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UN/ISDR
International Environment
House II,
7-9 Chemin de Balexert, CH 1219 Chatelaine, Geneva 10, Switzerland
New phone and fax numbers:
Tel: +41 22 917 8908/8907
Fax: +41 22 917 8964
isdr@un.org
Postal Address:
UN/ISDR
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland |
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United Nations
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Call for contribution
The UNISDR Asia & Pacific is pleased to launch a call for contribution for its annual publication on disaster risk reduction “Disaster Reduction in Asia & Pacific – ISDR Informs: Issue 4, 2008” that will be issued in March 2009 to reflect the status of disaster risk reduction in 2008 in the Asia and Pacific region. Please note that special focus will be placed in this edition on achievements, innovative approaches, projects and activities focusing on Building Resilience to Tsunami. see more |
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| Senior UN official appointed to new post on disaster risk reduction |
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17 November 2008 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a highly experienced United Nations official to a new post created to step up action and international cooperation on disaster risk reduction.
Margareta Wahlström becomes Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action in the Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). |
The new post, which is voluntarily funded and based in Geneva, has been created to step up action and international cooperation on disaster risk reduction at a time when climate change is steadily increasing the number of extreme events across the globe. The impact of disasters is on a rise.
Ms. Wahlström, a Swedish national, has 25 years of domestic and international experience in disaster management and institution-building for strengthening capacity for disaster preparedness and risk reduction. Most recently she has served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator.
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Report of the Secretary-General
Implementation of the International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction
The present report provides an overview of progress on the implementation of
the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, in response to General Assembly
resolutions 62/192, 61/199 and 61/200. It also considers trends in disasters and
disaster risks, and the development of coordination, guidance and resourcing through
the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction system. more |
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Ban Ki-Moon
The Secretary-General of United Nations
Message on the International Day for Disaster Reduction
8 October 2008
The World Disaster Reduction Campaign for 2008-2009 focuses on making “Hospitals Safe from Disasters”. When health facilities are damaged, so, too, is our ability to improve maternal and child health and to provide other essential health services. But in resilient communities, health systems are better able to withstand natural hazards. We need to mobilize society at every level to reduce risk and protect health facilities so that they can save lives. more |
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The Secretary-General called Members States to use disaster risk reduction for climate change adaptation
To help Member States find solutions to cope with climatic disasters, BAN Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, convened a ministerial meeting in New York on Monday 29th of September.
The Secretary-General called on ministers to lead the way at Poznan, Poland, in championing disaster risk reduction as a core element of climate change adaptation. He urged Governments to give high priority to implementing disaster risk reduction measures, in order to achieve the goals set by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. see more |
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The second session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Geneva, Switzerland, during the week of 15 - 19 June 2009.
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is the main global forum on disaster risk reduction. At its first session in June 2007, it brought together representatives of governments, UN agencies, regional bodies, international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector and the scientific and academic communities to raise awareness on disaster risk, to share experience and to guide the ISDR system with a view to supporting countries to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action.
www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform |
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Gender Perspectives: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into
Climate Change Adaptation - 2008
Good Practices and Lessons Learned
This publication points out the vital nexus between women’s experiences of
natural resource management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk
reduction, and how they can come together to make whole communities
strong and sustainable. It also provides inspirational case studies of rassroots
women’s leadership, and of ways to support and encourage women’s full
participation as citizens in risk reduction, climate change adaptation,
development, and disaster preparedness. The case studies also point to
practical tools for implementing gender equality and mainstreaming gender
perspectives. |
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Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction:
Good Practices and lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region 2008
Even before we came up with high technology based early warning systems, or standard operating procedures for response, numerous local communities worldwide have prepared, operated, acted, and responded to natural disasters using indigenous methods passed on from one generation to the next. The publication "Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from experiences in the Asia-pacific Region", produced with the assistance of the European Union, aims to build awareness for indigenous knowledge as an effective tool for reducing risk from natural disasters. By improving the understanding of indigenous knowledge and providing concrete examples of how it can be successfully used, this publication can help all practitioners and policy makers to consider the knowledge hold by local communities and act to integrate this wealth of knowledge into future disaster-related work. |
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Towards National Resilience -2008
Good practices of National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction”
Governments increasingly recognize the need for comprehensive multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral national coordinating mechanisms – National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction - to reduce, prevent and manage the impact of natural hazards. 45 countries have already launched National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction. Several other countries are in a process of establishing them. In an effort to inspire and support the birth of new National Platforms, and also to strengthen existing ones, the UN/ISDR secretariat launches its new publication featuring nine National Platform case studies. |
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Linking Disaster Risk Reduction
and Poverty Reduction - 2008
Good Practices and Lessons Learned
A Publication of the Global Network of
NGOs for Disaster Risk Reduction
Building on last year’s effort, this publication seeks to highlight initiatives that have successfully linked poverty reduction and disaster risk reduction in various parts of the world. It features several projects and initiatives that show how DRR can be integrated into poverty reduction (or vice-versa) to help reduce the vulnerability of the poor and protect their livelihoods and development gains. |
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Disaster Figures For 2007
2007 saw a marked increase in the number of floods compared with the average of the last seven years, and Asia was the continent hit hardest by disasters according to figures from the Belgian WHO collaborating Center for Research on epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). “Current trends are consistent with the predictions of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, in that Asia, and also West Africa are already suffering from more severe and frequent floods,” says Professor Debarati Guha-Sapir, director of CRED.
Disaster Figures 2007
Press Release
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