GENEVA, 23 May 2013 - The three-day 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, attended by a record 3,500 people and representatives from 172 governments, ended today with a call for "the immediate start of work to develop targets and indicators to monitor the reduction of risk" in the Chair's Summary at the closing plenary.

IHA/1321

IHA/1320

GENEVA, 22 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ Experts in disaster risk reduction today urged that science and technology be applied more effectively to disaster management policy and practice.

Their discussions, organized by the UNISDR Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, were part of the fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is meeting here this week to build consensus ahead of a 2015 world conference.

IHA/1318

GENEVA, 22 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ Local communities, which were often the drivers of disaster resilience, should be more involved in decision-making and disaster planning, said speakers at a panel discussion this morning on community resilience.

By Andy McElroy

GENEVA, 22 May 2013 - The inventor of the world's first interactive digital globe that graphically depicts the vulnerability of our planet to disasters today challenged global policymakers to show more leadership in tackling the growing risks facing populations worldwide.

GENEVA, 22 March 2013 - Two of the world's most disaster-prone countries, Bangladesh and Brazil, today shared the biennial UN-Sasakawa Award which was presented to the laureates by the Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, in the presence of the sponsor and chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa.

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Présentation du rapport d’évaluation mondiale 2013 de la Stratégie internationale de prévention des catastrophes des Nations Unies

Le Professeur Shinichi Takemura présente Tangible Earth, outil informatique de représentation visuelle du risque de catastrophe

IHA/1316

GENEVA, 21 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — As disaster risk reduction experts met in Geneva this afternoon on strengthening partnerships for small island developing States, there were many calls for inter-island cooperation, as well as adequate financial and technical resources.

Gyan Chandra Acharya, United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, said that natural disasters were a fact of life in those countries, but their impact should not be.

IHA/1314

GENEVA, 21 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ The global consequences of disasters, and the need for strengthening resilience through partnerships and investment, were stressed at the opening ceremony of the fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva this morning.