Natural Disaster Reduction - News & Events

United Nations agencies stepped up relief operations today on the Indonesian islands ravaged by Monday night's earthquake, with a dedicated fleet of aircraft and boats delivering emergency aid and evacuating the critically injured. Water purification, food and logistics are among the current priorities. "It's critical to send aid very quickly to people who were already extremely traumatized by the 26 December tsunami disaster," World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director Mohamed Saleheen said, referring to the catastrophe that two months ago killed more than 200,000 people and left up to 5 million in need of basic services in a dozen Indian Ocean nations. (...)

More information // OCHA Situation Map N° 2 (30.03.05) - N° 1 (29.03.05) // OCHA Situation Reports: N° 4 - N°3 - N°2 - N°1 // GLIDE N°: EQ-2005-000053-IDN

More information: UNDP Indonesia Country Office // DRU & Indonesia // UNDP & the Earthquake and Tsunami in South East Asia websection // UN News: UN on alert after new Indian Ocean quake, calls for speeding up early warning // UN Press Briefing on the Earhquake

Progress in poverty reduction has experienced stark differences among and within regions over the last decade. Overall, South Asia remains one of the world’s poorest regions with the largest number of poor people, despite advances in the 1990s. Also Africa faces enormous poverty with widespread stagnation across most countries and an increasing number of people suffering in the 1990s. Poverty has even tripled in the Europe/CIS region combined with dramatic reductions of life expectancy. A more positive trend could be observed in Latin America and the Caribbean, where human development in many places reaches almost the level of rich countries, despite of slight increases in poverty. Countries in East Asia and the Pacific are performing well across the board, with some exceptions, and poverty fell by almost 15%. The 1990s have experienced unprecedented progress in some places, while others have stagnated and reversed to an extent not seen in previous decades. The UNDP Report Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development has demonstrated that disaster risk is higher in low human development countries. This was the result of a review into the relationship of development and disaster risk: while only 11 percent of the people exposed to natural hazards live in low human development countries, they account for more than 53 percent of total recorded deaths. Compared with the situation in high human development countries, these have 15 percent of people exposed, but only 1.8 percent of total recorded deaths. (...)

Full story // Reducing Disaster Risk Global Report

More information: UNDP Human Development Report 2004

The relationship of development and disaster risk is not a new discovery. Many scholars and practitioners over the last decade have examined how disaster risk has accumulated through inappropriate development inter- ventions and the extent to which disaster losses have set back social and economic investments directed at poverty reduction and human development in the areas of education, health, housing, drinking water and sanitation, environment as well the economic sphere. Thus, it is worth reviewing the relationship of development and disaster risk, which UNDP has done on the basis of data produced for the Global Report Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development. The report states, while only 11 percent of the people exposed to natural hazards live in low human development countries, they account for more than 53 percent of total recorded deaths. Compared with the situation in high human development countries, these have 15 percent of people exposed, but only 1.8 percent of total recorded deaths. This demonstrates that countries with similar patterns of natural hazard exposure have highly varying levels of disaster risk, shaped by their development paths and processes. (...)

Full story // Reducing Disaster Risk Global Report

More information: UNDP Millenium Development Goals

Heavy rains have poured on northern Madagascar during the first week of March, which have resulted in flooding. The most affected areas are located in the Alaotra region in the eastern Toamasina Province, and in the Boeny, Diana and Sofia regions in the northwestern part of the country. Based on reports from the local authorities, the national body for disaster management (Centre National de Secours - CNS) estimates that more than 58,700 persons have been affected by the floods. As many as 25 people have lost their lives and 8,300 have been displaced from their homes. In addition, the CNS reports that approximately 35,500 hectares of agricultural land have been flooded, which may partially affect the agricultural production. (...)

More information // OCHA Situation Report No1 // Madagascar Floods Situation Map

More information: DRU & Madagascar // GLIDE No. Fl-2005-000038-MDG

United Nations emergency assessment teams have found that two islands in the northern group of the Cook Islands were severely battered by Tropical Cyclone Percy late last month. On one of the islands, all local food crops were completely destroyed, and there is only an eight-day supply of water available, according to the latest situation report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). From 6 February to 6 March the Cook Islands in the South Pacific were battered by five tropical cyclones, but no casualties have been reported. On 26 February, cyclone Percy pounded Tokelau with winds from 178 to 249 kilometres per hour, causing widespread damage to the three atolls: Atafu ( population 500 – 600 ), Nukunonu ( population 400 – 450 ) and Fakaofo ( population 500 ). Tokelau consists of a group of three atolls in the South Pacific, about one half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. The cyclone also moved through American Samoa and passed the northern part of the Cook Islands.

OCHA Situation Report No 4 // Sit Rep N0 3 // SitRep No 2 // Sit Rep No 1 // Cook Islands and Tokelau: Tropical Cyclone Percy Map

More information: DRU & Cook Islands - Tokelau // Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) // Earth Observatory Natural Hazards // GLIDE No. TC-2005-000029

Tenemos el placer de comunicarles que a partir del 28 de febrero de 2005, la oficina del Coordinador Residente de SNU cambia de dirección al igual que las siguientes oficinas.
PNUD - UNFPA - CINUP - DSS - ONUSIDA - FIDA
La nueva dirección física es:
Casa de las Naciones Unidas
Ciudad del Saber -
Edificio 155 -
Apartado 6314, Zona 5, Panamá

More information: UNDP Panamá

At least 292 people have died in Kashmir since February 7 in avalanches, house collapses and from exposure to sub-zero temperatures, officials say. "Financial assistance of 15 billion rupees (333 million dollars) has been sought to meet the immediate costs of relief and rehabilitation," the statement said. The money would also be used to restore essential services like power, repair infrastructure and control flooding as the snows melt. Of the dead, around 200 people died two weeks ago when avalanches smashed into six villages in southern Indian Kashmir. Government officials estimate at least two million people out of the population of 10 million in Indian Kashmir have been affected to varying degrees by the heavy snowfall. Thousands of houses have been destroyed. (...)

Full OCHA Situation Report No1 // India: Avalanches - Situation map // Government of India: Heavy snow/avalanche Sitrep 7 // Sit Rep No 6 // Sit Rep No 5 // Sit Rep No 4 // Sit Rep No 3 // Sit Rep No 2 // Sit Rep No 1

More information: UNDP India Country Office // DRU & India // GLIDE No. AV-2005-000028-IND

Heavy rains and flash floods continue to aggravate the situation in Balochistan province, affecting the coastal zone as well as the central and northern districts. The worst hit districts include Gwadar, Turbat, Chaman, Killa Abdullah, Pishin, Sibi and Jaffarabad. There has been extensive damage to the road network, with the Coastal Highway once again closed and a number of main roads rendered temporarily inoperable. Gwadar Airport has closed, leaving the region cut-off from the rest of the country. In order to save the Akra Kaur Dam from breaching, the spillways had to be opened, causing flooding downstream, however, the downstream villages were evacuated timely. Some 15 deaths were reported in Killa Abdullah, Quetta, Pishin and Awaran districts. With the addition of the new casualties, the death toll has reached to 520 in the aftermath of heavy rains, floods, snowfall and avalanches affecting northern and western Pakistan since January.

More information // Sit Rep No 5 // Sit Rep No 4 // Sit Rep No 3 // Sit Rep No 2 // Sit Rep No1 // Pakistan: Rains/Snowfall - Situation map

More information: UNDP Pakistan Country Office // DRU & Pakistan // GLIDE No. ST-2005-000018-PAK