SEBI issues disaster recovery guidelines for exchanges

SEBI has issued guidelines on business continuity and disaster recovery for exchanges and depositories.

This is to ensure their preparedness in the event of a natural calamity.

SEBI said that disruptions affect market integrity and investor confidence.

The regulator's technical advisory committee has said that exchanges and depositories should have a Business continuity plan (BCP) and a disaster recovery site (DRS) to maintain data and transaction integrity.

Apart from DRS, exchanges should also have a near site (NS) in a different seismic zone, from their primary data centre (PDC) to ensure zero data loss.

Exchanges / Depositories should have recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) not more than 30 minutes and four hours, respectively.

Read in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23594

Role of insurance in disaster risk reduction (RIDRR - 2012)

Type:

Meeting or Conference

Organizer:

Global Forum for Disaster Reduction (GFDR); India - government; National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

Date:

19-20 Apr 2012

Location:

India (New Delhi)

Venue:

Multipurpose Hall, India International Center, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi

Language:

The conference has active support of Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) and Chairman, IRDA has kindly consented to grace the occasion.

Insurance can play a key role in facilitating public‐private partnerships for dealing with the losses from disasters. This conference proposes a hazard management program, which links insurance with other policy tools and brings together all interested parties concerned with Disaster Risk Reduction. It stresses the importance of identifying and assessing the risk, understanding both the decision processes of individuals/organisations in hazard‐prone areas and the insurability issues associated with the disaster risk. A series of policy‐related questions/issues thereby arise for future research.

Across the globe the economic and insured losses from these events are rapidly rising in line with the frequency and severity of major natural catastrophes which is due to a combination of rapid simultaneous global economic and population growth. According to the World Economic Forum, between 1950 and 2010, world population grew from 2.5 to 6.9 billion, with much of that growth occurring in areas more prone to the impact of natural disasters, such as coastal areas and riverbanks. Limitations in public and private sector disaster risk prevention management and planning, globalisation, and a growing concentration of assets and people in urban centres and high exposure areas also contribute to the rise in disaster-related losses.

Natural catastrophes affect all sectors of business, both directly and indirectly. Disasters can cause operational and supply chain disruptions through the physical damage to property and/or loss of critical resources and infrastructure, such as energy supplies and transmission, public infrastructure and distribution networks.

RIDRR 2012 is a premier event where it is expected to receive presentations from highly proficient speakers from the Insurance Sector as well as Government Policy makers. Abstracts of the technical papers in not more than 250 words may reach us on or before 1 March, 2012 and the full papers may be sent by 20th March 2012. The abstracts of the papers should be covering one or more of the topics or any subject correlated with Role of Insurance Sector in DRR. The papers shall be evaluated for the final selection by an expert committee setup by the organizers.

CONFERENCE THEME & SUB-THEMES:
• Status of Insurance in Disaster Management in India
- Government of India & National Disaster Management Authority’s national level initiatives
• Issues in Developing Disaster Risk Insurance in India
- Role of insurance in hazard identification, risk assessment, risk prevention and mitigation
- Mainstream Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance In National DRR Policies and Initiatives
- Need & Issues for Policy Changes in Insurance Sector
- New Instruments to be Introduced
- Affordability: Sharing Financial Burden (Should any or some part of Insurance be made compulsory)
• Efficient financial planning and resources utilization for disaster management – Indian experiences and achievements
• Global Best Practices and learning from International Experiences
• Role of the reinsurance industry in the management of weather related risks
• Business Continuity Planning (BCP) & Business Continuity Management (BCM) with reference to Disasters
• Economics of catastrophe risk insurance
• Case Studies – related to the Theme of the conference

Abstracts should be submitted by March 5th, 2012 for review by a Core Committee of the conference. Full papers are due by March 20th, 2012. A selection of papers from the seminar will be invited for publication in Pre Conference Catalogue.

Additional information

http://www.gfdr.in

What is included in the event fee

To defray a part of expenses, a nominal delegate fee (Response Proforma Enclosed) is being charged. The payment can be sent by cheque/DD drawn in favour of "Global Forum for Disaster Reduction, New Delhi”. The participation fee includes Background Material, Conference Proceedings (CD), Conference Kit Bag, Lunch/ Dinner, Refreshments etc

How to register

The filled–in Response Proforma (Registration form) may kindly be emailed at the earliest with the payment in Cheque/DD in favour of “Global Forum for Disaster Reduction” payable at New Delhi for the participation fee as applicable.

Contact:

Mr. Vivek Sharma,
Manager (Projects), Global Forum for Disaster Reduction (GFDR)
3rd Floor 216 A/13, Gautam Nagar, Opp. Gulmohar Park,
New Delhi - 110 049 India
Email: vivek.gfdr@gmail.com , vivek@gfdr.org
Contact No. +91 98998 88432, 97160 19560.

• Registration form [DOCX 113.12 kB]
• Call for papers [DOCX 106.97 kB]

Source:- http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/events/25322

UN kicks off discussions on new international blueprint for disaster risk reduction

UN kicks off discussions on new international blueprint for disaster risk reduction



GENEVA, 5 March 2012 - The UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, and HE Yoichi Otabe, the Japanese Ambassador to the International Organizations in Geneva, announced today the start of consultations on a new international blueprint for reducing disaster losses in advance of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction which the Japanese government is proposing to host in 2015.

The new framework for disaster risk reduction will build on the success of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities in spreading a culture of disaster prevention around the globe. The Hyogo Framework was agreed at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture in January 2005 on the tenth anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, and a month after the Asian tsunami.

Ms. Wahlström said: "As we look to the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, the start of consultations on the post-HFA framework is a suitable occasion on which to acknowledge the debt that the world owes to Japan when it comes to sharing its vast experience and knowledge of disaster risk reduction and preparedness.

"The learning from the Great East Japan Earthquake will be a vital contribution to preparing the world to meet the challenges of disaster risk in the urbanized, globalized world of the 21st century where a natural hazard can trigger a chain of catastrophic events impacting lives and livelihoods in tragic ways unless we are realistic in our assessment of risk and act accordingly."

HE Yoichi Otabe said: "The Great East Japan Earthquake has provided us with further confirmation of the importance of disaster risk reduction as a critical global issue in the 21st century. Development is too often sidetracked and at times even reversed by disasters, so investing in disaster risk reduction and resilience supports sustainable development. We have seen a significant improvement in the political and economic commitment to reducing risk and increasing resilience since the Kobe World Conference in 2005 and hope that this will be enhanced as a result of Rio+20.

"The Hyogo Framework provides an analytical tool for gauging progress towards reducing disaster losses and encourages both strategic and action-oriented planning. Progress is being made but more needs to be done to help countries to address the causes of risk. Japan will hold an international conference in the disaster-stricken Tohoku region this summer to boost international cooperation on coping with natural disasters and to support discussions on establishing a post-HFA Framework. A new framework will help to mainstream disaster risk reduction into sustainable development policy after the Millennium Development Goals."


read in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23330

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION




It pays to be well prepared, particularly where natural hazards and disaster risk reduction were concerned, the top United Nations official responsible for mitigating disaster risks worldwide, said today.


Addressing correspondents at a Headquarters press conference on the upcoming one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 2011, Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, said Japan had shown the world that despite the major tragedy it had suffered on that day, prevention and preparedness paid off. “Building codes pay, early warning systems pay, it saves lives. Drills, training, public education and awareness also pay off and save lives,” she said.


If none of those things had been consistently implemented in Japan as they had been for decades, last year’s horror would have been much worse, Ms. Wahlström asserted. A remarkable testimony to the quality of the buildings was the fact that the tsunami, and not the earthquake, had been responsible for the main destruction to the buildings. Today, the main focus remained on the interaction between assets — in this case, the nuclear power plants and similar industries, such as the petro-chemical industry — with the potential to damage the environment.


She said there were many lessons learned from last year’s earthquake, and the marking of its first anniversary in a few days was an opportunity to again recognize the importance of Japanese education about disasters over hundreds of years, and to drive the work globally that was being done in the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) on how to reduce disaster risk in order to preserve the development assets of countries and communities.


The world had learnt, for instance, that the Japan disaster was one of the most globally destructive in history, she said. Last year was the peak year of disaster loses so far in recorded history, with total losses at a staggering $380 billion at least, two thirds higher than the previous record with Hurricane Katrina. The losses last year mainly stemmed from earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, she said, explaining that earthquakes were the costliest and deadliest of disasters. In addition to those, the world had also experienced several other major events, including flooding in Thailand and many other countries.


“So the main message is that this is an increasing — and very rapidly increasing — trend, with increasingly economic losses,” she stated. Globally, the disaster mortality was proportionally declining because countries were getting much better at early warning systems and preparedness. But the economics of disasters was becoming a major threat to several countries, and today, 50 per cent of the world’s population lived in highly vulnerable areas and was thus exposed to hazards and disaster risk.


Read the detailed press briefing at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23335

Disaster Preparedness :Is there a hole in your disaster recovery plan?

Disaster Preparedness 2011: Is there a hole in your disaster recovery plan?

Wed, 2011-11-23 05:08 PM

By: Dennis Bruce

Dennis Bruce

A good disaster recovery plan includes all of the processes, policies and procedures necessary for your company to continue operating its critical technology systems after a disaster. The “classic” disaster recovery (DR) scenarios -- such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes -- are widely understood. However, the disasters most commonly faced by businesses are not those recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but the more mundane power outages, cyber-attacks and vendor issues. Yet, in all cases, you need to be prepared.

When a critical business or government application is down, it can cost thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars. On average, enterprises lose between $84,000 and $108,000 for every hour of IT system downtime, according to various estimates from analyst studies and surveys. Despite these costs of downtime, many businesses are not adequately prepared for disaster recovery. Up to 40 percent of businesses affected by a natural or man-made disaster never re-open, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Is there another way to ensure that all of your important applications are recoverable, and can continue to drive your operations after a disaster? Let’s take a look at software escrow agreements and how they can be used to help ensure application continuity.

Software escrow as an application continuity solution

Software escrow is a way for developers and users to protect what matters to them. Developers want to protect the intellectual property (IP) they’ve created, and users want to know that the software they’ve licensed will always be there when they need it. In order to make this happen, the developer stores copies of their software source code in a secure location with a neutral trusted third party, such as Iron Mountain.

In addition, it is a best practice to perform verification testing on escrow deposits. Verification can ensure that everything required to compile the code efficiently is included in the escrow deposit.

Software developers can send their source code deposits to the escrow agent either electronically or via backup tape. If sending physical deposits, your offsite tape vaulting vendor should work with you to develop and support your disaster recovery needs for accessing and retrieving back-up tapes containing application source code. The back-up tape storage and retrieval process should have an auditable chain-of-custody to verify regulation compliance and the integrity of the data for each step of the transit to and from your data center.

Source code is kept in the protected escrow account and the user gains access to that source code only in specific circumstances. Typical events that trigger a release of the source code include loss of vendor support, ceased business operations, insolvency, bankruptcy, a merger or acquisition, or other situations where the developer can no longer support the software.

When it comes to ensuring application continuity, a software escrow solution is an important, yet often overlooked, piece of the puzzle.

Protect what matters

Protecting the source code for your important applications via a software escrow agreement is a simple, cost-effective way to ensure application continuity. This way, the software that you’ve licensed is protected in a secure environment and available when needed.

While business continuity and disaster recovery plans are focused on the user and their environment, it is also important to think about your software developers and how their situations can have an effect on your business or government agency. Circumstances affecting your software developer, such as financial insolvency, bankruptcy, contractual disputes, mergers and acquisitions, staff defection or excessive rotation, can impact the IT infrastructure in a way that can create business continuity problems. Software is the lifeblood of your organization, and leaving it unprotected it can be catastrophic.

Although “classic” disaster recovery scenarios may appear to be the most devastating cause of IT outages, application problems are the most frequent threat to IT uptime. According to Gartner, people and process problems cause an estimated 80 percent of unexpected application downtime.

What if you could ensure that your applications would work for you both in a “classic” disaster recovery scenario and if your developer failed to perform their obligations? Since people and processes are such a major factor in application downtime, it is wise to use software escrow as a way to mitigate this risk and help ensure application continuity.

How can you set up application continuity for your business?

It’s important to think beyond those super critical top few applications covered by managed recovery services. If an application is not easily replaced with off-the-shelf software packages, it should be protected with a software escrow agreement and verification testing. With a software escrow and verification solution supporting your existing business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan, you can extend the number and type of applications that can be protected in a cost-effective manner.

Read in detail at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22867

Rain toll climbs to 29 in Bengal

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RAIN HAVOC: Villagers anxiously watching the erosion caused by the Damodar river in Burdwan district of West Bengal on Wednesday. – PHOTO: PTI

With two more deaths, the toll in rain-related mishaps across West Bengal rose to 29 on Wednesday even as some major rivers continued to flow above the danger mark. Altogether 26 lakh people in 14 districts have been affected by the heavy rain pounding the State for a week now and still continuing sporadically.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced after a Cabinet meeting that her government would give compensation to people who had lost their shelter in this calamity.

“While Rs.10,000 will be given for each house damaged totally, Rs.2,000 will be given for rebuilding partially damaged houses,” she said. Well over 166,200 houses have been damaged so far.

State Water Resources Minister Manas Bhunia alleged on Wednesday that lack of maintenance during the long years of Left Front rule had weakened the embankments and breaches were appearing regularly. He said his departmental engineers are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis.

Pointing that Ms. Banerjee had constituted a State Flood Commission to find out ways to control the devastation caused by floods, he said a meeting of the Commission had already been held where several ideas were discussed to limit the impact of the floods. Dr. Bhunia is the chairperson of the Commission.

District administrations have been asked to keep relief and rescue teams ready in case of breaches, Irrigation Secretary A. Chatterjee said, adding that District Magistrates have also been asked to move people from low-lying areas

He said discharge of water from different barrages was reducing gradually. The Damodar Valley Corporation had discharged 85,000 cusecs of water, the Durgapur barrage 90,000 cusecs and the Kangsabati barrage 15,000 cusecs.

Kelloggs Corporate Responsibility Report: Watch the Salt!

Corporate Responsibility

Kellogg Company is committed to building a stronger business while acting responsibly toward our customers and consumers, our employees, our communities and the environment. As part of this commitment, we are pleased to release our third global Corporate Responsibility Report. The report provides a comprehensive update of our company's progress and performance in four key areas: marketplace, workplace, environment and community.

For this report, we used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines, which provide a recommended framework and indicators for reporting. We are reporting at a GRI-checked application level of "B." The GRI chart may be accessed at right.

We welcome feedback at corporateresponsibility@kellogg.com. For every person who submits feedback in 2011, Kellogg Company will make a one-time donation of $5 to the Global FoodBanking Network – up to $10,000.

2010 Corporate Responsibility Report

Read our full 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report

Download a one-page summary of our CR initiatives

View the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Chart

Previous CR Reports2009 CR Report2009 Executive Summary2009 Executive Summary - Spanish (Mexico)2009 Executive Summary - French (Canada)

2008 CR Report2008 Executive Summary

Contact Us/Feedback

Your feedback will help us improve our future reporting, and we welcome your comments and opinions. E-mail us at:corporateresponsibility@kellogg.com

Satellite images could aid long-term disaster recovery

Satellite images could aid long-term disaster recovery

James Dacey

30 March 2011 | EN | ES

Satellite image of Ban Nam Khem, Thailand, featured in one of the team's case studies on a tsunami in 2004

Geoeye/Digital Globe

[LONDON] Satellite images could be used to track and quantify long-term recovery efforts in regions stricken by natural disasters, say researchers who will be entering talks with potential users in Haiti, Pakistan and Thailand from April.

In the immediate aftermath of a natural catastrophe, such as the earthquake and tsunamithat hit Japan earlier this month (11 March), the priority is searching for survivors and saving lives through providing food, shelter and basic sanitation.

But longer term recovery — including the rebuilding of infrastructure and amenities such as schools and hospitals — can take decades, depending on the extent and the location of the disaster.

Now, a group based at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, working with industrial partners Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd. and ImageCat Inc., says it has developed the first systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating this process. The method, which has been submitted to Disastersjournal, involves tracking a region using high-resolution satellite images, which have become more abundant and affordable in recent years.

The researchers say that the required, one-metre resolution satellite imagescan be purchased for US$25 per square kilometre, and updated images can be acquired every 2–3 days.

"The last year — especially since the 2010 Haiti earthquake — has seen an increased interest in the use of high-resolution images as a damage assessment tool," Daniel Brown, a member of the Cambridge team, toldSciDev.Net.

A recovery monitoring system could improve coordination and decision-making, and warn if the reconstruction is not going according to plan, say the researchers.

"Analysing past recovery processes will also allow us to identify examples of good and bad practice and to provide 'lessons learned' to stakeholders that can hopefully be applied to future and ongoing responses," Brown said.

Their approach is to integrate satellite data into 13 'performance indicators' such as length of roads and distribution of housing. Data is then compared with on-the-ground reports collected from household surveys and interviews with recovery workers.

The method is based on two case studies, in Pakistan and Thailand, which are documented in the team's report, 'Disaster Recovery Indicators', aimed at policymakers and released last year.

In April, the researchers will begin a one-year project in which they hope to work more closely with the authorities in Haiti, Pakistan and Thailand. "We hope the system will be ready to deploy by the end of the [one-year] project," Brown told SciDev.Net.

They also hope to develop links with other nations and international organisations, and dispatch researchers to Japan.

Sarah Bailey, research officer at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute said: "Finding practical and systematic ways to link technology with reconstruction processes could play an important role in monitoring progress".

But she warned that the complexity of how and why communities and governments recover from disasters is difficult to capture through such indicators alone.

War against TB in Rajasthan soon: Minister

JAIPUR: A host of programme, including a two-wheeler rally, were organised across the state for awareness on World Tuberculosis Day on Thursday.

State TB disease officer K N Gupta said various programme were organised during the day to create awareness about the disease.

He said the disease is completely curable provided the affected people take regular medicine. Since the treatment takes a long duration, patients sometimes leave treatment mid way resulting in development of a drug-resistant form of the disease.

In the state level function held here, medical and health minister A A Khan flagged off a two-wheeler rally in the morning to create awareness about the disease and its treatment.

Speaking at the function, he said the government is providing free treatment to TB patients under the Directly Observed Treatment Short (DOTS) course and asked people to take the benefits and help in the eradication of the disease.

At another public function organsied at Idgah ground at the Delhi Bypass Road, minister of state for health Rajkumar Sharma announced that his ministry would chalk out a programme called TB ke virudh yudh' (war against TB) in the state soon.

He called for public co-operation in eradicating the disease which continues to be a major health problem.

Sharma said there is no need for fear or concealing the disease as effective treatment is now available.

The minister also highlighted that the government is providing Rs 1.5 lakh worth of medicines every day for TB patients.

Principal secretary health B N Sharma said Rajasthan comes first in the country in the disease identification survey and treatment of TB patients.

World Tuberculosis Day is observed across the globe to raise awareness about the epidemic of TB and efforts to eliminate the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB and it causes the death of about 1.6 million people each year, mostly in the developing countries.

The Stop TB Partnership, a network of organisations and countries fighting TB, organises the day to highlight the scope of the disease and how to prevent and cure it.

The annual event on March 24 marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch, the German doctor, discovered the cause of tuberculosis as the TB bacillus. This was the first step towards diagnosing and curing TB.

WHO is working to cut TB prevalence rates and deaths by half by 2015.

Though the cause for TB was detected about 129 years back, the disease continues to be a major health problem. The main impediment in controlling the disease is the long duration of the treatment. In the last 50 to 60 years, no major break through could be made in the treatment of the disease.

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21587

AidConnect Newsletter 3/2011 - Japan Disaster

AidConnect Newsletter 3/2011 - Japan Disaster

Focus

On focus is the catastrophe in Japan. Many international and local relief organizations are mobilizing to provide help. If you want to know how to help, please clickhere.

Topic

In our topic section you can find links to documents and web pages which offer further information on how to help the people in Japan. We also like to encourage you to contribute to this list and upload further material.

Project

The featured project on AidConnect is "Hope Letters", a volunteer initiative that was created in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan. The concept is to allow a platform for people from around the world to communicate, in Japanese, their words of hope and encouragement to the people affected by this terrible disaster.

Expert

The featured expert on AidConnect is David Chan, the site's creator. According to him, the site "Hope Letters" is receiving of 1,200 visitors and 100 letters per day.

Best regards,

Carmen Paul
AidConnect Team

AID POLICY: Toolkit to boost response to rapid onset emergencies

humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs


AID POLICY: Toolkit to boost response to rapid onset emergencies

BANGKOK, 15 March 2011 (IRIN) - Experts have developed an Emergency Market Mapping Analysis (EMMA) guidebook and training programme to improve the humanitarian community's ability to respond to rapid onset emergencies.

"Markets are critical to how people survive and run their lives. The most important thing to people is to be able to earn a living and get food on the table," Mike Albu, a market development consultant and EMMA developer, told IRIN. "Ultimately, once the emergency is resolved people need functioning markets to continue on with their lives."

Since 2007, the US Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has collaborated with experts from OXFAM, Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee, spending almost one million dollars to develop a 10-step guidebook, and train humanitarian practitioners to be able to conduct a market analysis in rapid onset emergency environments.

Coined EMMA, the procedure they have developed is appropriate for teams of 5-10 relief workers, providing a quick, rough-and-ready picture of the goods and services most critical to the survival of the local economy, in a matter of weeks. This enables practitioners, even those without market analysis expertise, to assess where aid could best support local livelihoods, making aid more efficient and effective.

EMMAs have already been conducted in 10 different countries around the world, including the recent Haiti earthquake (2010) and cyclone Nargis (2008) in Myanmar. By the end of 2011 almost 200 relief practitioners will be trained to use the toolkit, train others to use it, and to lead an EMMA mission in a rapid onset scenario.

More efficient aid

The knee-jerk response of the humanitarian community to a natural disaster or sudden onset emergency is often to immediately ship or airlift in commodities such as food, clothing and shelter, said Tony Stitt, a regional adviser with OFDA. But that response ignores local capacity and can lead to more expensive and less effective aid.

"In post-Nargis Myanmar, it cost around US$35 to ship a single plastic tarp from overseas, but only $60 to make a house locally out of thatch materials," said Stitt, who conducted market analysis in Myanmar following cyclone Nargis.

"Our analysis revealed that housing materials were readily available; people just needed money to buy them."

EMMAs can point out when a cash-based initiative (giving loans or vouchers to buy local goods) could be more effective, allowing relief organizations to spend less money and ultimately giving the local population more choice as to how they re-build.

Reducing dependency

Understanding the local market better also ensures that aid does not put local providers out of business, ensuring long-term economic recovery.

"Understanding the market helps us come up with not only a cost-effective and more efficient response but also gives us a better exit strategy," said Emily Henderson, an EMMA specialist and regional coordinator with OXFAM who led an EMMA mission in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. "By providing aid through local food and shelter suppliers rather than simply replacing them, you reduce the dependence on foreign aid in the long-run."

In the future, EMMA reports of past disasters could be useful for disaster preparedness.

"Having a baseline analysis of critical markets, particularly in recurrent places like Haiti and Vietnam would make us better off the next time it hits," said Albu.

With that in mind, the developers have created a website where all EMMA reports will be posted and freely accessible.

cm/cb


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Top UN officials speak about the importance of disaster risk reduction following a massive earthquake off Japan's coast

Top UN officials speak about the importance of disaster risk reduction following a massive earthquake off Japan's coast




Type:News briefs
Date:14 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English




Speaking to UN Radio, two of the UN's top officials on disaster reduction weigh in on the devastation caused by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that struck northeastern Japan on Friday and triggered a tsunami that engulfed coastal towns and cities along Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. In the interviews, they highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction and Japan's disaster preparedness.

Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, spoke to Gerry Adams about the international response and the preparedness measures taken by countries to reduce their disaster risk.

"After the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, a lot of work has been invested in building early warning systems", said Ms. Wahlström when asked about what small island nations were doing to reduce their risk to disasters. She said many small island nations, such as Fiji, were given evacuation warnings hours before the tsunami reached these countries.

Sálvano Briceño, Director with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, spoke to Rocío Franco about disaster preparedness in Japan and the risk and impact of a tsunami on the country and the rest of the world.

“In Japan, it’s a traditional effort to reduce their risk to disasters. And their education system includes the relevant information for children from very early ages to be aware and to be prepared to respond to these natural hazards.” Compared to earthquakes, tsunamis are a different hazard affecting a wider geographic area and population. They are high risk hazards since most populations are located along the coast, stressed Mr. Briceño.





Available here
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UN Secretary General on the earthquake that hit Japan

In times of dwindling resources, disaster risk reduction is an easy win

UNISDR

Description
Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011


In times of dwindling resources, disaster risk reduction is an easy win




Type:Press release
Date:9 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English



Geneva, Switzerland – A new report from the United Nations confirms what governments already hear but are slow to believe: that disciplined public sector involvement in “disaster risk reduction” can significantly reduce setbacks brought by hundreds of droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes and other hazards that befall the world each year, on average.

Released today, the “Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters,” points out that a majority of countries have roadmaps for creating and safeguarding wealth, but many are lacking capacity. In some cases, there is capacity but no legal basis for coordination among the different government sectors.

“The world needs to hear from its leaders, ‘This fragmentation leads to weakness. The political, economic and social agenda is not complete if we can’t protect our wealth from the next earthquake or storm,’” says Ms. Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction. “The report emphasizes that countries need to conduct risk assessments that lead to wiser development plans, to be carried out by institutions that are well-funded, well-coordinated and trustworthy.”

The report, written half-way through the ten-year mandate of the Hyogo Framework, analyses the findings from nine workshops around the world on disaster risk reduction, four online debates involving over 300 participants, six in-depth studies, a literature review and internal reviews conducted by major non-governmental organizations and bilateral and multilateral aid organizations.

Agreed in 2005, the Hyogo Framework for Action is the world’s only blueprint for staving off losses caused by natural hazards, often overshadowed by news on losses from war, unemployment or inflation. The earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 and New Zealand in September 2010 and February 2011, and the floods in Pakistan in July 2010 and in Australia in December 2010 are some recent examples of the devastating effects of disasters on lives and social and economic fabric of the societies.

According to the report, countries that regularly experience disasters have become more safety conscious. Those countries are now trying to ensure that disaster lessons are not forgotten, such as Japan with its National Day of Earthquake Remembrance and National Disaster Risk Reduction Day. Similar examples can be found in Bangladesh, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, and Vietnam.

Countries are also more serious about implementing the Hyogo Framework. The number of countries voluntarily reporting on progress through the “HFA Monitor,” developed after the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, has risen since the Framework came into being in 2005. During the first reporting cycle ending in 2007, 27 governments completed reports on HFA implementation. The number grew to 77 during the second reporting cycle, ending in 2009. For the cycle ending in 2011, more than 100 reports have been initiated nationally.

Many countries also have recently enacted laws relating to disaster risk reduction, among them India, Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Anguilla (UK), Gambia, Indonesia, Egypt, Philippines, Zambia and Papua New Guinea. The report however notes that countries must strive for “a senior, over-arching authority” that can set policies, be accountable for how policies are carried out and ensure enough funds to sustain work in disaster risk reduction.

Ms. Wahlström cautioned: “We are still far from having empowered individuals adopt a disaster risk reduction approach in their daily lives. We need individuals to demand that development, environmental and humanitarian policies and practices be based on sound risk reduction measures.”

When the Hyogo Framework for Action ends in 2015, a successor framework for disaster risk reduction, was indicated in the report, should be based on “solid, structural links” with sustainable development and climate change international framework agreements.

Said Ms. Wahlström: “This report provides an opportunity to catalyze discussion and focus attention on activities that must be undertaken urgently if we are to achieve the outcome expected in the Hyogo Framework for Action by 2015 and contribute to setting the agenda for the Rio+20 world summit on sustainable development, planned for 2012.”


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