International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) News and publications

News

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Building drought resilience

For the world’s rivers 2025 was one of the driest years in more than three decades. UNEP sets out what drought is doing to households and ecosystems, and the adaptation measures – from Sri Lankan tank cascades to zai pits in Niger – that reduce the risk.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Update
Geneva hosts first global UN event on risk communication

On this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR, UNESCO and IFRC explored how reliable information, resilient media and local knowledge help communities understand risks and prepare for disasters.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Resilience-building games
Update
IDDRR: Geneva students take disaster preparedness home

A hands-on experience of disaster risk reduction helps equip the next generation for a resilient future.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Update
Risk assessment highlights role of construction in earthquake losses

The Global Earthquake Model Foundation's 2026 global seismic risk assessment reports unreinforced masonry and earthen construction account for more than half of the buildings estimated to be destroyed by earthquake shaking in an average year worldwide

Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM)
Update
Uganda: marks the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has urged homeowners, landlords and developers to prioritise safety in construction, warning that buildings erected without approved plans, quality materials and qualified professionals can turn homes into death traps

Kampala Capital City Authority
A man cries amid the rubble of a damaged building in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela (June, 2026)
Update
Disasters cost $228 billion in housing losses every year

Marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the UN chief stressed that “as climate and disaster risks multiply, building safer dwellings is the shared responsibility of governments, developers, engineers and communities”.

United Nations - Headquarters
Chang Ghar (Raised plinth houses) in Assam
Manu Gupta
This blog resilience means having more choices when risks arise. Strengthening livelihoods, empowering women and protecting ecosystems helps households build financial security, manage uncertainty and adapt to changing circumstances.
Update
Resilience starts at home in LAC

For this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDP describes how risk-informed housing and land-use planning is taking shape in Cuba, Jamaica and Venezuela, in a region where 81.2 per cent of the population lives in cities.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
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Publications

Concept note: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) 2026 thumbnail
Documents and publications

The 2026 IDDRR aims to raise global awareness of the centrality of the home in disaster risk reduction, advocate for stronger governance and investment in resilient housing.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Concept Note: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 thumbnail
Documents and publications

The theme for the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is "Fund Resilience, Not Disasters". This theme highlights the need to address the escalating costs of disasters by shifting focus from reactive response to proactive investments in DRR.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Conference Report Fifth World Tsunami Museum Conference
Documents and publications

This is a conference report of the Fifth World Tsunami Museum Conference (WTMC5) which was held on 14 October 2024 during the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR 2024) in the Philippines.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Kobe Office
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Philippines - government
GAR 2025 Publication cover
Documents and publications

The Global Assessment Report 2025: Resilience Pays: Financing and Investing for our Future highlights how smarter investment can reset the destructive cycle of disasters, debt, uninsurability and humanitarian need that threatens a climate-changed world.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Cover
Documents and publications

This policy brief highlights priority areas for actionable advances in improving food security, nutrition and child health in Burkina Faso in the context of a changing climate.

London School of Economics and Political Science, the
Cover and source: DRR Dynamics
Documents and publications

This briefing note highlights the need to ensure that disaster risk reduction policies are inclusive of hyper-marginalised children and youth, not just a moral imperative but a strategic necessity for building truly resilient societies.

DRR Dynamics Ltd
Cover and source: World Bank
Documents and publications

Education is a key asset for climate action. Education reshapes behaviors, develops skills, and spurs innovation. This report outlines data, evidence, examples, and a policy agenda on how to harness education and learning to propel climate action.

World Bank, the
Cover
Documents and publications

This paper examines the impact of school-age exposure to storms on education and employment outcomes in India.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Cover
Documents and publications

This report examines the impacts of labour migration on children in the context of climate change.

World Vision International
Cover
Documents and publications

This case study shows how UNICEF, the Government of Madagascar and civil society are working together to pilot a ground-breaking, innovative finance solution that includes a child-responsive, parametric risk transfer product for tropical cyclones.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)