News from the secretariat

The WCDR report now available

The final WCDR   report is now available in all six UN languages on the ISDR's website. It includes the Hyogo Declaration and the "Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters". In parallel to the issuance of official documents, the secretariat has completed the production of a WCDR publication that compiles all official documents prepared for and at the Conference. The publication, entitled "WCDR: Proceedings of the Conference -- Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters", will be available in July, together with a CD-ROM containing all documents from the WCDR website. Website: http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr/

The Third Early Warning Conference due in Bonn in March 2006

At the IATF/DR 11th session on 26 May, the Government of Germany announced that the third Early Warning Conference (EWC-III) would be held in Bonn,in March 2006 (exact dates to be confirmed). The 3-day international conference convened by Germany under the auspices of the United Nations will mobilize efforts to implement the outcome of the Second International Early Warning Conference (EWC-II) and of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (mainly, the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015). It will contribute to the development of the International Early Warning Programme(IEWP), launched at the WCDR in Kobe, and to discuss on proposals for a global early warning system.

The result-oriented conference will aim at launching comprehensive national early warning projects, with priority themes for global early warning advancement initiatives, focused on high-priority countries and issues.

A task force is being established in the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, to work in close cooperation with DKKV (German committee for disaster prevention) in Bonn, while a UN conference secretariat is being put in place at the ISDR secretariat in Geneva, to work in close cooperation with the ISDR/PPEW (Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning) in Bonn.

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), a professional association

ISDR starts a new collaboration with ABU on the role of media in education and disaster prevention of 102 radio and television broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region, is partnering with the ISDR secretariat for developing radio and television broadcast information flows on reducing the impact of natural disasters in Asia-Pacific Countries. The ABU, the ISDR secretariat and other specialists organized two media workshops in Bangkok between the 13 and the 16 June with 30 broadcasters coming from the tsunami affected countries including Tanzania and Somalia. The first workshop   (on 13 to 14 June) was more technical in nature and involved technical, News and Programming Directors from broadcast companies and Operational Directors from meteorological, oceanographic and geographic organizations   to review the rate and accuracy in getting information from meteorological, oceanographic and geographic organizations to broadcasters. The second workshop addressed education and public awareness issues to stimulate broadcasters to produce more programmes on    disaster reduction with educational contents. Four UN ISDR video case studies on education, traditional knowledge and preparedness were shown to participants as examples of educational stories. The last tsunami tragedy will be also an opportunity to see how disaster reduction is included in the recovery. Broadcasters will be invited, six months after the tsunami tragedy, to go to the affected areas and produce reports on the issue.

United Nations System and the Private Sector:

Focal Points Meeting co-hosted by UN Global Compact and UN System College,Geneva, 26-27 May 2005

Looking towards the future and the growing interest of the impact of disaster risk reduction, the ISDR secretariat was invited to participate to the Focal points meeting held in Geneva, the 26-27 May along with external officers from 31 other UN organizations dealing with developing a comprehensive and more coherent approach to adopt partnerships specially with the private sector. The Director of the ISDR secretariat took the opportunity to encourage a more deliberate process to build relationships with the commercial sector to address risk issues and community engagement with hazards, before they become disasters. Discussions at this workshop jointly organized by the UN Global Compact and UN System College emphasized the importance of building relationships over a period of time, which relates to developing capacities rather than looking at from only a philanthropic or resources driven perspective.

International Recovery Platform (IRP) in Kobe, Japan

The International Recovery Seminar, in support of the IRP, was held at the JICA center in Kobe, Japan, 10-14 May 2005. The seminar was organized by UNDP/BCPR, the ISDR Secretariat, OCHA, ILO, Cabinet Office (Government of Japan), Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Hyogo Prefecture and the World Bank.The seminar was very well attended by international organizations (all the above as well as UNEP, UNV, UN/HABITAT, UNOSAT and IFRC), donors(Australia, Italy, Japan, UAE, and USA) disaster prone programme countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives), World Bank as well as NGOs and academics. Other participants from India, Turkey, Philippines joined the meeting through the World Bank video-conference facility.

It was agreed by all parties that the IRP would be the inter-agency mechanism for taking forward the agenda of the Hyogo Framework of relating to post-disaster recovery.   The IRP will thus be a major thematic pillar of the ISDR system. The IRP will be organized around three components:Knowledge Management and Advocacy; Training and Capacity Building and Enhancing Recovery Operations.