News and announcements

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today issued the following statement welcoming the approval in Kampala, Uganda, by the IPCC member States of the Summary for Policy Makers of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will tomorrow officially recognise the appointment of the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as the first UNISDR global champion of disaster risk reduction at the 19th ASEAN summit in Bali as the region copes with the impact of record floods.

The governments of Indonesia and the US have agreed to renew a science and technology partnership to boost disaster risk reduction capacity, including disaster early warning, preparedness and mitigation...

'We believe communities have a key role to play in managing the risks they face and can reduce the impacts that could come with an increasing number of extreme weather events,' says IFRC Secretary General Bekele Geleta...

The Rim community resolved to support efforts in building the preparedness of member states in dealing with disasters in the region — an area regularly devastated by cyclones, monsoon floods and other natural disasters...

A new account for 'preparation for natural disasters' will be added to the state budget, according to a draft law prepared by the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry, in a bid to strengthen buildings and infrastructure in Turkey against 'natural' disasters...

'Before, we focused on preventing damage from disaster. The idea still holds but the tsunami taught us that this can be 'overruled' by a major disaster,' said Yoshio Ando, counselor of the Secretariat for the Reconstruction Headquarters in Tokyo...

Expertos italianos comparten con sus homólogos de República Dominicana, la experiencia de esa nación en la implementación de sistemas de prevención de desastres y gestión de riesgos de inundaciones...