The second phase of the UN-SPIDER/GIZ/AEM/DPC training course took place on the premises of the Andres Bello University in San Salvador from 10 to 14 July 2023 and with this, the training course was successfully concluded.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) published a special edition of the Global Assessment Report (GAR 2023), showing how climate disasters are reversing global development at unprecedented rates. Social and economic advances are being undone by disasters and their knock-on effects on food security, employment and education.

On December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed June 30 as the International Asteroid Day, to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard, as well as to inform the public about crisis communication actions to be taken in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. June 30 is the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, also known as the Earth's largest asteroid impact recorded in history. 

Background

On June 20, China successfully launched a new space experimental astellite, Shiyan-25, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi. The satellite will mainly be used to conduct new Earth observation technology experiments, covering areas such as disaster prevention and mitigation, urban planning, and land resource surveys.

Floods and droughts are some of the most frequent natural disasters that can become a major threat to livelihoods, food-security, infrastructure and even life. Remote sensing and earth observation provide valuable tools to monitor ongoing floods and drought, assess the current situation from space and produce products that can support stakeholders and decision makers. 

The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) finalised a framework cooperation agreement to leverage geo-information technologies for sustainable development. Under the agreement, UNOSAT and the RSA will join efforts in utilising satellite imagery and geospatial data for various purposes, amongst which disaster management, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and sustainable development initiatives.