disasters

Gilles Carbonnier.
UN

“No doubt” aid saves lives and increases protection for civilians

21 September 2016
General News

Aid has saved lives and increased protection for civilians trapped in conflict, according to a Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Audio -
Robert Glasser.
UN Radio/C. Garcia

“Resisting human nature” in order to reduce disaster risk

9 June 2016
General News

“Resisting human nature” is necessary to plan for and reduce the risk of disasters.

That’s according to Robert Glasser, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR.

Audio -
Frederick Stevenson.
UN Radio/D.Dickinson

St Vincent & Grenadines “resilient” but needs international support

9 June 2016
General News

The people of St Vincent & the Grenadines are “resilient” to disasters but need international support to ensure that damage caused by natural catastrophes is kept to a minimum.

Audio -
Damage assessment being undertaken following the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the coast of Ecuador on 16 April 2016.
WFP

Efforts underway to reduce 100m total affected by disasters

6 June 2016
General News

Efforts are underway by the UN to drastically reduce the number of people who are affected by natural and man-made disasters from the 100 million who suffered last year.

Those people include more than 50 million who faced drought.

Audio -
In Yogyakarta, Indonesia, women at a community meeting discuss the reconstruction of their village in the wake of the 2006 tsunami and earthquake.
World Bank/Nugroho Nurdikiawan Sunjoyo

More women, girls die during disasters than men

6 March 2016
General News

More women than men died during the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Cyclone Gorki in Bangladesh, UN human rights monitors have heard.

Audio -
Flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia.
World Bank/Farhana Asnap

Disaster risk reduction ‘core development priority’ of Asia and the Pacific – UN regional body

30 October 2015
Building resilience in the face of natural disasters is “not a choice, but rather a collective imperative,” the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) declared today, as it called on all government agencies to take on disaster risk reduction as a priority and make it an integral part of sustainable development in the region.
Searching for survivors in the aftermath of the devasting earthquake in China (16 May 2008)

UN-backed forum ends with call to halve deaths from disasters by 2015

19 June 2009
A United Nations-backed disaster risk reduction forum wrapped up in Geneva today with a call to political leaders to take steps to cut in half by 2015 the number of deaths from natural hazards.
Sálvano Briceño

Learn the serious through play: UN launches children’s video game on disaster reduction

1 March 2007
From raging wildfires, devastating floods and towering tsunamis to roaring hurricanes and cataclysmic earthquakes, children can now learn how to respond to and mitigate disasters through a new internet video game launched today by the United Nations, the latest in a series of such UN web tools.
Jan Egeland briefs journlists

UN report spotlights ways to reduce potential devastation of natural disasters

14 July 2004
As the frequency of natural disasters rises, along with the number of people around the world whose lives and homes are at serious risk, the United Nations has launched a report highlighting 100 examples of how people are taking steps to make their communities less vulnerable when a catastrophe strikes.

Millions of natural disaster deaths could be averted by better preparedness – UN

3 February 2004
With billions of people in more than 100 countries facing at least one earthquake, cyclone, flood or drought during their lifetimes, millions of lives could be saved if developing countries did more to anticipate and reduce the risks from natural disasters, according to a new United Nations report.