On 14 and 15 July 2014, Member States and major groups convened in Geneva, Switzerland for the First Session of the Preparatory Committee of Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) to provide clear guidance and inputs to what the post-2015 framework should look like. In March 2015, Member State delegations will come together during the WCDRR in Sendai, Japan, and will agree on a global post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.
On 2 July 2014, UN-SPIDER's Senior Programme Coordinator, Mr Luc St-Pierre, participated in the roundtable “Crisis management and mitigation: anticipating, managing and rebuilding” as part of the 2014 Toulouse Space Show.
Apart from UN-SPIDER, the panel included participants from HITEC Luxembourg S.A., PERILS AG, Asian Disaster Reduction Center, DGSCGC, the German Aerospace Center, and MeteoGroup offshore.
The State of El Salvador has established in 2011 the Secretariat for Vulnerability Issues of the Presidency of El Salvador (SAV) with the mandate to implement actions necessary to prevent and eradicate vulnerability that the country faces with regards to natural and human-caused phenomena.
SAV's mission is to manage and coordinate with the institutions of the National System for Civil Protection, Disaster Prevention and Disaster Mitigation. Among its tasks are:
UN-SPIDER and World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) successfully organized a pre-conference event of the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in Bangkok. The event entitled "Investing in Geospatial and space-based information to support Disaster Risk Reduction & Climate Change Adaptation investment" was held on 22 June at the Bangkok Convention Center.
UN-SPIDER carried out a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) to Bhutan from 2 to 6 June 2014. The TAM was conducted upon invitation of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs.
The 4th Session of the Americas Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is held this week from May 27 to 29 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The aim is to review progress on reducing exposure to disaster risk in the Americas.
The conclusions of this session will contribute to build the new global agreement on disaster risk reduction which will replace the existing Hyogo Framework for Action and will be adopted in March 2015 during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan.
This is event is available for participation on an ongoing basis
English
The risk from natural hazards is projected to further increase in many regions due to a growing exposure of human activities often combined with increased vulnerability and the projected increase in frequency and intensity of hazards due to effects of global warming. For the development and implementation of (more) effective risk reduction policies, a close collaboration and knowledge exchange between decision makers, the scientific community, the private sector and civil society is needed.
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) made an appeal for greater support for disaster risk reduction efforts in the country.
As UN-SPIDER reported, the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated over the weekend due to mudslides in the Province Badahkshan. Officials expect the death toll to reach over 500 people, 4000 are displaced.
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced that the countries’ third Fengyun-III satellite became operational on Monday, 5 May. The satellite was launched on 23 September last year.
The third Fengyun-III satellite is a polar orbiting meteorological satellite, which together with the second Fengyun-III satellite will build a network of constant 3D, multiple spectrum and remote-sensing observation of the Earth.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) will collaborate with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology provider Esri to make local communities more resilient.