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Hurricane Beta barreled into Nicaragua's Caribbean coast on Sunday and once inland lost steam to be downgraded to a tropical storm but its torrential rains still threatened mudslides and floods. In neighboring Honduras, authorities said communications went down as isolated coastal villages flooded, and about 8,000 were evacuated as rivers broke their banks. The government flew in food, water and blankets to the Caribbean region.

Full Story // UNDP Nicaragua Country Office // UNDP Nicaragua press release // UNDP Honduras Country Office // DRU and Latin America and the Caribbean

Hurricane Wilma, which swelled into the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, struck western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula before crossing Florida, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. Here are the initial findings of an assessment of Wilma's damage to Cuba and Mexico, carried out by UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery team based in Panama.

Full Report // UNDP Cuba Country Office // UNDP Mexico Country Office // DRU and Latin America and the Caribbean

Even as United Nations relief operations focus sharply on aiding millions of survivors affected by this month’s devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the world body’s agencies are pressing on with their efforts to help rehabilitate the vast region ravaged by last December’s Indian Ocean tsunami.

Just this week Anna Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary-General Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-HABITAT, visited the tiny archipelago of the Maldives where her agency is jointly rebuilding homes on 58 islands with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Full Story // UNDP/DRU Tsunami action

The United Nations today nearly doubled its call for urgent funding to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan to $550 million for the initial six-month emergency period, warning that the current death toll of some 50,000 could double if aid is not immediately mobilized and delivered to those still isolated in the mountainous region.

“We meet today to prevent a second shockwave of deaths, and to prevent further suffering,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a ministerial-level donors’ conference in Geneva attended by more than 300 participants from 100 countries. The original Flash Appeal issued two weeks ago sought $312 million.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal // DRU and Pakistan

Blocked roads, snow and a serious lack of funding could create a death trap for tens of thousands of people who survived this month’s devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the United Nations World Food Programme warned today in the latest gloomy projection on the disaster.

“It must be clear to everybody that many people could die if we do not move more quickly,” WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, Amir Abdulla, said. “We must have much more funding, much sooner, to gain as much speed as humanly possible in the face of gigantic logistics difficulties.”

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal // DRU and Pakistan (Photo IRIN)

Ángeles Arenas, asesora regional de reducción de desastres del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, se encuentra en Guatemala desde la semana pasada.

La experta se reunió con autoridades de Gobierno para intercambiar la experiencia en procesos de reconstrucción de otros países destruidos por desastres naturales.

Full report // UNDP Guatemala Country Office //
Hurricane Stan: UN emergency site// UN Guatemala Flash Appeal

More than two weeks after an earthquake devastated northern Pakistan, plunging temperatures and sheer desperation are driving survivors out of their wrecked mountain villages into a rising number of camps, the United Nations refugee agency reported today as it rushed in more supplies to people who have lost their homes.

At the same time, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said there is just a three-week window of opportunity to deliver assistance to mountainous quake-hit areas before the first snowfall. In addition, severe weather, with heavy rain, is forecast to hit the area in the next three to four days.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal // DRU and Pakistan

In support of the earthquake recovery, the United Nations Development Programme has mobilized 12,000 sets of winterized tents and 12,000 sets of kitchen utensils for the earthquake victims in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Haoliang Xu, UNDP Country Director said, “this is the first consignment from the resources allocated by Germany to UNDP. In the context of the difficult terrain and weather, we urge the international community to quicken the delivery of tents to the worst hit areas”

UNDP and IOM confirmed that recovery teams are looking at alternative shelter designs and the reconstruction of temporary shelter using existing materials. Mr. Jan Vandemoortele UN Humanitarian Coordinator said “Approximately 50% of the mountainous terrain is unsuitable for tents: other creative solutions are being worked on, using local knowledge and available materials.”

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal // DRU and Pakistan

Governments too often ignore risks of natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes and could save lives and billions of dollars with better planning, an international study said on Thursday.

Over the past century, the number of recorded natural disasters surged to 2,800 per decade from 100, according to the study for the International Council for Science, a non-government organisation of experts from around the world.

Full Story

As the death toll climbs from the devastating earthquake that rocked Pakistan more than 10 days ago, the United Nations and its partners have issued a joint appeal for $311 million to provide emergency relief and other priority recovery needs. The United Nations Development Programme is working actively in partnership with government and civil society in three sectors of the appeal; these include shelter, recovery and coordination.

“Meeting humanitarian needs are essential right now to keep alive those who survived the catastrophe,” says Haoliang Xu, UNDP Country Director in Pakistan. “At the same time, it is important to plan a step ahead and be preparedfor the recovery stage and begin the rebuilding of lives. Anticipating what lies ahead is crucial. ”

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

Although tens of thousands of people displaced in El Salvador by a volcanic eruption and severe flooding and landslides produced by hurricane Stan have begun to return home, there is still a risk of further flooding and landslides and it is premature to consider the emergency over, the United Nations reported today.

"Continued assistance remains necessary for the persons remaining in shelters, as well as for those who have returned," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update on the crisis, which at its height some two weeks ago saw more than 80,000 people seeking refuge in shelters. Many thousands more stayed with friends and family.

Full Story // UNDP El Salvador Country Office // UN El Salvador Emergency Response // Joint UN Agency Appeal in El Salvador for victims of flooding and volcanic eruptions // OCHA Situation Reports

With an estimated 3.3 million people left homeless by the earthquake that devastated remote areas of northern Pakistan, the logistical challenge of bringing in desperately needed aid is one of the toughest the world has ever faced, and time is running out, the head of the United Nations food agency warned today.

“At the best of times this is very difficult terrain, but with landslides blocking roads, plus the onset of winter, getting to these people is taking far longer. And there is very little time left,” World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director James Morris said.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

Winter’s freezing temperatures are posing new challenges for relief workers delivering life-saving supplies to remote communities devastated by the recent earthquake in Pakistan, a senior United Nations official said today.

“The race against time is growing shorter and shorter as the weather closes in,” with international aid efforts facing “really daunting logistical problems in delivering assistance to those in need,” said Kevin Kennedy, the Director for Coordination and Response for the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

With declining hope that there may not be many more survivors six days following the devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the search and rescue phase of relief efforts is winding down, and United Nations agencies there are now focusing much on keeping survivors alive and healthy, the chief of staff for the UN emergency relief coordinator said today, urging more funding for the operations.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

Following a tour through rural Niger UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis said still more resources are needed to resolve the immediate problem of feeding the hungry in the famine-hit Sahelian region, and stressed the importance of working towards longer-term solutions to Niger's food crisis. ."There needs to be an increase of resources allocated to the Sahelian region." Dervis said after his meeting with Prime Minister Hama Amadou here in Niger's capital.

Full story

Over 500 people, including local authorities and politicians, senior diplomats, clergy and media gathered today for the UN-led celebration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction in Ouango, one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the capital Bangui. The majority of those attending were local residents who had been affected by the floods that devastated the country since August and who are currently receiving international aid.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Stan Nkwain read out a message from the Secretary General. “The main objective of this day is awareness”, he added. “Natural catastrophes cannot be prevented. But national authorities, the international community, NGOs, and civil society, must all work together to limit the consequences of any disaster that may strike."

Full Story // DRU and Central African Republic (Photo IRIN)

As Pakistan struggles to deal with the worst disaster in its history, the United Nations marked International Day for Disaster Reduction on Wednesday. Pakistan has yet to come up with an integrated disaster management plan for coping with natural calamities. “We cannot stop natural calamities, but we can and must better equip individuals and communities to withstand them. Those most vulnerable to nature’s wrath are usually the poorest, which means that when we reduce poverty, we also reduce vulnerability,” a senior official told the Pakistani daily Dawn on condition of anonymity.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

The international humanitarian community and the Government of Pakistan launched an earthquake flash appeal of $309 million today. The appeal is based on initial assessments and covers immediate recovery needs of shelter, health, education, infrastructure, food and logistics.

Jan Vandemoortele, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan, during a visit to the earthquake stricken district of Muzafarabad, said “There are enormous logistical difficulties in the region: landslides have cut off many roads, allowing access only by foot or helicopter. Slowly, roads to the most affected areas are being opened, but remote areas still remain out of reach."

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

In a year when people worldwide have been reminded that nowhere is immune from natural disaster, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to invest in disaster prevention and poverty reduction so as to build resilient communities and save lives.

In a message to mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction, he noted the year’s range of disasters from the massive Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, to the ravages of drought and locusts in Africa, from the devastation caused by hurricanes and cyclones in the United States, the Caribbean and the Pacific to the heavy flooding across Europe and Asia.

Full Story // Message by Kofi Annan on International Day for Disaster Reduction

The United Nations today launched a $272-million flash appeal to help Pakistan recover from last Saturday’s devastating earthquake, which killed more than 30,000 people, injured some 60,000 more and left 1 million others in acute need of life-saving assistance, 2.5 million homeless and 4 million affected.

“A generous response to this appeal will be critical to help people in need,” Hansjoerg Strohmeyer, Chief of Staff to UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, told a news briefing in New York. Speaking within hours of the launch he said initial indications from donors so far amounted to around $70 million.

Full Story // UNDP Pakistan Country Office // UNDP Projects and other information // UN Emergency Response: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 // UN South Asia Earthquake Flash Appeal

The United Nations was today launching a $22-million flash appeal for Guatemala where severe flooding and mudslides caused by hurricane Stan have killed hundreds of people and inflicted estimated damage of more than $400 million to the livestock, coffee and banana industries.

The UN, in conjunction with the Government, has identified priorities for international emergency relief assistance, including water, sanitation and hygiene, food, shelter and household items, health services, communication and access to services.

“The availability of food will be curtailed in the short-term,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement, noting that there had been more than 900 landslides and entire villages had been swept away.

Full report // UNDP Guatemala Country Office //
Hurricane Stan: UN emergency site// UN Guatemala Flash Appeal

Stepping up its efforts to help El Salvador confront the twin emergencies of disastrous flooding and volcanic eruptions, the United Nations is asking donors to contribute nearly $8 million to ensure the immediate survival of more than 50,000 displaced people now in shelters throughout the Central American country.

“Through this appeal, the UN System in El Salvador calls for multinational and bilateral cooperation agencies, government and private, to offer their immediate support to the relief and assistance efforts now being coordinated by the Government of El Salvador,” the UN Country Team said in its latest update on the torrential rains caused by Hurricane Stan and the effects of two eruptions of Ilamatepec volcano in the past week.

Full report // UNDP El Salvador Country Office // UN El Salvador Emergency Response // Joint UN Agency Appeal in El Salvador for victims of flooding and volcanic eruptions // OCHA Situation Reports

Published annually since 1993, the World Disasters Report brings together the latest trends, facts and analysis of contemporary crises – whether 'natural' or human-made, quick-onset or chronic.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: World Disasters Report 2005