News & Events
Views from the Frontline gathers momentum
The VFTF global survey has now engaged several hundred collaborating organisations and over 4000 people in over 40 countries - from Local Government, Civil Society Organisations and from communities, have been surveyed. The report being developed from the data will be delivered in formal sessions at the UN ISDR Global Platform 2009.
Global Network makes new connections
With a membership distributed right across the world, building the network depends on making the most of commuications technologies. As well as heavy use of email and skype the network now has a new website with a members area offering a wide range of facilities for communication, collaboration and sharing. The site provides Discussion forums, chat, wikis, blogs, picture stores and document stores to allow teams to collaborate together on projects including the HFA Global Review and the Views from the Frontline survey.
Marcus in the Blogosphere
Global Network director Marcus Oxley has had his first blogging experience. 'I'm not into technology for technology's sake' says Marcus, 'But we wanted to get people talking about a particularly important issue - the impact of climate change on communities vulnerable to disasters'.
Read the discussion at
http://globalnetworkdr.blogspot.com/
This is an issue that's rising up the world's agenda as people recognise that many effects of change are irreversible. The new, (unfortunately uncool) jargon term is 'Climate Adaptation'. A programme of meetings is taking place leading up to a major new UN response to climate adaptation. The concern of the network is that the links between this issue and disaster risk reduction are recognised and acted on. For example the devastation caused by floods in the Irawaddy delta last year was made worse by the stripping out of the mangrove swamps which were natural buffers against the rising waters. Restoration of natural environments is just one way that responses to climate adaptation go hand in hand with responses to disaster reduction.
The Global Network is creating connections between high level policy and the needs of communities round the world for concrete practical responses which reduce their vulnerability to disasters - and even more so as shifts in climate patterns add to the prevalance of extreme weather events.
