Update

'Children involved in disaster risk reduction today will become a new generation better prepared for disasters of tomorrow' says Dr. Nick Hall, Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser at Plan International which has sent a delegation to the Global Platform in Geneva this week...

Global Platform Highlights: On Tuesday, 10 May 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Throughout the day, participants met in high-level plenary sessions, roundtables on preparedness, nuclear emergencies, local action and wildfire risk, as well as a dialogue with parliamentarians and mayors and a briefing on the 2011 Global Assessment Report...

'Building disaster risk reduction into relief or development programmes in countries like Pakistan and supporting their ability to respond to disasters at a local level can make a huge difference' says David Peppiatt in a press release. More on disaster risk reduction at the Global Platform...

The United Nations secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) yesterday recognized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia as “UNISDR Global Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction,” at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Global Platform for Disaster Reduction.

La Niña has been blamed for the recent devastating floods that have claimed hundreds of lives and affected most of the country. However, according to the weather specialist Ricardo Lozano, preparedness measures helped to save between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Learn more about preparedness at the Global Platform this week...

Few countries have the right policies in place to manage the impact of droughts, which over the last century have claimed millions of lives, says the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2011 (GAR 2011). But this could be about to change...

The world is at defining moment in its history, where risks from climate change and growing disaster-related losses require a joint global response, said President Gjorge Ivanov of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who addressed delegates yesterday during the opening ceremony of the Global Platform.

Representatives of the finance, insurance and construction sector at the Global Platform yesterday sounded a call for action on the five essentials for business in disaster risk reduction, in line with the main finding of the United Nations Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction that losses from disasters are rising faster than gains made through economic growth.

A report released yesterday by the International Development Committee has called on 'DFID and the wider international community to pay greater attention to disaster preparedness and risk reduction', noting the potential increase of natural hazards in the years to come due to climate change. More on disaster risk reduction at the Global Platform...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for accelerated efforts to strengthen the capacity to withstand disasters across the world, saying the destruction wrought by such events can be avoided or mitigated by enhancing resilience through technology and other measures aimed at boosting preparedness...