International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 
 
 
 
iddr-2008
 

UN/ISDR
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Report of the Secretary-General
Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The present report provides an overview of progress on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, in response to General Assembly resolutions 62/192, 61/199 and 61/200. It also considers trends in disasters and disaster risks, and the development of coordination, guidance and resourcing through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction system. more
Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-Moon
The Secretary-General of United Nations
Message on the International Day for Disaster Reduction
8 October 2008

The World Disaster Reduction Campaign for 2008-2009 focuses on making “Hospitals Safe from Disasters”.  When health facilities are damaged, so, too, is our ability to improve maternal and child health and to provide other essential health services. But in resilient communities, health systems are better able to withstand natural hazards.  We need to mobilize society at every level to reduce risk and protect health facilities so that they can save lives. more
Ministerial meeting in New York on Monday 29th of September 2008

The Secretary-General called Members States to use disaster risk reduction for climate change adaptation

To help Member States find solutions to cope with climatic disasters, BAN Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, convened a ministerial meeting in New York on Monday 29th of September.

The Secretary-General called on ministers to lead the way at Poznan, Poland, in championing disaster risk reduction as a core element of climate change adaptation.  He urged Governments to give high priority to implementing disaster risk reduction measures, in order to achieve the goals set by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. see more

The second session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Geneva, Switzerland, during the week of 15 - 19 June 2009.
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is the main global forum on disaster risk reduction. At its first session in June 2007, it brought together representatives of governments, UN agencies, regional bodies, international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector and the scientific and academic communities to raise awareness on disaster risk, to share experience and to guide the ISDR system with a view to supporting countries to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action.

www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform

Cover Gender Perspectives: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into Climate Change Adaptation - 2008
Good Practices and Lessons Learned
This publication points out the vital nexus between women’s experiences of natural resource management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and how they can come together to make whole communities strong and sustainable. It also provides inspirational case studies of rassroots women’s leadership, and of ways to support and encourage women’s full participation as citizens in risk reduction, climate change adaptation, development, and disaster preparedness. The case studies also point to practical tools for implementing gender equality and mainstreaming gender perspectives.
cover

Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction:
Good Practices and lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region 2008

Even before we came up with high technology based early warning systems, or standard operating procedures for response, numerous local communities worldwide have prepared, operated, acted, and responded to natural disasters using indigenous methods passed on from one generation to the next. The publication "Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from experiences in the Asia-pacific Region", produced with the assistance of the European Union, aims to build awareness for indigenous knowledge as an effective tool for reducing risk from natural disasters. By improving the understanding of indigenous knowledge and providing concrete examples of how it can be successfully used, this publication can help all practitioners and policy makers to consider the knowledge hold by local communities and act to integrate this wealth of knowledge into future disaster-related work.

Cover Towards National Resilience -2008
Good practices of National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction”

Governments increasingly recognize the need for comprehensive multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral national coordinating mechanisms – National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction - to reduce, prevent and manage the impact of natural hazards. 45 countries have already launched National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction. Several other countries are in a process of establishing them. In an effort to inspire and support the birth of new National Platforms, and also to strengthen existing ones, the UN/ISDR secretariat launches its new publication featuring nine National Platform case studies.
Cover Linking Disaster Risk Reduction and Poverty Reduction - 2008
Good Practices and Lessons Learned
A Publication of the Global Network of NGOs for Disaster Risk Reduction

Building on last year’s effort, this publication seeks to highlight initiatives that have successfully linked poverty reduction and disaster risk reduction in various parts of the world. It features several projects and initiatives that show how DRR can be integrated into poverty reduction (or vice-versa) to help reduce the vulnerability of the poor and protect their livelihoods and development gains.
Sálvano Briceño

Message from Sálvano Briceño
Director of the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2008.

“A gender perspective should be integrated into all disaster risk management policies, plans and decision-making processes…” - Hyogo Framework for Action

English - French - Spanish

Disaster Figures For 2007

2007 saw a marked increase in the number of floods compared with the average of the last seven years, and Asia was the continent hit hardest by disasters according to figures from the Belgian WHO collaborating Center for Research on epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). “Current trends are consistent with the predictions of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, in that Asia, and also West Africa are already suffering from more severe and frequent floods,” says Professor Debarati Guha-Sapir, director of CRED.
Disaster Figures 2007
Press Release

ISDR Highlights
PreventionWeb
Climate Change
PIXEL
Vacancies

Internship (2 internship positions available)
ISDR/I/08/2008
Deadline for applications: 25 October 2008

Associate Programme Officer (Partnership and Knowledge), L-2
ISDR/G/22/2008
Deadline for applications: 17 October 2008

Senior Programme Officer (Regional Coordinator for Africa), L-5
ISDR/G/21/2008
Deadline for applications: 16 October 2008

PIXEL
StopDisasters
Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into
CCA and UNDAF
Guidelines
UN/ISDR - UNDP
Living with Risk:
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives

2004 version
English - Spanish
Know Risk
Publication available at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction
Flyer
www.know-risk.org

Climate Neutral
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