The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations (UN). It
bridges the academic world and the UN system. Its goal is to develop
sustainable solutions for current and future problems of humankind in all
aspects of life. Through a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach it
aims at applied research and education on a global scale. UNU was founded in
1973 and is an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly. The
University comprises headquarters Tokyo, Japan, and more than a dozen Institutes
and Programmes worldwide.
Earthquakes, floods, droughts, storms: disasters
seem to occur unexpectedly and with unimaginable force. But why do some countries
better succeed than others to cope with extreme natural events? The
WorldRiskReport 2011 helps to evaluate the vulnerability of societies to
natural hazards. On behalf of Alliance Development Works,
UNU-EHS has developed the WorldRiskIndex and calculated risk values for
173 countries worldwide.
Press conference
When?2 September 2011, 10.30-11.45 a.m.
Where?UNRIC Meeting room, rue de la
Loi/Wetstraat, 155, B-1040 Brussels. 8th Floor.
Entrance Block C2
Who? PD Dr Jörn Birkmann, Scientific Head of the
WorldRiskIndex project at the United Nations University Institute for
Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Bonn/Germany
Peter Mucke, Editor
WorldRiskReport, Managing Director of Alliance Development Works, Berlin/Germany
Please find here selected press coverage on the WorldRiskReport.
Background & highlights of the report
The WorldRiskReport 2011 helps to evaluate
the vulnerability of societies to natural hazards. Using world maps to
visualize, it shows on the one hand where the probability of a natural hazard to
occur is particularly high; on the other hand it is shown in which countries the
population can cope with these events especially good or bad. The central
element of the WorldRiskReport, the concept of the WorldRiskIndex, was developed
by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
in Bonn/Germany, in cooperation with the Alliance Development Works and its partners.
Alliance Development Works also is editor of the report.
The WorldRiskReport 2011 consists of the index,
a main topic and case studies. The index illustrates the risk of various
countries and regions to be hit by a disaster. Special emphasis is put on
exposure, susceptibility of the population, coping capacities and adaptation
strategies. The main topic of the report is "governance and civil society".
Here, the risk factors government failure and on-site risk management are
analysed, as well as the possibilities to call for governmental responsibility.
Case studies illustrate the main topic.
