Ministerial Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa . The ministers also adopted the Declaration of the Second Africa Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. > View full story