Most of the exorbitant costs of disaster are preventable with proper funding and planning —one of the main messages for this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, themed Fund Resilience, Not Disasters, observed on Monday. “Every dollar invested in resilience saves many more in avoided losses and protects the...
Most of the exorbitant costs of disaster are preventable with proper funding and planning —one of the main messages for this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, themed Fund Resilience, Not Disasters, observed on Monday. “Every dollar invested in resilience saves many more in avoided losses and protects the...
“While the major aftershocks have passed, or have mostly passed, women in affected areas are facing a long-term disaster without more urgent assistance,” said Susan Ferguson, UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan. One woman rescuer supported by the UN agency described “scrambling” along the sides of mountains, “dodging falling rocks...
“We are walking the fine grey line between operational capacity and full disaster, every day,” said Dr Thanos Gargavanis, WHO trauma surgeon and emergency officer, speaking from the enclave. The veteran UN medic’s comments came amid new reports on Tuesday morning that more Palestinians had been killed trying to access...
Their warning comes amid growing international concern about the vulnerability of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities which rely on a stable power grid to maintain critical safety systems. “The latest large-scale Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s electricity system has led to further significant damage to electric substations that are essential to the...
In a new alert, UNRWA highlighted how Gazans’ shelters have become a target for insects and rodents after more than 11 months of war – echoing deep concerns among humanitarians about the lack of basic hygiene items that have left families unprotected from communicable diseases. Echoing those warnings, top independent...
UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said that many areas in the enclave have been flooded, “worsening the struggle of displaced Palestinians”, while UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini was due to brief journalists in Geneva on the situation on Thursday, following his most recent visit to Gaza. Almost 1.9 million people...
Briefing reporters from Gaza, Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described corridors overflowing with trauma patients at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, where doctors treat people on the floor and fuel, oxygen, food and water are scarce. In just 66 days of fighting, the Strip has...
In a letter to the President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned that UNRWA’s ability to implement its mandate in Gaza is “severely limited” and that the primary platform for humanitarian assistance to over 2.2 million...
Briefing the Security Council, Abdoulaye Bathily noted the thousands of lives lost by the dam bursts which destroyed whole neighbourhoods after Storm Daniel slammed the region on 10 September. The Special Representative told ambassadors that despite the sense of national unity and compassion shown by ordinary Libyans, the disaster had...
According to various estimates, up to 75 per cent of extreme weather events are currently connected to climate change, fuelled by carbon emissions. The countries experiencing the greatest losses from disasters are those who contribute the least to the problem. UN figures reveal that from 1970 through 2019, some 91...
He called for solidarity with the people of the two countries and spoke of the tragedy of people looking desperately for their loved ones for days on end. In Libya, “some have lost 50 or more family members”, he said. Immediate deployment Asked whether the UN was “ready” when disaster...