News and announcements

Approximately 10,000 rescue workers and civil servants are participating this week in a five day flood simulation exercise throughout the Netherlands in preparation for a potential hazard scenario....

We underestimate the risk and ignore the fact that the planet is threatened with 'sudden, unpredictable, and irreversible disaster,' says Steve Chu, one of the world's leading climate and energy experts....

'Developing disaster resilient communities is a key priority and this will entail working with national and international partners through ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ initiatives across all sectors' said Bishow Parajuli, UN resident coordinator....

The Federal Department of Town and Country Planning has commenced a new project to identify and map geo-hazards like floods, landslides and fires in all local council areas in Peninsular Malaysia....

'This is crucial information for improving disaster preparedness', says a physicist who coordinated the implementation of the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System in a report published by NatureNews....

The first Partnership Development Workshop under the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) South-South Cooperation Programme launches in India....

'If urgent action is not taken on the disaster risk reduction front, then we’re simply going to see more tragedies in the future,' warned John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Relief Coordinator....

Professor Martin Price, Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands (UK) takes a critical look at the consequences of climate change for mountain ecosystems...