UNDRR News

The African Centre for Disaster Studies, supported by UNISDR, held a short course on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation from 15 to 19 February at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus in South Africa.

ECOWAS and UNISDR regional office for Africa, with the support of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), organized a three-day training workshop on mitigating disaster risk to improve the resilience of West African states against disasters. The training enabled government officials and disaster risk reduction practitioners to understand the role of hazard assessment, risk analysis and vulnerability mapping in reducing the impact of natural hazards as well as how ISDR partners can support their efforts at national and sub-regional levels in West Africa.

Rachel Shebesh, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Kenya and Chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction, was appointed today as the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction champion for disaster risk reduction in Africa during the launch of the Black and Green, Ready to Lead campaign that took place at the Pan-African Parliament in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The global event of the 2009 International Day for Disaster Reduction was staged at the Royal Marsden Hospital, which was severely damaged by a fire in early 2008. The meeting gathered more than 120 participants from all stakeholder groups and was hosted by the UK Health Protection Agency in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). View full story Related links 2009 International Day for Disaster Reduction Programme of global event in London incl. slides of presentations Video recording of the London event Opening Remarks by Sir John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (delivered by Helena Molin Valdés, Deputy Director UNISDR)

The biannual campaign for ‘Hospitals safe from Disasters’ was widely promoted in Nairobi Kenya as part of the celebration of the 2009 International Day for Disaster Reduction. The event took place in the August 7th Memorial Park of Nairobi, the former site of the US Embassy that was bombed in 1998 which is also a public place to develop awareness. The event was organized by the Kenya Ministry of Special Programmes, Kenya Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, Medics 24 and hospitals in coordination with the Memorial Park administration, UNISDR, UNOCHA and WHO. Among the participants were civil society, universities, practitioners and public were present. View full story

The second session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was held from 16 to 19 June in Geneva, Switzerland and attracted approximately 152 governments, 137 organizations, and 1688 delegates. Africa alone accounted for more than 160 participants with a government delegation of over 40 countries including high-ranking government and political leaders. View full story

The event themed “Accelerate progress in implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and the Africa Regional Strategy for DRR” was organized by the Commission of the African Union (AUC) and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) have the pleasure to announce the Second Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Consultative Meeting scheduled from 5 to 7 May 2009 at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, Kenya.

A five-day meeting was held from 1st to 5th of December in Nairobi, Kenya, - under the auspices of the African Union Commission (AUC) and with the support of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) - bringing together the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), National Focal Points on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), regional technical institutions, UN agencies and the World Bank.

A four day workshop was held between the 14 th and 17 th of April in Dakar, Senegal bringing together DRR focal points from over 30 countries in Sub Saharan Africa including government officials (National Platform/HFA Focal Points/Ministry of Finance senior members), World Bank and UNDP staff, African Union representatives, African Development Bank staff and DRR partner institutions/civil society/academic institutions.