Frequent small to medium-scale emergencies raged through the region in 2012, inflicting the most damage on rural households. Support from humanitarian and development partners was often necessary to help affected people back onto their feet, learn from the disaster and better prepare for future shocks.

Natural disasters, including drought, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires, as well as ongoing complex emergencies and limited government capacity in the region, present significant challenges to vulnerable populations in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia (EMCA). Between Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 and FY 2012, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided assistance in response to a range of disasters, including floods, wildfires, winter emergencies, and complex crises.

OVERVIEW

Natural hazards such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, wildfires, and extreme winter weather affect a range of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia (EMCA). In addition, rapid urban growth and environmental degradation in some countries have led to overcrowding and settlement in hazard-prone areas. Protracted conflict and limited governmental disaster management capacity in many EMCA countries compound the risks associated with natural disasters.

Executive Summary

This document reports the findings of a UNICEF/UNESCO Mapping of Global DRR Integration into Education Curricula consultancy. The researchers were tasked with capturing key national experiences in the integration of disaster risk reduction in the curriculum, identifying good practice, noting issues addressed and ones still lacking and reviewing learning outcomes.
The methodology employed has been one of meta-research of available literature and case study documentary research into the experiences of thirty countries.

Abstract

Highlights

Since November 2011, the region has received $8 million in humanitarian funding

In turn, the region has provided $1.3 million in humanitarian funding

National Red Crescent Societies respond to emergencies in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan

The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/BUD/2012/01000

1 . CONTEXT

For the purposes of this Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP), the Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC) region covers the following countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (Central Asia), and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (South Caucasus). This represents an area of 4.1 million square kilometres and with a population of 77 million.

Today half of the world's population is under threat from the forces of nature - one fifth of the earth's surface is regularly affected by earthquakes, vol-canic eruptions, floods, drought, landslides and storms. There are indications that such events are increasingly frequent. Moreover, the effects of cli-mate change are becoming evident.

The negative impacts of such natural events affect increasing numbers of people: 6.9 billion people live on our planet today and, according to UN esti-mates, this number will have

Sixty-fifth General Assembly
Plenary
23rd & 24th Meetings (AM & PM)

Sixty-Fifth Session of General Debate Ends with Delegations Warning Against Yielding United Nations Vital Decision-Making Functions to Other Forums

The question of the United Nations being able to effectively tackle entrenched global ills - from poverty and terrorism to conflict prevention and pandemic disease - hinged on whether the 192-member body would be brave enough to move beyond deadlock and oft-repeated positions of principle to truly defend its role as the premier centre for global