The 16-year-old United Nations disaster response system reached its 1,000th deployment this year, with the dispatch of experts to the storm-battered Philippines.
More than three quarters of those people who died in disasters this year lost their lives to extreme weather events, which caused nearly $15 billion in damages worldwide, the top United Nations official on disaster risk reduction announced today.
Among those keeping a close eye on the outcome of next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen is the head of the United Nations body dealing with disaster risk reduction, who has seen first-hand the devastation wrought by increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters aggravated by climate change.
Better utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) to prepare for and deal with catastrophic natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region is the focus of a United Nations meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, today.
With Asia being the world’s most vulnerable place for natural disasters, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need for boosting efforts across the continent to prepare for catastrophes before they occur.
Disaster risk reduction measures must be strengthened to increase the resilience of hospitals and schools, according to a joint call issued today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
United Nations agencies and their partners are assisting the Government of Afghanistan in responding to flash floods, landslides and earthquakes which have struck various parts of the country in recent days, killing at least 15 people and leaving thousands homeless.
Wrapping up a visit to China today, the top United Nations relief official praised the East Asian nation’s disaster preparedness and recovery efforts as the first anniversary of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake neared.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sadness over the heavy loss of life in this morning’s earthquake in central Italy, with the United Nations having alerted the European nation’s Government that it is prepared to provide disaster response support.
Nations in Asia and the Pacific – the world’s most disaster-prone region – will bolster their cooperation to share information on disaster risk reduction, a new United Nations-backed commission has agreed.
