Humanitarian issues

GENEVA, 21 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — The private sector’s potential role in building resilient societies, and especially in repairing vital infrastructure damaged by disasters, was highlighted by several panellists this afternoon at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which opened here yesterday.

GENEVA, 21 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ The global consequences of disasters, and the need for strengthening resilience through partnerships and investment, were stressed at the opening ceremony of the fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva this morning.

GENEVA, 20 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — The private sector is increasingly committed to disaster risk reduction, but more should be done to develop its partnerships with the public sector and communities, said business representatives attending consultations today at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

GENEVA, 20 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — There would be no disaster resilience without effective decentralization, without empowering communities and without addressing social inequalities and poverty alleviation, local government representatives told a meeting there today. The fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction heard from several stakeholder groups who met to explore common ground for a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

GENEVA, 20 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — clear roles and mandates are frequently lacking from national platforms for disaster risk reduction, said several government representatives meeting today on the international framework for disaster risk reduction to be adopted in 2015. To be effective, such platforms should involve coordination among all the relevant actors, including the private sector and civil society, which were also part of this morning’s discussions.

GENEVA, 20 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — The private sector acts financially with a shorter payback requirement than the public sector, but if both are left to operate separately, opportunities will be lost, warned speakers in a discussion this afternoon of how to boost private-sector involvement in reducing disaster risk.

The following statement was issued on 21 April by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Kyung-wha Kang (Republic of Korea) as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She will replace Catherine Bragg of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedication to humanitarian issues.

Following are the closing remarks of UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson to the Special Thematic Session of the General Assembly on Water and Disasters, as prepared for delivery, in New York, 6 March: