tsunami

UN conference adopts 10-year plan to tackle natural hazards

23 January 2005
The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction – a long-planned event which gained added importance in the wake of the recent Indian Ocean tsunami – has concluded in Kobe, Japan, with countries pledging to reduce the risks facing millions of people who are exposed to natural calamities.
Tsunami destruction on Indonesian coast

Tsunami's damage to Indonesia's environment pegged at $675 million, UN agency reports

21 January 2005
Beyond the horrific loss of human life, the recent Indian Ocean tsunami extensively damaged Indonesia's coastal environment, causing $675 million in losses to natural habitats and important ecosystem functions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported today.
Tsunami wreckage

Heavy rains hamper UN tsunami relief in temporary camps in Indonesia

20 January 2005
Even as relief distribution improves in Indonesia, the region most ravaged by last month's Indian Ocean tsunami, a particularly heavy rainy season is worsening conditions in temporary settlements and hampering the delivery of supplies, especially by road, the United Nations reported today.

UN agencies look to longer-term rehabilitation after Indian Ocean tsunami

19 January 2005
With emergency relief now reaching nearly all affected communities in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the area most ravaged by last month’s Indian Ocean tsunami, United Nations agencies are looking to mitigate the longer term impact of a disaster that killed at least 165,000 in a dozen countries and deprived up to 5 million more of basic services.
Kevin Kennedy updates the press

Tsunami devastation in Indonesia 'truly staggering', UN teams find

18 January 2005
As the United Nations General Assembly held a plenary session in New York today on the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, teams in the field painted a "truly staggering" picture of "enormous devastation" and the "enormous extent of human suffering" in Sumatra, Indonesia, the area the most ravaged by last month's disaster.

Tsunami early warning system moves to centre stage at UN meeting this week

17 January 2005
The establishment of a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean, which experts say could have saved scores of thousands of lives in the recent catastrophe, moves into sharper focus this week as United Nations agencies continue to grapple with relief efforts for the present and preventive measures for the future.
UNEP chief Klaus Toepfer

UN environment chief calls for Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system

15 January 2005
An international disaster reduction conference set to open next week in Japan should serve to forge agreement on a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today.

UN calls for empowering women to address tsunami’s gender-specific needs

14 January 2005
The Indian Ocean tsunami may have made no distinction between men and women in the grim death toll it reaped with its waves but it has produced some very gender-specific after-shocks, ranging from women’s traditional role in caring for the sick to increased cases of rape and abuse, a United Nations agency reported today.

WHO stresses need to keep bird flu out of tsunami relief food

14 January 2005
With a fourth new human case of potentially deadly bird flu confirmed in Viet Nam, the United Nations health agency has called for ensuring that infected poultry is kept out of the food chain, including emergency food relief supplies for the region devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Bellamy briefs press on her visit to area

Nearly 3 weeks after tsunami, relief effort going 'reasonably well' - UN officials

14 January 2005
Nearly three weeks after a massive tsunami devastated a dozen Indian Ocean countries, top United Nations officials today said relief operations were going reasonably well, called reports of child exploitation exaggerated, and hammered home the urgent need for an early warning system to save thousands of lives in the future.