Press release

On the occasion of the ninth meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction and the first session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom 1) to the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian

On the occasion of World Water Day, 22 March 2004, the UN will launch the inter-agency effort “Guidelines for reducing flood losses” in Geneva, New York, Bangkok and Harare. “Guidelines for reducing flood losses” are a result of a series of consultations

On 26 December 2003 an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale destroyed the historic city of Bam, Iran, killing, according to the latest figures over 30’000 people. The international community has responded generously to the needs of the population

The United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution announcing the convening of a World Conference on Disaster Reduction, hosted by the Government of Japan at Kobe, Hyogo from 18 to 22 January 2005.

Ms. Esther Tadzong of the Global Centre for Compliance, Hazard and Disaster Management in Cameroon is the 2003 UN Sasakawa Laureate for Disaster Reduction for her efforts in raising awareness and promoting community involvement in preparing for imminent disasters.

The International Day for Disaster Reduction will be celebrated on Wednesday 8 October at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, with the official opening of the photographic exhibition ‘WATER: Floods in Central Europe’. The exhibition - organised jointly with

At any time throughout the world a river somewhere is in flood and its waters are threatening communities, their properties and even their lives. At the other end of this extreme water overload are droughts that have been and are still occurring around

As Ivan stormed across the Caribbean, the United Nations stated that Cuba was a model in hurricane risk management in developing countries. “The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions and even in countries

One year after this tragedy, the reconstruction process is slow and most of city’s inhabitants are still living under tents and provisional shelters. The Iranian Government has since hosted a number of conferences bringing together earthquake experts and

In May 2004, rains killed 2,665 people in Haiti. This week they have caused another 2,000 deaths yet only 11 are reported dead in the Dominican Republic. The force of rains in Haiti were less strong than the ones that struck the Dominican Republic, but