Press release

Senator Loren Legarda of the Philippine Senate is the first “champion” for disaster risk reduction for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) in Asia Pacific. She will help UNISDR promote the benefits of disaster risk

Concerned about the increasing vulnerability of Asian communities, high-level representatives from more than 80 Asian countries will gather tomorrow ( Tuesday 2 December) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a three-day Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk

Officials meeting at the Fourth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction have approved a five-year regional roadmap to establish climate resilient disaster risk management systems by 2015 that will contribute to sustainable development at the regional, national and community levels.

People in the Asia-Pacific region are four times more likely to be affected by natural disasters than those in Africa and 25 times more likely than those in Europe or North America, says a UN report released at the Fourth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR). The region generated one quarter of the world’s GDP, yet it accounted for 85 per cent of deaths and 38 per cent of global economic losses due to natural disasters over the last three decades.

As a region hard hit by weather-related events, UNISDR is urging Asian government ministers meeting at the Fourth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction this Monday to incorporate disaster risk reduction as part of their national policies to cope with climate change, and with it, more predicted floods, cyclones and drought.

“Disaster risk reduction is an obligation for all–donors, governments and the private sector,” said Toni Frisch from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Department. “We cannot wait for more disasters to happen to understand the benefits of disaster risk reduction policies. It is easy to show the damage caused by a disaster but much more difficult to get attention when the damage is invisible.”

Mom Rajawongse Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the Governor of Bangkok, was appointed today Champion for the UNISDR World Disaster Campaign, Making Cities Resilient: My City Is Getting Ready! The appointment of Mom Rajawongse.Paribatra recognizes the work that has been accomplished in Bangkok by all the governors over the past 25 year to reduce flood risk. The awarding ceremony took place at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok during the official campaign launch in Thailand.

This year's theme: My City is Getting Ready! To mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction, the UNISDR secretariat is calling on its partners to play a more active role to protect cities against disasters. Many cities have been disrupted this year by disasters: earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and New Zealand; floods and heavy rainfalls in Pakistan, Eastern Europe, Mozambique and other parts of Africa; forest fires in Russia; and volcanic eruptions in Indonesia and Iceland. All have caused huge human suffering and economic damage. Cities have never been so at risk.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union passed a resolution, which calls on their governments to provide adequate and accessible resources to support the UN in developing a parliamentary programme on disaster risk reduction that focuses on mitigation, prevention and preparedness and UN agencies involved in providing disaster assistance. UNISDR, the UN’s agency for disaster risk reduction, is calling on international lawmakers to take action on disaster risk reduction as a means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and adapt to climate change.

The “Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready!” campaign was officially launched today in the Arab region, during an event in the margins of the General Assembly meeting of the Arab Towns Organization. The event also took place in presence of H.E. Abdulaziz Yousef Al-Adsani, Secretary General of the Arab Towns Organization and Dr. Fadel Safar Ali Safar, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Kuwait. > View full story