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Monday, May 13, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
UNDP Unveils Blueprint for Swift, Unified Crisis Response
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced a new 10-year global plan to support country efforts to reduce the risk of disasters that kill people and destroy livelihoods. The plan was unveiled at the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which ended on Mar. 18.
Key to Preventing Disasters Lies in Understanding Them
The Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction concluded on Wednesday after a long drawn-out round of final negotiations, with representatives of 187 U.N. member states finally agreeing on what is being described as a far-reaching new framework for the next 15 years: 2015-2030.
UNDP Assistant Administrator Izumi Nakamitsu Explains What the Crisis Response Unit Does
IPS Editor in Chief Ramesh Jaura talked to UNDP Assistant Administrator Izumi Nakamitsu, Director of the Crisis Response Unit in Sendai, Japan, at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) on 17 March 2015, to learn what the Unit is tasked with, the challenges the U.N. Development Programme is facing and its role in disaster risk reduction. The conference concluded 18 March 2015 declaring the participants' determination "to enhance efforts to strengthen disaster risk reduction to reduce disaster losses of lives and assets worldwide". 
UNISDR’s Margareta Wahlström on the Nitty-gritty of Disaster Risk Reduction
IPS Editor in Chief Ramesh Jaura talked to Margareta Wahlström - head of UNISDR, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General - in Sendai, Japan, at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) from 14 to 18 March 2015, exploring the outcome of the conference and its implication for funding and transfer of technology, the future of official development assistance (ODA) and the crucial role of the civil society in general and faith-based organisations in particular in reducing disaster risk.
Sendai Conference Stresses Importance of Women’s Leadership
Women play a critical role in reducing disaster risk and planning and decision-making during and after disasters strike, according to senior United Nations, government and civil society representatives.
Ebola, Women and Disaster Risk Reduction
UNFPA's Liberia representative Remi Sogunro talks to IPS News Agency, explaining the importance of Disaster Risk Reduction strategies to address epidemics such as Ebola and keep women's concerns on top. Sogunro was taking part in the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, from 14 to 18 March 2015.
Cyclone Pam Prompts Action for Vanuatu at Sendai Conference
Cyclone Pam has not only caused unprecedented damages to the Pacific island of Vanuatu but also lent urgency to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s plea that disaster risk reduction is in “everybody’s interest”.
Sendai Conference to Move From Managing Disasters to Risk Prevention
As the world inched towards a crucial United Nations Conference in Sendai, Japan, Margareta Wahlström, head of the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), assured that there was “general agreement” on the need to “move from managing disasters to managing disaster risk”.
Feeding a Warmer, Riskier World
Artificial meat. Indoor aquaculture. Vertical farms. Irrigation drones. Once the realm of science fiction, these things are now fact. Food production is going high tech – at least, in some places.Natural Disasters Cost Asia-Pacific 60 Billion Dollars, 6,000 Lives in 2014
Natural disasters in Asian and Pacific nations cost almost 60 billion dollars and killed 6,000 people in 2014.China, India, to Train Asia-Pacific Officials On Disaster Risk Management
China and India will train government officials in the Asia-Pacific region on how to incorporate disaster management into national planning and finance measures.
Community Resilience Tops U.N.’s Disaster Relief Agenda
The Bangkok Declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and the Pacific adopted at the close of the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference On Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) here today emphasised community-based solutions, and reflects a growing global desire to focus more on grassroots actions in the face of catastrophic climate change.
When Faith Meets Disaster Management
A consortium of faith-based organisations (FBOs) made a declaration at a side event Wednesday at the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference On Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR), to let the United Nations know that they stand ready to commit themselves to building resilient communities across Asia in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Some 700,000 people were killed and 1.7 billion affected by disasters worldwide during the 10-year period ending 2014. According to the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the total economic impact from disasters in the world stood at $1.4 trillion between 2005 and 2014. This page carries news and multimedia reports by a team of IPS News Agency journalists from a United Nations Conference from March 14 to 18 in Sendai, in the centre of the Tohoku region, which bore the brunt of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. The Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction has been convened to raise awareness and mobilise political will to reduce risks posed by natural disasters.
