Disasters

Loss and Damage from Climate Change

Opinion Author: Saleemul Huq

The recent succession of hurricanes in the Caribbean and floods in South Asia have taken the world over the tipping point in acknowledging that human induced climate change is not only real but is happening already.

Of course there are still some deniers like US President Donald Trump and his environment chief Pruitt, but they lack credibility.


For a more resilient world, promote women's leadership: expert

Opinion Author: Megan Rowling

Understanding better how women are affected by disasters, economic shocks and other crises is key to helping their communities ride out pressures including climate change, a top resilience expert says.

But putting them in the driver's seat to deal with the problems is equally crucial, she said.

Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, senior associate director with The Rockefeller Foundation, said women are often resourceful in finding ways for their families to bounce back from disasters.


With a touch of paint, India's women slum dwellers battle extreme heat

Stories from the field Author: Rina Chandran

As summer heat becomes unbearable, simple measures can help people cope better. Meenaben used to dread the onset of summer every year. Her small two-room home in a slum in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad would get so hot that she could not sit indoors for several hours in the day, even with a ceiling fan running. Two months ago, however, she agreed to try an experiment: A non-profit organisation that works in the Ramesh Dutt Colony where she lives, on the outskirts of the city, painted her tin roof with white reflective paint, to try to reduce the heat.


Three ways of communicating to stop disasters happening

Opinion Author: Robert Glasser

"News coverage builds awareness of crises, drums up donations and connects the needy with people who can help.  But are we leveraging the full potential of media and communication to stop disasters happening in the first place?" The head of UNISDR, Robert Glasser, writes for BBC Media Action on how to leverage the media and communication to try and stop disasters happening in the first place. The media are viewed as important stakeholders in helping to reduce disaster losses as outlined in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.


Takeaway Points from the Training On Storm-Resistant Housing Design and Construction in Da Nang

Takeaways Author: Anh Tran

Da Nang is one of the cities that is most affected by climate change in Vietnam because of storm surges and typhoons that take place almost every year. For the past month, ISET and the city of Da Nang organized 11 training sessions on housing design and construction in typhoon-affected areas to explore pathways for scaling up a storm-resilient housing model to the whole city.