Latest additions to the knowledge base

Randolph Kent, head of the Humanitarian Futures programme at King's College, London said 'Countries should [...] give the authority to the UN Secretary-General to issue an annual 'State of Humanitarian Preparedness', identifying the vulnerable communities.'...

The African Centre for Technology Studies is a three-year project to assist communities to adapt to climate change and share lessons learned from project activities with key stakeholders at local, national, regional and international levels and to elicit their support for climate change adaptation...

FAO irrigation and drainage paper no. 64.

This manual has been prepared to help practitioners design and construct small earth dams in rural areas. It has been designed specifically for engineers, technicians and extension workers involved in agriculture

This illustrated reference for school facilities planners and designers shows examples of seismic retrofitting of junior and senior high school buildings in two prefectures and their performance in earthquakes. Detailed examples of seismic retrofit In

Environment experts are saying that widespread deforestation, the transformation of wetlands into agricultural land and disregard for natural drainage systems are more directly to blame for the severity of the devastating floods than climate change, reports the Pakistan-based Dawn Media Group...

'Ramping up the amount of money we spend to help vulnerable populations prepare for disasters before they strike will result in substantial savings over the long term – both financial and in terms of loss of human life' says Alice Thomas, climate displacement programme manager for Refugees International...

Scientists are warning that under the effect of climate change the Murray-Darling Basin, which produces half of Australia's fresh produce, is drying up, reports the UK-based Independent. 'Australia is extremely vulnerable. Global warming is going to have an extraordinarily detrimental effect on us...'

'We must transform our efforts to prevent disasters before they occur...And in several countries impacted – even as we see the disaster in Pakistan...stronger building codes, warning systems, official emergency response systems have genuinely reduced the possibility that a natural hazard, like a hurricane, will become a full-blown disaster...'