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Category: Asia Pacific

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s ‘small and beautiful’ foreign aid projects show global commitment

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    A report focusing on “small and beautiful” projects in China’s foreign aid was unveiled on Tuesday, demonstrating China’s commitment and efforts to promote international development cooperation and achieve the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

    The reports is the fifth of its kind regarding China’s practice in international development cooperation released by the China International Development Cooperation Agency and the Center for International Knowledge on Development.

    A large number of “small and beautiful” projects have taken root worldwide over the years, establishing renowned and widely recognized Chinese foreign aid brands, such as Chinese medical teams, Juncao technology, and Luban workshops, according to the report.

    As an important direction and priority of the Belt and Road development, those small-scaled, well-grounded and replicable projects aim to improve people’s well-being and boost people-to-people bond in recipient countries, the report said.

    They demonstrate the humanistic care and kindness of China’s foreign aid and international development cooperation, it added.

    In the next step, China will scale up those projects and magnify the comprehensive benefits of the projects based on efforts in top-level design, communication and coordination, diversified participation and management efficiency, it said.

    Also on Monday, another report on the country’s green development assistance was released as the sixth issue of China’s international development cooperation practice.

    The report showed that since 2018, the country has carried out 184 assistant projects in green development totaling 30 billion yuan ($4.11 billion), benefiting 75 countries.

    The aid, ranging from sustainable agricultural development, clean energy development to climate change response and environmental protection and pollution control, are provided through various ways including technical assistance, materials and complete sets, the report noted.

    Hu Zhangliang, vice-chairman of the CIDCA, said that China closely aligns its assistance with the development plans of partner countries, ensuring that improving local livelihoods and well-being remains the key focus.

    China will, as always, play an active and important role in global development and continuously expanding the scope of foreign aid and international development cooperation, enriching aid modalities, increasing investment in global development cooperation and strengthening supervision and evaluation of aid programs, Hu said.

    China is also willing to strengthen cooperation with developed countries and emerging economies, and carry out tripartite and multilateral cooperation with more international organizations, complementing each other and jointly promote the realization of UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development, he added.

    Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi, Pakistani ambassador to China, said that China’s “small and beautiful projects” and green development financing align with Pakistan’s national economic transformation plan from 2024 to 2029, and complement with the upgraded version of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

    “We are grateful to China for launching a series of ‘small and beautiful’ projects in Pakistan…These projects are yet another demonstration of China’s enduring commitment to promoting inclusive development,” he said.

    By fostering partnerships in key sectors through targeted cooperation initiatives, CIDCA is improving local employment and building local capacities, he said, adding that Pakistan is keen to further expand partnership with the agency in broader areas of cooperation.

    Zhao Bing, representative of the UN World Food Programme in China, said that thanks to the support of CIDCA and the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, WFP has implemented 53 practical people-centered projects across 36 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which have impacted the lives of more than 10 million people.

    “We serve as a bridge for South-South and triangular cooperation, sharing Chinese knowledge, technology, expertise throughout the Global South countries,” Zhao said.

    The WFP commits to further deepening and expanding collaboration with the public and private sectors represented by CIDCA, redouble efforts through “small and beautiful” projects and green development projects, so as to leverage additional resources, innovation and technology from China and beyond, in an effort to end hunger and achieve the sustainable development goals for resilient, inclusive future for all, he said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: BLACKWOOD ROAD, MILLICENT (Grass Fire)

    Source: Country Fire Service – South Australia

    Issued on
    12 Feb 2025 12:37

    Issued for
    MILLICENT in The Lower South East.

    Warning level
    Advice – Avoid Smoke

    Action
    Smoke from MILLICENT Fire is in the Southern Ports Highway,wattle Road,Blackwood Road, Acacia Drive, Hakea Drive, Racecourse Road, Banksia Road and Stringy Bark Drive. area.

    Smoke can affect your health. You should stay informed and be aware of the health impacts of smoke on yourself and others.

    Symptoms of exposure includes shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, burning eyes, running nose, chest tightness, chest pain and dizziness or light-headedness.

    If you or anyone in your care are having difficulty breathing, seek medical attention from your local GP. If your symptoms become severe, call 000.

    More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Rights of Palestinians to Self-Determination

    Source: ASEAN

    We reaffirm our longstanding support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the rights to self-determination, and to their homeland. We call on the international community to ensure respect for international law, international humanitarian and human rights law.We urge all parties concerned to engage in meaningful dialogue to achieve a comprehensive and peaceful resolution to the longstanding conflict based on the two-State solution in accordance with international law and the relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions, including UNGA resolution A/RES/ES-10/23 on the Admission of New Members to the UN dated 10 May 2024 which we all voted in favour.

    Download the full statement here.
    The post ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Rights of Palestinians to Self-Determination appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Financial Accounts Workshop

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    Provisional Timetable PDF PDF
    Session 1. New Recommendations in the 2025 SNA pertaining to financial accounts    
    Session 1: Video recording Link Link
    Recommendations in the 2025 SNA pertaining to the financial accounts (IMF) PDF PDF
    Session 2. Use of financial accounts for analytical purposes    
    Session 2: Video recording Link Link
    Use of Financial Account Balance Sheet in the EU (Eurostat) PDF PDF
    Use  of Financial Accounts for Analytical Purposes (Central Bank of The Republic of Türkiye) PDF PDF
    Use of financial accounts for analytical purposes. Private Sector Debt with a focus on NFCs (National Bank of Belgium) PDF PDF
    Session 3. Issues related to non-financial corporations    
    Session 3: Video recording link link
    Analyzing Non-Financial Corporation Using Institutional Sector Accounts (IMF) PDF PDF
    Financial Accounts in Armenia (Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia) PDF PDF
    Compilation of Financial Accounts for Non-Financial Corporations (Central Bank of The Republic of Türkiye) PDF PDF
    Compilation and Utilisation of the Financial Account of the Non-financial Corporations (NFC) Sector: Experience, Challenges, and Opportunities (Bank Indonesia) PDF PDF
    Non-financial corporations: compilation process in the Belgian financial accounts matrix (National Bank of Belgium) PDF PDF
    Non-financial Corporations (Statistics Iceland) PDF PDF
    Session 4. Issues related to household sector    
    Session 4: Video recording link link
    Household Sectors Issues Using Institutional Sector Accounts (IMF) PDF PDF
       Exercise 1 XLSX, PDF XLSX, PDF
       Exercise 1 – Solution XLSX XLSX
       Exercise 2 XLSX, PDF XLSX, PDF
       Exercise 2 – Solution XLSX XLSX
    The household sector (Statistics Iceland) PDF PDF
    Recording Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics (IMF) PDF PDF
       F.18 The Recording of Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics PDF PDF
    Challenges with Cryptocurrencies in Georgia (National Statistics Office of Georgia) PDF PDF
    Foreign currency held by Households (National Bank of Moldova) PDF PDF
    Session 5. Issues related to financial instruments and specific transactions    
    Session 5: Video recording link link
    Financial instruments (ECB) PDF PDF
       Exercises on  Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) XLSX XLSX
       Exercises on  Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) – Solutions XLSX XLSX
    Statistical measurement of illicit financial flows (UNCTAD) PDF PDF
    Non-financial Corporations equity liabilities (National Bank of Moldova) PDF PDF
    Session 6. Who-to-whom, consistency and balancing    
    Session 6: Video recording link link
    Recommendations to improve the Vertical Consistency of EU Sector Accounts (ECB) PDF PDF
    Combining sources and balancing the accounts (ECB) PDF PDF
       Exercises on balancing XLSX XLSX
       Exercises on balancing – Solution XLSX XLSX
    Financial Accounts in Kyrgyzstan (National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic) PDF PDF
    From-whom-to-whom – practical solution for compiling FA statistics, NBRNM case (National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia) PDF PDF
    Who-to-whom, consistency and balancing (Statistics Iceland) PDF PDF
    Session 7. Conclusions and recommendations    
    Session 7: Video recording link link
    Conclusions and way forward PDF PDF

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Migrant workers ‘indispensable’ to global economic growth: UN labour agency

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Migrants and Refugees

    International migrants comprised 4.7 per cent of the labour force in 2022 – an indication of the crucial role they play in the global economy, the UN labour agency ILO said in a report published on Monday. 

    Some 167.7 million migrants were part of the labour force in their destination countries in 2022 – an increase of more than 30 million since 2013, according to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers.

    Of this number, 102.7 million were men and 64.9 million were women.

    Regional distribution

    Most migrants were concentrated in high-income countries, which accounted for more than 68 per cent of the overall total.

    They were mainly drawn to three regions: Northern, Southern and Western Europe; North America and the Arab States.

    The share living in Northern, Southern and Western Europe rose from 22.5 per cent in 2013 to 23.3 per cent in 2022, while the other two regions saw slight declines.

    Gender disparities

    The term “international migrants in the labour force” means that persons can be working or unemployed, and more than 155 million had jobs. 

    The ILO noted, however, that significant gender disparities persisted, as migrant women had an employment-to-population ratio of only 48.1 per cent, compared to nearly 73 per cent for their male counterparts.

    Migrants also faced a higher unemployment rate compared to non-migrants, or 7.2 per cent versus 5.2 per cent.  Again, women were more affected.

    “This disparity may be driven by factors such as language barriers, unrecognized qualifications, discrimination, limited childcare options, and gender-based expectations that restrict employment opportunities, particularly for women,” the ILO said.

    Further findings reveal that a significant portion of migrants, 68.4 per cent, were employed in the services sector – a trend largely driven by the global demand for care and domestic work, particularly among women.

    Nearly 30 per cent of migrant women, and 12.4 per cent of men, were employed in these types of jobs, compared to 19.2 per cent of non-migrant women and 6.2 per cent of non-migrant men.

    UN Women/Staton Winter

    In Singapore, an Indonesian domestic worker prepares food in her employer’s kitchen after an early morning trip to the grocery store (file).

    An ‘indispensable’ force

    The report underscored the complexities of labour migration and the need for targeted policies to support international migrants. 

    With most of these workers employed in high-demand sectors, ensuring equitable access to employment opportunities must be a priority. 

    “Migrant workers are indispensable in addressing global labour shortages and contributing to economic growth,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo. 

    “Ensuring their rights and access to decent work is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity.” 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Holding the frontline against desertification

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    By Dan Dickinson in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Climate and Environment

    Some one billion people globally under the age of 25 live in regions where they depend on the land and natural resources for jobs and livelihoods, according to the UN, but their future is increasingly under threat due to desertification and land degradation.

    Across the world young and old are responding to this threat by adopting new approaches to working on the land that may not only prevent more degradation but may also provide new livelihood opportunities.

    The issue of desertification, drought and land restoration are being discussed at a global meeting of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which continues in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, until 13 December.

    UN News/Daniel Dickinson

    Communities in southern Madagascar are planting sisal to protect the land from erosion and degradation.

    Drawing a line in the sand in Madagascar

    In the south of the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, productive land has been lost at an alarming pace to sand driven inland across farmland by powerful seasonal winds.

    The communities that live here are amongst the most vulnerable in Madagascar and as the sandy soils they farm become ever more degraded, they can no longer cultivate their land and their livelihoods are threatened.

    But now, with the support of the UN, communities have been growing sisal plants, which are resistant to severe conditions and well adapted to a more arid environment.

    When cultivated in grids, they can help to secure the topsoil and prevent further erosion.  This means fewer sandstorms and more opportunities to work the land.

    “Before on the land where we are standing there was nothing here, just sand. So, we could not grow our crops. But now, we have planted sisal which has been good for the village,” said Lydia Monique Anjarasoa.

    Listen to The Lid is On podcast from UN News to find out more about how communities are holding back the winds of change.

    © UNEP/Duncan Moore

    Thadiq National Park manager Abdullah Ibrahim Alissa surveys saplings at a tree nursery in a desert area of central Saudi Arabia.

    Regreening the desert in Saudi Arabia

    In Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Ibrahim Alissa described how the arid land he grew up on to the north of the country’s capital, Riyadh, deteriorated and suffered the effects of desertification.

    The land falls within the rocky Thadiq National Park, known for its sweeping valleys. As its current manager, Mr. Alissa took on a project to rehabilitate the 660-square-kilometre-park. This has involved planting 250,000 trees and one million shrubs as well as the construction of terraced dams to catch the area’s sparse rainwater.

    “Through afforestation projects, protection and care, the area has completely changed,” said Mr. Alissa.  

    Restoring Thadiq National Park is part of Saudi Arabia’s wider plan to re-green huge swathes of desert at home and abroad. The push is designed to tackle drought, desertification and land degradation, which are threatening countries across West Asia and North Africa.

    Three quarters of the arable land in the region is already degraded, and 60 per cent of the population is already experiencing water scarcity, a number set to increase by 2050.  

    Saudi Arabia has partnered with UNCCD to launch the G20 global land initiative, which aims to cut land degradation by 50 per cent by 2040.

    WFP/Pamela Gentile

    In Niger, 1.8 million people are benefitting from World Food Programme (WFP) integrated resilience initiatives..

    Harvesting hope in Niger

    Climate change, land degradation, soaring price and conflict have made the already challenging lives of farmers in the Sahel region of Africa even more precarious, but communities have come together, with the support of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) integrated resilience programme, to cultivate a better life.

    Foureyratou Saidou, a single mother of four and recent widow from the Tilaberi area of Niger, is one of around three million people in the region who have benefitted from the initiative, which promotes land rehabilitation, livelihood diversification, school meals, nutrition interventions and improved agricultural production and market access.

    “In this garden, we now grow and harvest onions, tomatoes, lettuce and other vegetables that we eat and that we can sell in the local market,” she said. “Before, we didn’t have much to live for. Now we do, and we don’t want to leave.”

    With better access to markets, Ms. Saidou is able to sell the food she does not consume at home and provide for her children.

    WFP/Souleymane Ag Anara

    An aerial view of WFP-supported community gardens in Niger’s Tillaberi region, which are part of a broader, multi-partner Sahel resilience initiative.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Six bold environmental leaders named 2024 Champions of the Earth

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Climate and Environment

    Brazil’s first-ever Minister of Indigenous Peoples and an initiative promoting sustainable agriculture in Egypt are among the six recipients of the 2024 Champions of the Earth award, announced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday. 

    The laureates were honoured for their outstanding leadership, brave actions and sustainable solutions to tackle land degradation, drought and desertification.

    Protecting people and the planet

    The Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honour and recognizes trailblazers from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia who are at the forefront of efforts to protect both people and the planet.

    It has been presented annually since 2005, with122 laureates to date.

    This year, nominations focused on finding champions who are restoring degraded land, increasing drought resilience and preventing desertification.

    Honouring ‘extraordinary individuals’

    UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen noted that almost 40 per cent of the world’s land is already degraded.  At the same time, desertification is on the rise and devastating droughts are becoming more regular.

    “The good news is that solutions already exist today, and around the world, extraordinary individuals and organizations are demonstrating that it is possible to defend and heal our planet,” she said.

    “The efforts of the 2024 Champions of the Earth stand tall as a reminder that the fight to protect our land, our rivers and our oceans is a fight we can win. With the right policies, scientific breakthroughs, system reforms, activism, as well as the vital leadership and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples, we can restore our ecosystems.”

    Meet the Champions

    Sonia Guajajara, Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, was honoured in the Policy Leadership category.

    Ms. Guajajara has been advocating for Indigenous rights for more than two decades. She became Brazil’s first Minister of Indigenous Peoples and the country’s first female Indigenous minister in 2023. Under her leadership, 10 territories have been recognized as Indigenous land to ward off deforestation, illegal logging, and drug traffickers.

    Amy Bowers Cordalis, an Indigenous rights advocate, received the award in the Inspiration and Action category

    Ms. Cordalis is using her legal expertise and passion for restoration to secure a better future for the Yurok tribe and the Klamath River in the United States. UNEP said her work to restore the river ecosystem and encourage the adoption of sustainable fishing practices demonstrate how bold environmental action can bring significant positive change, while upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights and livelihoods.

    Gabriel Paun, a Romanian environmental defender, was honoured in the Inspiration and Action category.

    Mr. Paun is the founder of Agent Green, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which has been helping save thousands of hectares of precious biodiversity in the Carpathians since 2009 by exposing the destruction and illegal logging of Europe’s last old growth forest.

    He has received death threats and been physically attacked for his work in documenting deforestation in an area that is vital for the ecosystem and supports unique biodiversity such as endangered lynx and wolves.

    Chinese scientist Lu Qi was honoured in the Science and Innovation category.  He has worked in science and policy sectors for three decades, helping China reverse degradation and shrink its deserts

    As Chief Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Forestry and founding President of the Institute of Great Green Wall, Mr. Lu has played a key role in implementing the world’s largest afforestation project, establishing expert research networks and partnerships, and boosting multilateral cooperation to stem desertification, land degradation and drought.

    Madhav Gadgil, an Indian ecologist was named as the laureate in the Lifetime Achievement category.  He has spent decades protecting people and the planet through research and community engagement.

    “From landmark environmental impact assessments of state and national policies to grassroots environmental engagement, Gadgil’s work has greatly influenced public opinion and official policies on the protection of natural resources.

    “He is renowned for his seminal work in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region of India, which is a unique global biodiversity hotspot,” said UNEP.

    The SEKEM initiative in Egypt was honoured in the Entrepreneurial Vision category for helping farmers transition to more sustainable agriculture.

    Its promotion of biodynamic agriculture plus afforestation and reforestation work has been transforming large swathes of desert into thriving agricultural business, advancing sustainable development across the country. 

    © World Bank/Andrea Borgarello

    A woman carries a baby and a water container as she walks across arid land in Niger.

    Restoring the world’s ecosystems

    Roughly 3.2 billion people worldwide are currently threatened by desertification, according to UNEP. Additionally, by 2050, more than three-quarters of the world’s population is expected to be affected by droughts. 

    In March 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. 

    Led by UNEP and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and supported by partners, it aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the loss and degradation of ecosystems worldwide to revive billions of hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. 

    The announcement of the 2024 Champions of the Earth on 10 December coincides with Human Rights Day and the Resilience Day at the 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Successful localization of disaster risk reduction efforts in Nepal is supported through well-coordinated UN partners present at the provincial levels, and innovative research partnership

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Nepal is exposed to a range of natural hazards, such as floods, landslides, droughts, and severe weather events including lightning storms. Nepal’s population is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as it largely relies on agriculture, tourism and natural resources, with a shift towards services and away from agriculture in recent years. The accelerated melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas increases the risk from related hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods and avalanches. It also impacts the availability of water and hydropower for 2 billion people downstream of major Asian rivers originating in the Himalayas in the longer term. Nepal is further prone to earthquakes as it is located above the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Environmental sustainability, climate and disaster resilience are a priority of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 for Nepal, including a focus area on the reduction of vulnerabilities, disaster risk reduction, preparedness and effective response and recovery. The Results Group on Disaster Risk Reduction is co-chaired by WFP and UNDP, who coordinate closely with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the Humanitarian Country Team. Leaving no-one behind and the localization of sustainable development efforts cut across the four priorities of the Framework and translates into targeting the most vulnerable through household-level data gathering and supporting social protection systems.

    The United Nations organizations are supporting Nepal’s localised approach to resilience building and disaster risk reduction at the federal, provincial, and local levels of government. Close and sustained cooperation at all levels of government since the federalisation in 2017 has led to the creation of disaster risk reduction plans that are implemented with government resources, with the United Nations organizations mainly being requested to provide specialised technical support.

    An innovative system of providing single entry points for government officials is the Provincial Focal Point Agencies concept, which nominates one of the UN organizations present at the provincial level as the focal point to liaise with provincial governments, relay information, convene development partners around the request for support, and hold coordination meetings. The Provincial Focal Point Agencies are supported in their function through a direct line of communication with the UN Resident Coordinator. This concept has already demonstrated its efficiency for disaster risk governance and emergency management. For example, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when travel restrictions were in place and around 100,000 migrant workers were returning to Nepal at once, the conditions in more than 1,000 quarantine sites were assessed by locally-based development partners. At the request of the Government of Nepal, the Provincial Focal Points Agencies reached out to the partners, trained them on the survey provided by the Government, and the assessment of quarantine sites was completed within two weeks.

    In 2023, the Promoting Action for Disaster Risk Governance and Working to Achieve Preparedness for Risk Reduction through Technical Assistance in Nepal (PARIWARTAN) project concluded. It was implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in consortium with the National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal, Practical Action Consulting, and Lutheran World Federation. It provided technical assistance to the three tiers of government (federal level, 7 provinces, 753 local levels) in implementing the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act in a coordinated and inclusive manner. The Disaster Risk Management Localization Manual: An Operational Training Manual for Disaster Risk Management Capacity Building of Local Governments was developed in close coordination with the Government of Nepal. More than 19,900 government officials were trained on disaster risk reduction and management in all 753 local level municipalities that supported strengthening community resilience. The training has spurred local government actions such as the formulation or amendment of legal documents, standards and guidelines to implement disaster preparedness and response activities, the increase of budgets allocated for disaster risk management, the formation of disaster risk management committees, as well as a shift in focus from response to preparedness prioritizing multiple hazards prevalent in the local context.

    Over the last 10 years the United Nations Country Team has built a unique and innovative research partnership with a consortium of universities to provide new forms of evidence to guide disaster risk governance. This consortium, called Sajag-Nepal, includes organisations in Nepal, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. Working together, the consortium and the Resident Coordinator’s Office have pioneered a new scenario ensemble[1] approach to understanding hazards, enabling risk-informed contingency planning for both the annual monsoon and for infrequent large earthquakes. For earthquakes, the Resident Coordinator’s Office worked with researchers to develop an ensemble of possible impacts in a future earthquake, irrespective of where that earthquake occurs. This ensemble now forms the basis of both cluster contingency plans and provincial preparedness planning. For the monsoon, Sajag-Nepal researchers are using data on past monsoon impacts recorded in the government’s portal to anticipate the possible pattern of impacts in the next monsoon, helping the humanitarian clusters and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) to develop a more informed preparedness plan. The research has also developed a novel way of anticipating landslide impacts during the monsoon using 14-day rainfall forecasts. The Resident Coordinator’s Office is exploring the use of this approach as a readiness trigger for possible anticipatory action. The project is also using participatory mapping in several landslide-prone areas of Nepal to understand how people move and how their exposure to landslides varies over different time scales – with the ultimate goal of being able to better map the risks that residents face in these communities.

    The Strengthening Urban Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness and Response in Western Regions of Nepal (SUPER) project is being implemented by a UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women consortium along with local implementing partners across three provinces and four municipalities in Western Nepal. The project works in close coordination with the NDRRMA at the federal level, as well as with provincial and local level decision makers. The project uses the earthquake scenario ensembles that were co-created by the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the Sajag-Nepal team. It enhances and institutionalizes municipal and provincial preparedness for urban and earthquake risks in 3 provinces and 4 municipalities in the western regions of Nepal. It does so by enhancing the understanding of risk, preparedness measures, reducing risk, including through reinforcing building codes and retrofitting practices. The project works with multiple stakeholders at all three federal tiers, including the community, private ector, academia, international governmental organizations, UN organizations, the Nepal Red Cross Society, and international and national non-governmental organizations.

    As the government has ownership of the project and provides it with a budget in its annual plans the sustainability of the work is ensured. The project results are delivered under the leadership of respective government authorities and include impact modelling of potential earthquake scenarios, vulnerability and capacity assessments, strengthening Emergency Operation Centres and capacity building – for example supporting the development of earthquake contingency plans for clusters (such as Health, Protection, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), which were developed with the leadership of relevant provincial ministries and were referred to extensively during the 2023 Jajarkot earthquake response.

    The SUPER consortium collaborates with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, and partners such as WHO, WFP, and IFRC to strengthen humanitarian architecture and cluster mechanisms in provinces, also through the development of cluster contingency plans. This strengthening proved very effective in response to the Jajarkot earthquake in 2023. For example, the implementation of the Health Contingency Plan was endorsed within the same day, and all sectoral information was efficiently relayed by WFP as the Provincial Focal Point Agency. The project has been working towards enabling gender equality, disability and social inclusion mainstreaming in disaster risk reduction through developing a checklist for disaster preparedness, as well as a gender-responsive costing framework for earthquakes and urban flooding, conducting a women’s safety audit together with women-led community-based organizations, and a simulation exercise on resource pooling with gender-responsive considerations.

    UNICEF’s Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction Programme emphasizes the importance of disaster and climate risk assessments to take children’s vulnerabilities and special needs into account. This includes raising children’s awareness of hazards and what to do as prevention and preparedness measures and empowering them to act as multipliers within their communities.

    Nepal has a UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Anticipatory Action pilot framework to provide collective anticipatory humanitarian action to people at risk of predicted severe monsoon flooding with delivery planned through UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, WFP and WHO in partnership with the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) and national NGOs and in close collaboration with the federal, provincial and local authorities.

    Also, IOM, jointly with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS), Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Population Studies (CDPS) and the National Planning Commission have established a Migration School in 2023, a two-week academic forum to foster collaboration among educational institutions, policymakers and experts on human mobility, including climate and disaster displacement.

    [1] scenario ensembles: estimation of the likelihood and scale of future hazard impacts, determining locations where impacts are most likely to occur, along with the average and worst-case impacts for all locations, so that both emergency relief and disaster risk reduction activities can be prioritized; source: Robinson, T.; Rosser, N.; Densmore, A.; Oven, K.; Shrestha, S.; Guragain, R. (2018) Use of scenario ensembles for deriving seismic risk

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Integrated approaches to addressing disaster, climate and environmental risks enable impactful UN support to building resilience in Tajikistan

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Tajikistan is faced with the frequent occurrence of natural hazards, with climate change further exacerbating their impacts. In 2023, avalanches, mudflows, earthquakes, rockfalls, landslides, floods and severe weather events cost 51 lives. They displaced and affected the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people, while causing an estimated economic damage of over 7 million USD. Risk reduction measures such as river bank protection and watershed management are reducing the number of people living in areas most exposed to natural hazards, with currently around 15,000 persons remaining in high-risk areas. [1] Annual economic losses from disasters can reach up to 1.3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

    The Government of Tajikistan and United Nations organizations in Tajikistan take an integrated approach to the management of disaster, climate and environmental risks, which is reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023‐2026 and coordinated in the results group for Outcome 3. The United Nations Country Team in Tajikistan, under the leadership and convening role of the UN Resident Coordinator, are reinforcing the capacities of national institutions and actors to reduce disaster risk, supporting an all-of-society approach.United Nations organizations are supporting Tajikistan in strengthening the coordination of disaster risk reduction and related measures. Tajikistan’s National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction led by the Government of Tajikistan benefits from the support and active participation of a wide range of national and international stakeholders and partners.

    The Republic of Tajikistan’s National Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction is aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and supported by the United Nations Country Team. An assessment of the strategy was carried out with the participation of the UNCT, academia and independent experts in 2021 and helped to identify priority areas and related tasks for its implementation, taking into account existing and emerging risks. In 2022, with UN support, Tajikistan conducted a Midterm Review of the implementation of the Sendai Framework in the country, which helped to identify Tajikistan’s achievements in disaster risk reduction and mainstreaming DRR into development, as well as gaps where greater engagement of all stakeholders is needed. Based on the identified priorities, the Government of Tajikistan actively engaged the UN Country Team in the development of the Midterm Programme and Action Plan for the National DRR Strategy implementation for the period 2023-2028. This joint work brought together all DRR activities that are being implemented and planned by national and international stakeholders in the country. The development and approval of the 3-year Action Plans allow for monitoring joint actions, making adjustments and introducing new measures based on needs, progress, and identified priorities. Also, Tajikistan’s disaster risk management system and its resilience to stress was assessed through a participatory approach. This joint initiative resulted in the development of an Action Plan to strengthen the capacity of the country’s disaster risk reduction system, which was endorsed by the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

    In August 2023, the UN organizations in Tajikistan and the Government of Tajikistan launched the United Nations Secretary-General’s ‘Early Warnings for All’ Initiative (EW4All) to enhance disaster risk knowledge, detection, observation, monitoring, analysis, forecasting, dissemination, communication, preparedness and response under four interlinked pillars. The institutional mechanism of the initiative is anchored to the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and ensures the involvement of all key government partners. Under the co-chairmanship of the Deputy Prime-Minister and the UN Resident Coordinator, the implementing pillar leads from UN Agencies (UNDRR, WMO, ITC), IFRC and government partners (Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence, Committee of Environmental Protection, Agency of Hydrometeorology, Committee of Television and Radio, Communication Service) prepared a draft roadmap for 2024-2027 to ensure the initiative’s implementation. The draft roadmap has been discussed with participation of a wide range of participants at the national and local level and is to be endorsed in June 2024. It is expected to provide inclusive participation of all partners and secure adequate funding.

    In 2023, under Outcome 3 ‘Integrated management of climate and environmental risk’ of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, the United Nations Country Team members in Tajikistan implemented community-based integrated solutions for sustainable and inclusive natural resource management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction that have significantly improved the livelihoods of more than 67,000 vulnerable people. This included support to smallholder farmers, cash assistance for food-insecure households to build assets such as greenhouses and irrigation systems, the development of 14 watershed action plans, agreed actions to prevent water pollution from mine tailings, as well as ecosystem-based interventions.

    Also, the Rapid Emergency Assessment and Coordination Team (REACT) was refocused on promoting effective disaster preparedness, response and recovery with a new Statement of Common Understanding. At the national level, REACT is co-chaired by the Chairman of the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense of the Government of Tajikistan and the UN Resident Coordinator and comprises Sectoral Coordination Groups, Technical Working Groups, Regional REACTs, and Rapid Response Teams. Two simulation exercises were undertaken in 2023 – one focused on responding to emergencies involving large numbers of refugees, and one simulated the actions of local authorities, emergency personnel, and partners in coordinating evacuations to safe areas during emergencies. The workplan for 2024 comprises the coordination of emergency assessments and responses, preparedness, early actions and activities aligned with the Early Warnings for All initiative.

    Together with strengthening DRR coordination, the UN Country Team under the leadership of the RC supports the Government of Tajikistan and relevant agencies in ensuring a coherent link between DRR activities and emergency response. In order to comprehensively address these issues and develop necessary proposals and solutions, assistance is provided in organising periodic extended meetings of the National Platform for DRR and REACT.

    [1] Chairman of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Rustam Nazarzoda, reported in Asia Plus, 7 February 2024

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Disaster losses and damages data

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Reviewing existing applications and use cases

    Data on disaster losses and damages is an essential basis for preparedness, effective response, recovery and reconstruction, the quantification and economic valuation of losses and damages, for understanding root causes and shifts in exposure and vulnerability, and to assess the risk of cascading events and impacts across multiple hazards.

    Not all countries, however, collect and use disaster data systematically and there are major disparities across countries regarding methods, coverage and system governance, creating barriers to effective risk management.

    The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) are jointly addressing this gap and developing an enhanced disaster tracking system for hazardous events and related losses and damages aimed at national users interested in upgrading and institutionalizing national disaster tracking systems.

    The report and life repository of case studies below explore current data applications and ways that stronger data collection and management could support better decision-making and informed action.

    Application areas for disaster losses and damages data

    1. Understanding risks

    While still a comparatively young science, hazard modelling has accelerated dramatically in recent years, in terms of the number of models developed, research budgets and expertise, granularity, quality and coverage. Impact information, vulnerability models and integrated assessments have not followed. As a result, the different drivers of vulnerability and, therefore, of underlying risk, remain hidden in plain sight.

    Disaster losses and damages data can make such drivers and hidden vulnerabilities visible. In addition, where solid foundations of exposure, vulnerability and capacity baseline data exist, they provide critical information on the cost of loss, i.e. the ratio of loss compared to total exposure. Disaster data must be collected consistently and over time for them to provide evidence of trends and inform longer-term planning. The importance of baseline information on exposure and vulnerability for risk modelling cannot be underestimated. While high quality is desirable, even modest improvements in increasing coverage, consistency and frequency of updating can go a long way. Combined with disaster losses and damages data information on pre-existing vulnerabilities becomes a powerful contribution to risk modelling and analysis.

    Case study: Understanding multidimensional vulnerability in Sri Lanka: combining disaster losses and damages data with national survey data

    In Sri Lanka, data collected as part of national citizen surveys provide a clear picture of the multiple dimensions of vulnerability and could directly inform hotspot, vulnerability and risk analysis (UNDP, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative [OPHI] and Government of Sri Lanka, 2023 (c)). Analysed through the lens of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MDVI) (UNDP, 2023 (a)), data from the surveys clearly highlight pre-existing vulnerabilities

    Combined with long-term records on the impact of disasters from their Desinventar-based national disaster losses and damages database, a disaggregated analysis makes apparent differences on vulnerability dimensions and their drivers providing useful insights for more in depth risk analysis.

    Recommendations to enhance the usability of disaster losses and damages data for risk analysis and modeling

    Disaster losses and damages data can provide a “real time” window on ongoing risk accumulation identifying new risk patterns and trends that should feedback into recalibrated risk information. Disaster data can illustrate changing patterns and trends that can be interpreted through qualitative analysis of the underlying risk drivers to explain the changes. Historical disaster data cannot replace risk analysis but can provide additional or substitute information to improve risk modelling for both short-term forecasting and longer-term climate impact assessments. Historic data is particularly useful for capturing frequently occurring, localized and small-scale events, such as local landslides or flash floods – often called extensive disaster events – where global risk models have limitations.

    Risk assessments are only useful if they are communicated in a manner that is meaningful to decision makers. While historical losses alone are not a good guide to the future, presenting data on actual (realized) losses and damages alongside more complex risk analysis can help in communicating risk effectively. Data on disaster losses and damage can contribute to improved modelling of existing as well as emerging or newly accelerating risks. To improve its usability, it is recommended to:

    • Strengthen disaggregated data collection and analysis both in terms of hazard type, geography, and sectoral impacts, as well as in regard to data sex, age, disability status, income levels, and other dimensions of differentiated exposure and vulnerability.
    • Enable georeferenced impact data collection to support the development of more accurate and replicable risk models.

    2. Preparedness, early warning and early action

    Hazardous event and disaster losses and damages data is critical in the design, development and monitoring of early warning systems and early action. By informing key components of multi hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) – as proposed in 1997 and later adopted by WMO, the United Nations and national governments – these systems and related anticipatory and early action can become impact-based.

    Case study: Impact-based forecasting for anticipatory action to typhoons in the Philippines

    To reduce the humanitarian impact of TC, both the Philippines Red Cross and United Nations OCHA Philippines have designed an agency-specific protocol, respectively in 2019 and 2021, which can be used to trigger early actions and release funding based on an impact-based forecasting model. Building on the Netherlands Red Cross 510 model, early actions (such as distributing house-strengthening kits) are pre-identified and triggered when the impact-based forecasting model indicates a pre-defined danger level is exceeded (with a lead time of 120 to 72 hours before landfall). The machine learning model consists of a classification and regression component and is trained on over 60 historical events.

    Recommendations to enhance the usability of disaster losses and damages data for preparedness, early warning and early action

    • Record losses and damages recorded along with the associated characteristics of the hazardous event (physical phenomena) to be able to link impacts to vulnerability, exposure and specific hazard intensity, characteristics and cascading events.
    • Enhance spatial resolution of damage records to enable training of machine learning models that could enhance resolution of predictions and allow impact-based forecasting model to achieve a higher performance.
    • Collect sector, geographic and population groups disaggregated impact information to be able to understand common disruptions to livelihood systems and services associated with recurrent hazards and to device and monitor effectiveness of early/ anticipatory actions.

    3. Disaster risk reduction financing

    Disaster losses and damages data are the backbone of any financing strategy and plan for preparedness, response, recovery or risk reduction. Without knowing what has been lost in the past and what is at stake in the present and future, the case for investment in risk management and even for contingency planning remains weak (UNDRR, 2013). National ministries of finance, regional financing institutions and multilateral development banks, as well as private-sector finance and insurance companies, all require data to underpin budgets, financing plans and funding proposals for priority sectors or systems

    Strategies for disaster risk reduction financing can look very different, depending on scale, risk context and financing sources. However, as states are insurers of last resort in disasters, it is increasingly important that they have ownership of the data that informs disaster financing strategies and lead the development of financing instruments, including insurance (Radu, 2022).

    Insurance mechanisms

    Methods from the insurance sector have been replicated across the public sector, from modelling approaches to estimations of disaster losses. A critical gap that both the private and public sectors face in developing financing strategies for disaster risk management, however, is the question of indirect and downstream costs, for example in the form of business disruption, cascading costs from power outages or disruption in water supply, etc.

    Case study: Using disaster data to calibrate parametric insurance in Manizales, Colombia.

    In Manizales, Colombia a disaster database registered a total of 1,149 local landslides, between March 2003 and August 2021. These events were classified according to the severity of their impacts on a D-Index using a scale from 1 – 10. A parameter called C5Max, was then established for a critical level of rainfall over 5 days, captured in selected meteorological stations, that could trigger landslides. The level of critical rainfall could then be associated with the severity of landslide impact. This enabled the prediction of expected landslide impacts once a given rainfall threshold was surpassed. In Manizales this was used for the development and calibration of a parametric insurance scheme to cover emergency response. However, the same approach could also be used in impact-based early warning.

    DRR Financing strategies

    Whereas the insurance industry usually employs fully developed risk estimation methods, including actuarial data from past disaster impact assessments, many public-sector institutions lack the resources and experience to undertake analysis based on systematic assessments of past events (UNDRR, 2023 (b)).

    As a result, many national disaster risk reduction financing strategies and risk management budgets rely on a weak evidence base and only a few use disaster loss data collected in the past as a critical input into their assessments (Radu, 2022; UNDRR, 2015; Climate Adapt, n.d.). Instead, estimates of financing needs often use financing commitments or humanitarian spending in previous disasters, rather than records of actual losses.

    Case study: Sri Lanka – disaster losses and damages data to identify financing needs in the agriculture sector

    In Sri Lanka, analysis of historical disaster losses in the infrastructure sector helped identify risk and potential financing gaps in the irrigation sector (see Figure 13a). The calculation of these historical costs provides the basis for modelled estimates of costs associated with damage from future disasters and the potential financing gap the Government of Sri Lanka may face (see Figure 13b).

    Recommendations to enhance applicability of disaster losses and damages data for disaster risk reduction financing

    • Improve the collection of sector-specific asset and service system (e.g. water distribution or electricity generation) disaggregated and georeferenced data to enhance the understanding on how specific parameters of hazardous events (e.g. water level, flow speeds, stagnation time) cause damage and dysfunction to different structures to better enable sector-specific catastrophic insurance products
    •  Ensure losses and damages data is recorded in a way that private vs public sector effects are accounted separately, understanding which losses are incurred by individuals, households and private sector versus those borne by public sector will be particularly helpful when devising risk reduction financing strategies for productive and infrastructure sectors.

    Disaggregated historical damage data solid baseline data on sector exposure, i.e. inventories of assets and production processes beyond the basic exposure data on buildings and people would enhance the evidence base to develop catastrophic insurance products.

    4. Risk-informed planning and development

    Disaster losses and damages data that is of good quality, geographical and temporal coverage, and consistency of metrics and indicators, can inform and enhance local assessments for sector-specific preparedness, response and recovery planning and beyond, risk-informed development and sector planning. Particularly relevant sectors in this regard are health and education, urban planning (including building and zoning regulations), agriculture and natural resources management, and basic infrastructure and services (transport, energy, waste, and drinking water).

    High-quality disaster losses and damages data with good geographical and temporal coverage and consistent metrics and indicators, can inform and enhance local assessments for sector-specific preparedness, response and recovery planning, as well as risk-informed development and sector planning.

    Case study: Planning resilient roads in Cambodia

    The Government of Cambodia has recognized that the transportation sector, vital for the country’s economic development, is regularly and severely affected by disaster impacts. Road damage and destruction from disasters is systematically collected and recorded and stored in the Cambodia Disaster Loss and Damage Information System (CamDi), national database managed by the National Committee on Disaster Management (NCDM). Baseline data is collected with details on all roads and related infrastructure and recorded together with disaster loss data, allowing for lost cost assessments, seasonal analysis, and analysis by region or specific location and by road or infrastructure type.

    Recommendations to enhance the usability of disaster losses and damages for risk-informed development

    • Sector and geographic disaggregated data recording and management would further enable the application of disaster losses and damages data for risk-informed policies, plans, budgets and actions
    • Consistent and institutionalized tracking of losses and damages with engagement of whole-of-government entities and following agreed definitions, metrics and standard would enable creating relevant time series of historic impact data required for enhancing relevance and applicability of data for risk-informed planning.
    • Application of disaster losses and damages data for risk-informed planning at multiple levels should be complemented by monitoring and evaluation frameworks and mechanisms that utilize same data elements to measure progress against targets and milestones.

    5. Reporting, benchmarking and progress monitoring

    Monitoring progress on resilience building

    Progress on climate change adaptation and action on losses and damages can be efficiently monitored, among other things, by maintaining consistent and granular impact records. Reducing losses and damage from hazardous events over time is the ultimate measurement of progress and the Sendai Framework specifies several indicators that all require disaster losses and damages quantification. Similarly, reporting against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires disaster-related data, as 25 targets relate directly to disaster risk and to reducing the negative impacts of disasters).  The ongoing development of indicators to monitor the Global Goal on Adaptation targets contained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Framework for Global Climate Resilience will also benefit from the enhanced disaster tracking system, enabling monitoring of the reduction in losses and increase in resilience across several sectors (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC], 2023 (a)). Other national frameworks and processes, such as for Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans or Biennial Transparency Reports, can also draw on the enhanced tracking system to strengthen coherence in reporting (UNFCCC, n.d. (a); UNEP, n.d.; UNFCCC, n.d. (b)).

    Recommendations to enhance usability of disaster losses and damages data for monitoring, reporting and benchmarking progress.

    • Utilize globally agreed definitions and standards, such as the hazard classification and information profiles to organize database and tracking systems to further enable cross-cutting and regional benchmarking.
    View more case studies

    Related and further reading

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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    My first field trip of 2025 was to Naples, for a fascinating day and a half of visits to volcanic sites.

    In Naples, volcanoes are ever present in the public consciousness. From archival paintings dating from the 18th century to decorative art in restaurants and shops, Mount Vesuvius is the most iconic image of modern Naples.

    My Italian colleagues gave me a crash course on managing the city’s disaster risks – most notably the presence of a live volcano. I was treated to fascinating insights from volcanologists, seismologists, meteorologists, hydrologists, structural engineers, civil protection officers, psychologists, and risk communicators – including Chiara Cardaci from Italian Civil Protection and Mauro Di Vito, the director of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

    Our detailed and interesting discussions taught me a lot about volcano risk. Here are my highlights:

    1. Every volcano has a unique personality.

    Not all volcanoes are iconic towering landmarks like Japan’s Mount Fuji, Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, Italy’s Mount Vesuvius, or the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo. In Naples itself, the Campi Flegrei caldera may not look like it to an untrained visitor, but it is a very active volcanic site.

    Each volcano has a different style – some are explosive, and others erupt more slowly (“effusive” in volcanologists’ terminology). Some have a different character at different times – sometimes explosive, sometimes effusive. As a result, the hazard potential of every individual active volcano is quite unique.

    2. Early warning for volcanic eruptions is inherently challenging

    An effective early warning would require that we are able to predict and convey the time, location and nature of eruption at a volcanic site. But this is difficult – especially with sufficient lead time. Probabilistic risk assessments, however, are possible – so we can estimate the likelihood of eruption over 10 years, 50 years and so on. Scenarios can be developed for these likely eruptions.

    While the science of estimating volcanic risk is seated primarily in the domain of volcanology, it also draws on other disciplines: meteorology (to determine which way the wind will carry the volcanic ash), hydrology (to work out how the ground water could be affected), anthropology (to analyze how people may perceive and respond to risk), communication science (to determine the best way to communicate risk). For each scenario, preparedness plans for evacuation and other response measures need to be developed and practised.

    3. Ultimately it is human actions that increase or decrease risk

    The presence of people, capital assets, and economic activity (e.g. tourism, agriculture) around volcanic sites has steadily increased over the years, sometimes without attention to risk-sensitive land-use planning. Some of these areas are experiencing gradual uplift of the ground, a phenomenon known as bradyseism.

    Despite this, human settlements continue to grow – and even flourish – in these areas. This is a major driver of risk. In such areas, we must replan, redevelop and explore adaptive infrastructure that can be modified over time to suit the changing conditions and minimize the risks from seismic events

    4. Historic eruptions can present new risks

    Signatures of past eruptions are all around volcanic sites, and can become new hazards.

    For example, slopes around volcanic sites have ash deposits from eruptions that may have taken place centuries ago. Extreme rainfall on and around these slopes may cause large and sudden mudslides (lahars) with devastating consequences for nearby human settlements. To manage these risks, we need to adopt a multi-hazard approach.

    5. Volcanoes are resources as well as hazards

    Volcanic ash from previous eruptions often provides fertile soils for cultivation; many of the rocks around volcanic sites have excellent strength and geotechnical properties that are suitable as construction materials; volcanic sites offer great potential for geothermal energy; and many volcanic sites are picturesque, with fascinating geothermal activity, making them attractive tourist destinations.

    Because of these features, any human settlement around volcanic sites needs to be carefully managed to maximize the potential benefits and minimize the potential harm.

    The government and people of Italy set an inspiring example in their pursuit of disaster risk reduction. They have made long-term investment in continuous improvements of understanding disaster risk, communicating risk to the population, and co-creating risk management plans with all stakeholders.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Gender Advisor (Programme Management Officer), P-4, Bangkok

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Apply here

    Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disasters and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in both developed and less developed countries. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG), UNDRR has over 150 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. Specifically, UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyses action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with U.N. Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community. 

    The project position is located in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Bangkok. The incumbent reports to the Chief of Regional Office.

    Under the supervision and guidance of the Chief of Regional Office, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties and responsibilities: 

    • Develops, implements and evaluates a regional program designed to enhance women’s leadership in disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific (WIN DRR), including liaising with relevant parties and ensuring follow-up actions, and supporting the expansion to other regions. This program will provide leadership skills training, expand networks and build partnerships to strengthen the role of women leaders in DRR. 
    • Facilitates and guides the integration of gender equality and disability inclusion into core UNDRR global processes, including strategic planning, programme management, resource mobilization, global and regional platforms, communications, staff training and partnerships. 
    • Leads UNDRR’s implementation of the Gender Action Plan to Support Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and initiates and coordinates outreach activities on gender-responsive DRR with UNDRR partners and stakeholder groups. 
    • Supports UNDRR’s commitment to, and implementation of, UN-wide gender initiatives and ensures appropriate reporting processes. 
    • Researches, analyzes and presents information related to inclusive disaster risk reduction, including gender equality, disability inclusion and human rights, gathered from diverse sources and provides recommendations to UNDRR SRSG, Director, management and staff to enhance inclusive and accessible DRR. 
    • Coordinates policy development related to gender equality, disability inclusion and human rights, including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the review and analysis of issues and trends at the global and regional levels. 
    • Promotes sex, age and disability disaggregated data and supports the use of gender data to improve Sendai Framework Monitoring and evidence-based decision making that leaves no one behind. 
    • Contributes technical expert advice on gender, women’s leadership and DRR and represents UNDRR at regional and national meetings where needed. 
    • Organizes and prepares written outputs related to gender equality and women’s leadership, disability inclusion and human rights e.g. draft background papers, speeches, analysis, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, etc. 
    • Supervises staff and coordinates activities related to budget funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepares related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.). 
    • Performs other duties as required.

    PROFESSIONALISM: Shows pride in work and in achievements; Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; Remains calm in stressful situations; Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. 

    ACCOUNTABILITY: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable. 

    CREATIVITY: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

    Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent degree) in gender and women’s rights, development studies, social science or related humanities field, international relations, human rights, law, gender studies, or related area is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

    Not available.

    A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible programme management experience in gender mainstreaming, women’s leadership and disability inclusion in disaster risk management, humanitarian response, or development programming is required. 

    Experience in conducting gender analysis is required. 

    At least two years of experience designing and managing large projects is required. 

    At least two years of experience working in international organizations such as the United Nations or other comparable organizations is required. 

    Experience in developing partnerships and collaborative networks is desirable.

    Experience in improving organizational systems and processes to strengthen gender results is desirable.

    English and French are the two working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

    Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which will be followed by competency-based interview.

    Special Notice

    This is a project post. The appointment against this project position is limited to the duration of the project. The appointment or assignment and renewal thereof are subject to the availability of the post or funds, budgetary approval or extension of the mandate. At the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. In line with the overall United Nations policy, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction encourages a positive workplace culture which embraces inclusivity and leverages diversity within its workforce. Measures are applied to enable all staff members to contribute equally and fully to the work and development of the organization, including flexible working arrangements, family-friendly policies and standards of conduct. Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. Pursuant to section 7.11 of ST/AI/2012/2/Rev.1, candidates recruited through the young professionals programme who have not served for a minimum of two years in the position of their initial assignment are not eligible to apply to this position. Individual contractors and consultants who have worked within the UN Secretariat in the last six months, irrespective of the administering entity, are ineligible to apply for professional and higher, temporary or fixed-term positions and their applications will not be considered.

    United Nations Considerations

    According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

    No Fee

    THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

    Apply here

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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Why earthquakes still matter

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    In the early hours of 6 February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck west-northwest of Gaziantep, Türkiye. Less than 10 hours later another shock measuring 7.7 shook the same area.

    The disaster took more than 60,000 human lives across southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria, causing catastrophic damages and suffering.

    In the aftermath, national and local authorities and communities have undertaken remarkable reconstruction efforts, setting new benchmarks for swift recovery and “build back better” principles.

    The upcoming World Resilient Recovery Conference – during the preparatory days of the 2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction – will be an opportunity to learn from these experiences.

    Rising risks and built environments

    This earthquake was another reminder of the high risk of catastrophic losses from earthquakes.

    Hydro-meteorological disasters are increasing, keeping them in public policy focus. Earthquakes, however, get overlooked, even while they pose increasing risks, driven by expanding, unsafe built environment.

    The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) estimated in its 2023 Biennial Report that nearly 30% of expected average annual losses globally are linked to earthquakes.

    There’s a much-repeated adage that goes “it is not earthquakes that kill people, it’s weak buildings and infrastructure that kill people.” And weak buildings and infrastructure – in other words unsafe built environments – are an outcome of social and economic processes characterized by low awareness (with low social demand for seismic safety), inadequate capabilities (not enough trained engineers, contractors and building artisans), low or no standards (inadequate seismic safety codes and building by-laws), and weak governance capacity (capability to enforce the adoption of seismic safety codes where they do exist).

    We have the know-how

    Our understanding of the physics of earthquakes has improved. We also understand how buildings and infrastructure respond to earthquakes, and we know how to make them safer. From designing a simple structure to a complex physical infrastructure, engineering knowledge is at an all-time high.

    Yet the risk of losses from earthquakes is rising in most seismic countries.

    But trend is not destiny. It can be arrested. It can be reversed.

    Four public policy approaches for seismic safety

    1) Take a long view, but start now.

    Every long journey starts with a first step. Our stock of unsafe buildings and infrastructure was accumulated over decades, and it is a daunting prospect to consider replacing and retrofitting them quickly. However, if each city and each village in every earthquake-prone region were to resolve to build every new building or infrastructure project to an earthquake-resistant standard, in just a decade we would be having a very different conversation. We need to redouble efforts to develop seismic building codes (where they don’t exist) and enforce them.

    For existing buildings and infrastructure, we need to develop shared priorities across communities, governments and the private sector to systematically retrofit and strengthen them. This prioritisation must be underpinned by a clear understanding of the risks, which is the first priority of the Sendai Framework.

    Disaster scenarios, such as those created by GeoHazards International can allow communities to visualize potential impacts and prioritize mitigation strategies effectively. Using whatever resources are available, we can strengthen one hospital, one school at a time. This will not only improve seismic safety but will also have other co-benefits in terms of enhanced awareness and better quality of built environment for everyday use.

    At the same time, we must find retrofitting solutions that are practical, that help prevent the catastrophic collapse of buildings, and that can be implemented at scale. To do this means creating a functioning market for retrofitting- nudged by regulation and fuelled by public sector investments such as advance market commitments.

    In Kathmandu Valley, Nepal’s National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) retrofitted 260 schools between 1997 and 2015. Of these, 160 were struck by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, and all experienced, at worst, minor damages – while in other schools more than 25,000 classrooms were destroyed. We have ample proof that investments in retrofitting pay dividends – in avoided losses and in precious lives.

    However, these efforts are not easy – they require strengthening disaster risk governance at the local level in very tangible ways.

    Innovation is required not just in terms of new technologies but also in risk governance – such as Japan’s introduction of innovative systems after the 1995 Kobe earthquake, involving private sector enforcement of new, stricter codes that mandated retrofitting of older buildings.

    Another example is the innovative approach to owner-driven reconstruction taken by SEEDS India after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and continuing through multiple seismic events. Their experience demonstrates that empowering homeowners and local masons leads to safe, sustainable, cost-effective, and culturally appropriate housing-achieved at scales and speeds unmatched by contractor-led programmes.

    2) Invest in capabilities at all levels.

    Shaping an earthquake-safe built environment requires capabilities in many disciplines and at all levels – urban planning, seismology, earthquake engineering, geotechnical engineering, enhancing disaster resistant construction skills of masons, bar benders, contractors and so on – and in many countries theses capacities are woefully inadequate.

    There is no short cut but to systematically invest in developing these capabilities, and to drive demand though regulation and certification.

    3) Treat every disaster as an opportunity to learn.

    As a fresh architecture graduate, I learned more from the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake

    than from any textbook. Observing the performance of buildings and the mode of their failure under earthquake forces brought my theoretical lessons to life.

    We say that every disaster is too precious to waste: we must systematically collect data and undertake forensic analysis after every earthquake, so we can improve building codes and enforcement systems, launch awareness campaigns, and better understand the epidemiology of earthquakes. This involves setting up learning systems in our national and sub-national institutions.

    4) Foster public awareness.

    Maintaining awareness of less frequent but potentially devastating hazards is always a challenge.

    Again, there are no quick fixes. Building public awareness starts in the school (catch them young!) and over time can generate greater social demand for seismic safety.

    While we transform our built environment over the long term, in the short term we need to teach people how to manage risks. Awareness of simple protection measures – such as DROP, COVER and HOLD during an earthquake, and fixing non-structural elements like flowerpots on balconies, large cupboards in houses – goes a long way in protecting lives.

    The path to seismic safety is well established, with many proven success stories from countries and communities that have persevered to reduce earthquake risks enormously. The 1960 Chile earthquake, for example, was the largest earthquake ever recorded since the measurements began, and its impacts were catastrophic. Just 50 years later – in 2010, the same year that Haiti earthquake caused more than 200,000 deaths – Chile was struck once more, by 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. While 523 people tragically lost their lives, this is a fraction of the number that could have died had Chile not applied strict building codes during reconstruction.

    We need to follow their lead and make seismic safety a global movement. It is a long journey – but the first step must be taken now.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Ten actions to combat extreme heat

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    We need bold solutions to extreme heat – now. We are not going to be able to air-condition our way out of this.

    In July, UN Secretary-General Guterres issued a global call to action on extreme heat which was widely welcomed, and during the recent G20 Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Belém, Brazil, the Government of Brazil and UNDRR hosted a ministerial event to unpack it further.

    The extreme heat problem is enormous and requires transformational actions. We need an integrated short, medium and long-term approach to tackling mounting extreme heat disaster risks. At the Belém meeting, I laid out a ten-point DRR action plan for the consideration of G20 in response to the Secretary-General’s call:

    1. Establish heat thresholds: We need to establish location and sector-specific heat thresholds that take temperature, humidity, wind, diurnal variation and persistence into account. These must use the evidence generated by research bringing together meteorology, human and animal health, engineering, and economic sectors. When the Indian city of Ahmedabad applied this approach in 2010-11 it paid rich dividends, showing significant reductions of heat-related deaths.
    2. Develop and practice Heat Action Plans: Many countries have recently developed Heat Action Plans or Strategies. Such approaches are being explored by a number of countries, such as the US National Integrated Heat Health Information System, which brings together all government agencies to guide collective planning, education and action. Heat Action Plans must be localized and above all they must be practiced. Just as we do simulations for cyclones and earthquakes (such as mock drills and table-top exercise), we must run exercises for conditions of extreme heat. Germany, for example, is already planning a table-top simulation for extreme heat for 2025.
    3. Strengthen social protection systems: Extreme heat has immediate and debilitating impacts on those who have the least capacity to absorb any disruption. For example, activating a Heat Action Plan may reduce working hours or completely stop work on construction sites, and so disrupt the subsistence livelihood of the poorest daily-wage workers. We need innovative mechanisms in place to protect such groups. The Mahila Housing Trust in India, for example, launched parametric climate risk insurance for women working in the informal sector. We need to learn from and expand such initiatives.
    4. Heat-responsive building regulations: Building regulations – in the Global North as well as in the Global South – seldom account for extreme heat. We should revise building regulations to take more intense, more frequent extreme heat into account. This could incorporate both passive cooling solutions (appropriate design, orientation, roof and wall materials, and openings) as well as smarter active technology-based cooling solutions.
    5. Enhance the use of nature-based solutions: Natural facilities – green cover, water bodies – provide protection against extreme heat. Where possible, we must proactively incorporate nature-based solutions in development and urban design. Increasing tree cover in urban neighborhoods can improve the microclimate significantly and provide protection against extreme heat. A growing body of research shows that these measures can offer significant benefits beyond extreme heat and urban spaces – reducing risks from other hazards, increasing biodiversity and environmental resources, and improving quality of life
    6. Encourage market-based interventions to stimulate investment in heat resilient building and infrastructure technologies: We need to transform our built environment at scale. For example, to combat extreme heat in low-income settlements, we need cool-roof technologies over millions of square metres. However, the market hasn’t yet responded to such a need. We must find ways to stimulate a market for cool roofing: Governments could provide advance market commitments to encourage innovators and investors (for example, by advance purchases of roofing for low-income settlements).
    7. Go back to vernacular architecture for inspiration: Traditional building designs in historically hot regions can teach us a lot. But many of these practices are being lost to modernization. We must document these traditional building systems, revive, adapt and adopt these for present conditions. This could prompt a transformation of our built environment, particularly in rural settlements. In West Africa, the ‘Association la Voûte Nubienne‘ is doing precisely this with the ancient ‘Nubian vault’ building design, offering financial and practical assistance to locals to replace hot tin roofs with traditional cool designs.
    8. Recognize the connection between urban morphology and extreme heat: We need to adequately recognize the connection between extreme heat and how cities are laid out. Urban planners and climatologists need to join forces in planning heat-resilient towns and cities. We need to support the emerging discipline of urban meteorology.
    9. Exploit emerging technologies to combat extreme heat: Space based systems, sensor technologies, and AI offer exciting opportunities to understand patterns of extreme heat in real time. We can use these tools to identify distress signals, trigger early actions, and mobilize immediate public health response to protect people. SEEDS and Microsoft, for example, have been applying AI for targeted humanitarian action in India. These emerging technologies can also offer insights for heat-responsive architectural and urban design.
    10. Develop an ecosystem of vulnerability studies: While the impact of extreme heat on human health and other bio-physical systems – agriculture, animal husbandry – has been studied at length, we need to go further to examine how extreme heat affects other economic, social, ecological and infrastructure systems. This requires a vibrant research ecosystem that both broadens and deepens our understanding of risks associated with extreme heat.

    The Secretary-General’s Call to Action on extreme heat is timely and urgent. This plan to reduce the disaster risks associated with extreme heat is just part of a wider, global and ambitious response, requiring coordinated action across sectors and nations. But it is undeniable that we can’t waste a moment in making sure that everyone, everywhere, is protected from the impacts of intensifying extreme heat.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: WRRC Webinar: Reflecting on the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Shaping the Future of Disaster Resilience

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Venue

    Online participation via Zoom

    This webinar serves as a cornerstone event for the 2025 World Resilient Recovery Conference (WRRC), playing a critical role in advancing the global agenda for disaster risk reduction and recovery readiness. By reflecting on the legacy of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, it aims to inspire collective action and drive progress toward a more resilient future. As a foundational event leading up to the WRRC, which will take place just before the opening of the 8th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction on 3 June 2025, this discussion will generate key insights and recommendations. These outcomes will directly inform the Global Call to Action for Investing in Readiness for Resilient Recovery, to be adopted at the WRRC and contribute to shaping global recovery strategies.

    This webinar is co-organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR).

    Background

    The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was one of the most devastating disasters in modern history, claiming over 230,000 lives and causing widespread destruction across 14 countries in Asia and Africa. The disaster revealed significant gaps in global disaster preparedness and response, but also catalyzed transformative changes in disaster risk management, recovery strategies and early warning systems.

    Over the past two decades, global efforts have led to critical advancements in DRR, including the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS), the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015) and its successor, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030). However, challenges remain, particularly in ensuring inclusive, sustained and adequately funded disaster recovery efforts.

    Objectives 

    This webinar will reflect on the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami as a turning point for global disaster risk reduction and recovery readiness. By examining the lessons learned, progress made and gaps that remain, this discussion will generate key insights to advance resilient recovery efforts. The session will explore governance, financing, early warning systems and the role of inclusive recovery in shaping disaster resilience.

    The outcomes of this session will directly contribute to the Global Call to Action for Investing in Readiness for Resilient Recovery and inform the broader agenda of the 2025 World Resilient Recovery Conference (WRRC). By reflecting on the long-term impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, this discussion will provide actionable recommendations for accelerating progress on the principles of “Building Back Better” and strengthening disaster resilience. The insights gathered will contribute to shaping inclusive recovery frameworks, emphasizing the need to address vulnerabilities, integrate community voices, and ensure equitable recovery processes in future disaster preparedness and recovery strategies.

    The session further aims to:

    1. Understand how the Indian Ocean Tsunami became a turning point on greater investments in disaster risk reduction and related areas, via the Hyogo Framework and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, reflecting upon how large-scale resource mobilization was realized.  
    2. Understand how the establishment of an Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning Systems was made possible across the region and reflect on the progress made since then in terms of governance to reach the last mile of early warning systems
    3. Reflect on lessons learnt in Building Back Better following the Tsunami and where progress is still needed to accelerate.

    How to Register  

    Online (Zoom): https://undrr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wmu1bSjLQYOgsaYRkA4v8w 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Demand-driven cooperation helps build resilience to disaster- and climate-related impacts in Asia and the Pacific

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    In 2022 alone, over 7,500 people died due to more than 140 disasters, which affected 64 million people in Asia and the Pacific.[1] In the same year, there were 22.6 million internal displacements as a result of disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, more than 70 percent of the global total. Climate change is projected to increase these trends as extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, compounded by rapid and unplanned urbanisation, population growth, poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation, which also heighten the needs of those affected. Disaster risk reduction and prevention are key to mitigating the impact that displacement will have on affected populations. Measures to help disaster displaced people achieve durable solutions should be also integrated in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction plans, recognising them as a disproportionally affected group with specific needs that may face challenges in accessing services and the benefits of development and reconstruction programmes.[2]

    The Issue-Based Coalition on Building Resilience (chaired by UNDP and UNDRR) serves as a platform for UN agencies to work together in four workstreams[3] to accelerate action on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and resilience in the Asia-Pacific region. Driven by demand in the region, the working group on disaster- and climate-related displacement organised a workshop on preventing, managing and finding solutions to disaster- and climate-induced displacement in December 2023, bringing together representatives from twelve countries across the region for a peer-to-peer exchange. Government representatives presented effective practices for preventing, responding to and solving disaster displacement sustainably in sessions that were organised by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) and the Asian Development Bank. The workshop served as a platform to strengthen collective efforts in finding innovative solutions and promoting resilience, as well as to focus future efforts of the disaster-and climate-related displacement working group. A community of practice for national technical focal points has been established to foster ongoing collaboration and knowledge exchange going forward.

    In 2023, the Issue-Based Coalition (IBC) achieved significant milestones through demand-driven cooperation based on peer-to-peer exchange facilitated by the UN system and partners providing technical knowledge and support. This approach underpinned the progress in advancing the Early Warning for All (EW4all) initiative, marked by the endorsement of the regional strategy and collaboration with UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) and Country Teams (UNCTs) to translate the global initiative into national actions. National consultations in countries like the Maldives, Lao PDR, Nepal, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, as well as the Pacific sub-region, have laid the foundation for implementing the EW4all Initiative. Notably, the Maldives and Lao PDR have made significant strides in designing their national roadmaps through government leadership and collaboration with the UN system and partners. Additionally, the IBC’s efforts addressed displacement challenges and disseminated knowledge on building disaster- and climate-resilient health systems and the state of the climate.

    For 2024 the Issue-Based Coalition on Building Resilience intends to continue working with Resident Coordinators and Country Teams to support governments in implementing their plans, ensuring the necessary regional assistance is identified, including for displacement, loss and damage, the successful implementation of the Early Warnings for All Initiative, and by providing state-of-the-art risk analytics on the ESCAP Risk and Resilience Portal.

    [1] UN-ESCAP, Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2023

    [2] The United Nations Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement focuses on three key areas: prevention, response, and solutions. Similarly, the Early Warning for All Initiatives aims to embed strong early warning systems in all countries by 2027 to ensure that all people are protected from disasters.

    [3] Four workstreams of the IBC on Building Resilience: 1) integration of health emergencies in DRR, 2) disaster and climate risk analysis, 3) resilient recovery and 4) disaster and climate-related displacement.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: What’s desertification? Experts hopeful devastating trend can be reversed

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Climate and Environment

    An area the size of Egypt, around 100 million hectares, of healthy and productive land is being degraded each year due to drought and desertification, which is being driven mainly by climate change and poor land management. 

    On 2 December, countries from around the world will meet in Riyadh under the auspices of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, (UNCCD) to discuss how to turn the corner from degradation to regeneration.

    Here are five things you need to know about desertification and why the world needs to stop treating the planet like dirt to protect the productive land which supports life on Earth.

    No life without land

    It is perhaps to state the obvious, but without healthy land there can be no life. It feeds, clothes and shelters humanity.

    © UNEP/Florian Fussstetter

    A member of an indigenous group in the Amazon, in Brazil, works to reforest the land.

    It provides jobs, sustains livelihoods and is the bedrock of local, national and global economies. It helps to regulate climate and is essential for biodiversity.

    Despite its importance to life as we know it, up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is degraded, affecting around 3.2 billion people; that’s almost half of the global population.

    From deforested mountains in Haiti, to the gradual disappearance of Lake Chad in the Sahel and the drying up of productive lands in Georgia in eastern Europe, land degradation affects all parts of the world.

    It is not an exaggeration to say our very future is at stake if our land does not stay healthy.

    Degraded land

    Desertification, the process by which land is degraded in typically dry areas, results from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities, such as over-farming or deforestation.

    100 million hectares (or one million square kilometres), that’s the size of a country like Egypt, of healthy and productive land is lost each year.

    The soils on these lands which can take hundreds of years to form are being depleted, often by extreme weather.

    Droughts are hitting harder and more often, three out of four people in the world are projected to face water scarcity by 2050.

    Temperatures are increasing due to climate change further driving extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, adding to the challenge of keeping land productive.

    Land loss and climate

    There is clear evidence that land degradation is interconnected with broader environmental challenges like climate change.

    © World Bank/Andrea Borgarello

    A man looks across a desert in Mauritania.

    Land ecosystems absorb one-third of human CO2 emissions, the gas that is driving climate change. However, poor land management threatens this critical capacity, further compromising efforts to slow down the release of these harmful gasses.

    Deforestation, which contributes to desertification, is on the rise, with only 60 per cent of the world’s forests still intact, falling below what the UN calls the “safe target of 75 per cent.”

    What needs to be done? – the ‘moonshot moment’

    The good news is that humankind has the knowhow and power to bring land back to life, turning degradation into restoration.

    Robust economies and resilient communities can be cultivated as the impacts of devastating droughts and destructive floods are tackled.

    © UNCCD/Juan Pablo Zamora

    A community in Mexico comes together to work on improving their lands.

    Crucially, it is the people who depend on land who should have the biggest say in how decisions are made.

    UNCCD says that to “deliver a moonshot moment for land,” 1.5 billion hectares of degraded lands need to be restored by 2030.

    And this is happening already with farmers adopting new techniques in Burkina Faso, environmentalists in Uzbekistan planting trees to eliminate salt and dust emissions and activists protecting the Philippines capital, Manila, from extreme weather by regenerating natural barriers.

    What can be achieved in Riyadh

    Policy makers, experts, the private and civil society sectors as well as youth will come together in Riyadh with a series of goals, including:

    • Accelerate restoration of degraded land by 2030 and beyond
    • Boost resilience to intensifying droughts and sand and dust storms
    • Restore soil health and scale up nature-positive food production
    • Secure land rights and promote equity for sustainable land stewardship
    • Ensure that land continues to provide climate and biodiversity solutions
    • Unlock economic opportunities, including decent land-based jobs for youth

    Fast facts: The UN and desertification

    • Three decades ago, in 1994, 196 countries and the European Union signed up to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification or UNCCD.
    • The Conference of the Parties or COP is the main decision-making body of UNCCD.
    • UNCCD is the global voice for land where governments, businesses and civil society come together to discuss challenges and chart a sustainable future for land.
    • The 16th meeting of the COP (otherwise known as COP16) is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2-13 December.
    • UNCCD is one of three “Rio Conventions.” along with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). These are outcomes of the historic 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Plastic pollution treaty negotiations adjourn in Busan, to resume next year

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    By Vibhu Mishra

    Climate and Environment

    Countries negotiating a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution concluded their fifth session in the small hours of Monday in Busan, Republic of Korea, with plans to reconvene in 2025.

    Despite intense discussions, delegates recognised the need for more time to address divergent views and refine the treaty’s framework.

    The session, which began on November 25, brought together more than 3,300 participants, including representatives from over 170 nations and more than 440 observer organizations.

    Delegates agreed on a “Chair’s Text” prepared by Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Chair, Ambassador Luis Vaya’s Valdivieso of Ecuador, which will serve as the basis for future negotiations.

    Clear and undeniable commitment

    Speaking at the session’s closing, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), acknowledged the progress made while emphasising the challenges that remain.

    “The world’s commitment to ending plastic pollution is clear and undeniable. Here in Busan, talks have moved us closer to agreeing on a global legally binding treaty that will protect our health, our environment, and our future from the onslaught of plastic pollution,” she said.

    She highlighted that “good progress” was made in Busan, adding however that “persisting divergence” remains in key areas.

    “Negotiators have reached a greater degree of convergence on the structure and elements of the treaty text, as well as a better understanding of country positions and shared challenges. But it is clear there is persisting divergence in critical areas and more time is needed for these areas to be addressed.”

    The INC will resume discussions in 2025, with the venue yet to be announced.

    An ambitious mandate takes time

    INC Chair Vayas underscored that the INC Committee’s mandate “has always been ambitious”.

    “But ambition takes time to land. We have many of the elements that we need, and Busan has put us firmly on a pathway to success,” he said.

    “I call on all delegations to continue making paths, building bridges, and engaging in dialogue…let us always remember that our purpose is noble and urgent: to reverse and remedy the severe effects of plastic pollution on ecosystems and human health,”

    A pervasive problem

    Plastic pollution remains a major global challenge.

    Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes, posing severe risks to wildlife and human health. Microplastics have been found in food, water, soil and even in human organs and placenta of newborn babies.

    The treaty, mandated by a 2022 UN Environment Assembly resolution, seeks to addresses the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal, through an international legally binding instrument.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The ‘slow onset, silent killer’: Droughts explained

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    By Daniel Dickinson, Riyadh

    Climate and Environment

    Droughts across the world are intensifying and have become a “slow onset, silent killer” to which no country is immune, according to the UN’s most senior official working on desertification, drought and land restoration issues.

    Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was speaking at the opening of COP16 a major global conference taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where a new global drought regime is expected to be agreed which will promote the shift from reactive relief response to proactive preparedness.

    Here’s what you need to know about droughts.

    Droughts are increasing in regularity and intensity

    Droughts are a natural phenomenon, but in recent decades have been intensified by climate change and unsustainable land practices. Their number has surged by nearly 30 per cent in frequency and intensity since 2000, threatening agriculture, water security, and the livelihoods of 1.8 billion people, with the poorest nations bearing the brunt.

    © World Bank/Arne Hoel

    Water availability is essential to prevent migration in places like western Nigeria.

    They can also lead to conflict over dwindling resources, including water, and the widespread displacement of people as they migrate towards more productive lands.

    No country is immune

    More than 30 countries declared drought emergencies in the past three years alone, from India and China, to high-income nations such as the US, Canada and Spain, as well as Uruguay, Southern Africa and even Indonesia.

    UN News/Daniel Dickinson

    A ship passes through the Panama Canal in Central America.

    Droughts impeded grain transportation in the Rhine River in Europe, disrupted international trade via the Panama Canal in Central America, and led to hydropower cuts in the South America country, Brazil, which depends on water for more than 60 per cent of its electricity supply.

    Firefighters were even called to an urban park in New York City, in the United States in wintry November 2024 to tackle a bush fire after weeks of no rainfall.

    “Droughts have expanded into new territories. No country is immune,” said UNCCD’s Ibrahim Thiaw adding that “by 2050, three in four people globally, up to seven and half billion people, will feel the impact of drought.”

    Domino effects

    Droughts are rarely confined to a specific place and time and are not simply due to a lack of rainfall but are often the result of a complicated set of events driven or amplified by climate change, as well as sometimes the mismanagement of land.

    For example, a hillside which is deforested is immediately degraded. The land will lose its resilience to extreme weather and will become more susceptible to both drought and flooding.

    And, once they strike, they can trigger a series of cataclysmic domino effects, supercharging heat waves and even floods, multiplying the risks to people’ s lives and livelihoods with long-lasting human, social and economic costs.

    As communities, economies, and ecosystems suffer the damaging effects of drought, their vulnerability is increased to the next one, feeding a vicious cycle of land degradation and underdevelopment.

    Drought is a development and a security issue

    Around 70 per cent of the world’s available freshwater is in the hands of people living off the land, most of them subsistence farmers in low-income countries with limited livelihood alternatives. Around 2.5 billion of them are youth.

    Without water there is no food and no land-based jobs, which can lead to forced migration, instability, and conflict.

    “Drought is not merely an environmental matter,” said Andrea Meza, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary. “Drought is a development and human security matter that we must urgently tackle from across all sectors and governance levels.”

    Planning for greater resilience      

    Droughts are also becoming harsher and faster due to human-induced climate change as well as land mismanagement and typically the global response to it is still reactive. More planning and adaption is required to build resilience to the extreme conditions created by dwindling supplies of water and this often happens at a local level.

    UN Haiti/Daniel Dickinson

    A beekeeper collects honey in southern Haiti.

    In Zimbabwe a youth-led grass-roots organization is aiming to regenerate land by planting one billion trees across the southern African country, while more farmers on the Caribbean island of Haiti are taking to bee-keeping; Bees feed off the trees, so there is an incentive for bee keepers to protect the trees from being cut down. In Mali, a young woman entrepreneur, is creating livelihoods and building resilience to drought by promoting the products of the moringa tree.

    Experts say proactive initiatives like these can prevent immense human suffering and is far cheaper than interventions focused on response and recovery.

    What next?

    At COP16 countries are coming together to agree how to collectively tackle worsening droughts and promote sustainable land management.

    Two key pieces of research were launched on the opening day.

    The World Drought Atlas depicts the systemic nature of drought risks illustrating how they are interconnected across sectors like energy, agriculture, river transport, and international trade and how they can trigger cascading effects, fueling inequalities and conflicts and threatening public health.

    The Drought Resilience Observatory is an AI-driven data platform for drought resilience created by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), a UNCCD-hosted coalition of more than 70 countries and organizations committed to drought action.

    How much is it going to cost?

    One UN estimate suggests that investments totalling $2.6 trillion will be needed by 2030 to restore land across the world which is affected by drought and poor management.

    At COP16 an initial pledge of $2.15 billion was announced to finance the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.

    It will serve as a global facilitator for drought resilience, promoting the shift from reactive relief response to proactive preparedness,” said Dr Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudia Arabia, adding that “we also seek to amplify global resources to save lives and livelihoods around the world.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hamas report to mediators accuses Israel of pervasive Gaza ceasefire violations

    As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.

    By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News

    Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since the agreement went into effect on January 19 — including the killing of civilians, repeated ground and air incursions, the beating and humiliation of Palestinian captives during their release and the deportation of some without their consent, and the denial of humanitarian aid.

    Drop Site News obtained a copy of the report delivered to mediators from Qatar and Egypt.

    “Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement if the occupation is committed to the agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

    “We confirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments, and it bears responsibility for any complications or delays.”

    The move comes in response to accusations by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas had violated the agreement, threatening a full resumption of the war — yet it was Israel’s nearly daily breaches of the deal that prompted Hamas to announce it would postpone the next release of Israeli captives.

    On Monday, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, announced the next planned release of three Israeli captives, scheduled for Saturday, would be “postponed indefinitely”.

    Abu Obeida cited “delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed”.

    Israel violating ceasefire agreement
    Hamas issued a statement soon afterwards reiterating that Israel was violating the agreement by blocking aid, attacking civilians, and restricting movement in Gaza, and warning that the next release of captives would be postponed until it complied.

    “By issuing this statement five full days ahead of the scheduled prisoner handover, Hamas aims to grant mediators sufficient time to pressure the occupation to fulfill its obligations,” the statement said.

    Three Israeli officials and two mediators speaking anonymously to The New York Times confirmed that Israel had not fulfilled its obligations to send humanitarian aid into Gaza. This fact was mentioned in the 9th paragraph of the Times story.

    In response, President Trump, on Monday told reporters that the ceasefire should be cancelled if Hamas did not release all the remaining captives it was holding in Gaza by midday Saturday, warning “all hell is going to break out”.

    Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on Trump’s comments.

    “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, “the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.”

    Netanyahu reportedly ordered the military to add more troops in and around Gaza to prepare for “every scenario” if the captives were not released.

    It was not immediately clear if he was referring to the three Israelis originally scheduled for release Saturday, all remaining captives, or all living Israelis slated for release in Phase 1.

    Document submitted to mediators
    The two-page document submitted by Hamas to mediators yesterday divided the violations into five separate categories: Field Violations, Prisoners, Humanitarian Aid, Denial of Essential Supplies, and Political Violations.

    Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire deal since it came into effect, targeting Palestinians in Gaza on an almost daily basis. The document outlines 269 “field violations” by the Israeli military, including the killing of 26 Palestinians and the wounding of 59 others.

    Page 1 of the Hamas report of ceasefire violations by Israel. Image: Hamas screenshot APR/DDN

    The number of people killed appears to be a dramatic undercount compared to the official toll documented by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

    The Director-General of the Health Ministry, Dr Monir al-Barsh, announced separately yesterday that 92 Palestinians had been killed and 822 wounded in “direct targeting” by the Israeli military since January 19, when the ceasefire came into effect.

    The report also lists repeated ground incursions into Gaza beyond the designated buffer zone, particularly in the Philadelphi corridor — the 14km strip of land that runs along the border of Egypt.

    These incursions “were accompanied by gunfire and resulted in the deaths of citizens and the demolition of homes,” the report said.

    It also accused Israeli authorities of subjecting Palestinian captives to beatings and humiliation during their release, forcibly deporting released captives to Gaza without their coordination or consent, preventing families of deported prisoners from leaving the West Bank to join them, and delaying prisoner releases by several hours.

    The report also says that fewer than 25 fuel trucks per day have been allowed into Gaza, which is half of the allotted 50 fuel trucks per day, as outlined in the deal. The entry of commercial fuel was blocked entirely, the report says, again in violation of the agreement.

    Only 53,000 tents allowed
    Just over 53,000 tents were allowed into Gaza, the reports says, out of the 200,000 allotted and no mobile housing units out of the 60,000 agreed on.

    Heavy machinery for the removal of massive amounts of debris and retrieval of bodies was similarly blocked, with only four machines allowed in.

    Israel also blocked the entry of supplies to repair and operate the power plant and electrical grid, the report said.

    No medical supplies, ambulances have been allowed in and no equipment for civil defense teams. Meanwhile banks were not allowed to receive cash to replenish a severe currency shortage.

    The report ends on “Political Violations” criticising statements by the “Israeli Prime Minister and ministers openly calling for the expulsion of Gaza’s population, sending a clear message that the occupation does not wish to honour the agreement and aims to implement Trump’s plan to displace Gaza’s residents”.

    It also criticises the “deliberate delay” in starting the negotiations on Phase 2 of the ceasefire and “the introduction of impossible conditions.”

    A summary of the Israeli ceasefire violations. Image: QudsNews

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: ‘Ne Zha 2’ merchandise flying off shelves

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    Sales are soaring for merchandise from the film “Ne Zha 2,” which recently became the sole Asian film listed in the world’s top 30 highest-grossing films of all time.

    As of Monday, the film’s box office has surpassed 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), making it a top player in global animated films and sparking a frenzy of offline merchandise purchases.

    Second-hand markets have seen the IP’s merch selling at several times their original price, with “Hard to find Ne Zha 2 items” becoming a hot topic on social media platforms.

    The colored papers and badges are produced by Guangdong Henglitai Crafts in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

    “We didn’t expect such a frenzy of offline purchases for Ne Zha 2 merchandise,” said Chen Qi, general manager of Guangdong Henglitai Crafts.

    When the company resumed operations after the Spring Festival holiday on Friday, the company’s client FunCrazy, the film’s official cooperation brand, placed an order for over 1 million sets of merchandise.

    “We are also concurrently working on designing new styles of such items to meet the growing market demand,” said Chen.

    The trendy toy company started with badge manufacturing and gradually became a renowned player covering global IPs.

    The company’s annual sales skyrocketed from 100 million yuan in 2022 to 300 million yuan in 2024, with its market share in China jumping from 20 percent to 70 percent.

    “The success of Ne Zha 2 proves that Chinese animation IPs can completely rival those of Japanese and American giants,” said Chen.

    The company plans to collaborate with brand partners to develop more peripheral characters while exploring new techniques such as metal sculpting and dynamic lighting effects, according to Chen.

    “A combination of high-quality content and manufacturing capability is the key to breaking new ground in the IP merchandise series,” he said.

    The popularity of Ne Zha 2 merchandise is attributed to the film’s impact and the exquisite craftsmanship of the manufacturing in Dongguan, according to Chen. “For example, our acrylic colored paper utilizes a silver spring fine flash technique, presenting the dynamic effects of movie scenes under different lighting conditions.”

    After receiving orders in October, the company delivered over 300,000 sets of products in early January, including acrylic cards, colored paper, fridge magnets, clips and transparent cards.

    “Brand partners are requesting restocks, so once we resume operations after the Spring Festival holiday, we ramp up production,” said Chen.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police increase visibility in Birkenhead

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police are upping reassurance patrolling in Birkenhead, as investigations continue into the aggravated robbery of a Cash in Transit van.

    A scene examination was completed at the ATM machine on Birkenhead Avenue yesterday evening.

    North Shore Relieving Area Commander, Inspector Mike Rickards, says Police visibility is increasing in response.

    “We are increasing reassurance patrolling for businesses and residents through that busy public space in Birkenhead,” he says.

    “It is anticipated this will be carried out over the coming days alongside other demand.”

    Meanwhile, investigations continue into Tuesday’s aggravated robbery as well as a wounding of a man on 4 February.

    “The public will appreciate we won’t be able to discuss the specifics of both investigations underway,” Inspector Rickards says.

    “Investigators from the Waitematā CIB are continuing to progress in their work to identify and hold offenders to account.”

    Inspector Rickards says Police understand the concern with two serious offences occurring so close to each other.

    “It’s likely to be the exception than the norm with two unrelated incidents occurring on the same road within a week of each other.”

    Police acknowledge the public who have come forward with information so far and continue to ask anyone to come forward.

    Please update Police online or call 105 using the reference number 250211/1336.

    Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS.

    Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Sydney Airport lands Hong Kong Airlines with daily non-stop flights

    Source: Sydney Airport

    Wednesday 12 February 2025

    • Hong Kong Airlines service to Sydney to launch on 20 June 2025
    • Daily service will boost seat capacity to Hong Kong by 20 percent
    • Cements Hong Kong as Sydney Airport’s 3rd busiest route after Singapore and Auckland

    Sydney Airport is set to welcome its second Hong-Kong based carrier, with Hong Kong Airlines to launch its inaugural daily service between Hong Kong and Sydney on 20 June 2025.

    This new service increases daily flights between the two cities from five to six and boosts seat capacity on the route by nearly 20 percent, giving passengers more choice and convenience than ever before.

    The arrival of Hong Kong Airlines follows the recent expansion of bilateral air traffic rights between Hong Kong and Australia, the first in nearly two decades. The expansion of traffic rights highlights the demand for travel on the already popular Hong Kong-Sydney route, further supported by Hong Kong International Airport’s increased capacity with its new third runway, which can now cater for 120 million passengers annually.

    The historic connection between Sydney and Hong Kong dates back 75 years to 1949, when Qantas first launched a charter service on this route. Today, it remains one of Sydney Airport’s busiest, with more than 850,000 passengers flying between the two cities in 2024 — 72% of pre-COVID levels — maintaining Hong Kong’s rank as Sydney’s third-busiest city route after Singapore and Auckland.

    The arrival of Hong Kong Airlines increases the number of carriers operating at Sydney Airport to a record 52, with Sydney Airport set to be the airline’s first capital city destination in Australia.

    Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said: “The arrival of Hong Kong Airlines marks an important new chapter for Sydney Airport and strengthens the long-standing connection between Sydney and Hong Kong. This new daily service not only increases capacity but also provides passengers with more choice to explore one of Asia’s most vibrant cities.

    “The arrival of Hong Kong Airlines will enhance opportunities for trade, tourism, and cultural exchange between Sydney and Hong Kong, delivering significant economic benefits to New South Wales, and Australia.

    “The support of the NSW Government and Destination NSW was critical in securing this new service and it’s a great example of how our strong and productive partnership is delivering for Sydney and NSW.

    “I would also like to thank and recognise the Albanese Government for their recent work in delivering the expansion of bilateral air traffic rights between Hong Kong and Australia. The new services announced today are a direct consequence of these efforts and will boost trade, economic growth, and job creation.”

    Hong Kong Airlines Chairman Mr Yan Bo said: “This is an important milestone for Hong Kong Airlines. In the past, we only operated flights to the Gold Coast and Cairns in Australia, offering passengers access to popular tourist hotspots in Queensland.

    “Now, we are honoured to extend our reach to Sydney, the country’s most iconic city. This new route will enable us to serve a broader range of international travellers and is also a testament to the efforts of the two governments to actively support more bilateral air traffic rights.

    “We are committed to providing passengers with high-quality services and competitive prices, ensuring they have more diverse and convenient options for their travel plans.”

    Hong Kong Airlines President Mr Jeff Sun said: “The three-runway system at Hong Kong International Airport has increased the capacity for additional flights, and with the support of the two governments and related organisations, we are delighted to become the second Hong Kong-based airline to operate in Sydney.

    “This new service will promote tourism, economic and cultural ties between Hong Kong and Australia. Sydney and Hong Kong have a rich shared history in aviation, and we are proud to be a part of this new chapter. Not only will it bring convenience to travellers, but it will also serve as a bridge connecting with our extensive mainland Chinese network.”

    The Hon. Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, said: ““Since coming to government, we’ve landed a record number of air services agreements with over a dozen international markets, including Hong Kong, Canada, Malaysia, Chile, Turkiye, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

    “We’re so pleased to see Sydney Airport leveraging Australia’s new bilateral air agreements – with Turkiye since November and now with Hong Kong.

    “The Australian Government is working to expand our international aviation network, because more flights means more competition, more choice, and a better experience for Australian travellers.”

    The Hon. John Graham MLC, NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, said: “We are very excited to welcome Hong Kong Airlines to Sydney Airport.

    “The NSW Government is working to grow our visitor economy and boosting aviation capacity to key markets like Hong Kong will be critical in achieving that growth.

    “Hong Kong is a priority international market for Sydney, with incoming travellers contributing $290 million to the NSW visitor economy over the last year.”

    Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said: “We welcome the arrival of Hong Kong Airlines which will further boost seat capacity between Hong Kong and Australia.

    “When the new direct services begin in June it will be easier than ever before for Hong Kong business and leisure travellers to visit Australia. We hope these daily services will help to drive increased visitation, providing a further boost to our visitor economy.”

    Schedule information

    Flight Number Origin/Destination Departure/Arrival (Local)
    HX17 HKG-SYD 22:25 – 09:50+1
    HX18 SYD-HKG 11:30 – 18:50

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: There’s a new push to teach Australian students about civics. Here are 6 ways to do it well

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney

    A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10.

    The committee also recommended a mandatory civics and citizenship course for all Year 11 and 12 students to prepare them to vote.

    This comes amid growing concern about misinformation on social media, as well as increasing antisemitism and declining social cohesion.

    This is not the first time there have been calls to improve the quality of civics education in Australia – such calls have been made as far back as 1994.

    As a researcher in political education, I argue we need to make sure civics education is relevant, engaging and given adequate space in the curriculum.

    What is civics?

    At the moment, civics and citizenship is included in the national Australian Curriculum. But it is not mandatory and many states only make passing reference to it in primary school. Some states provide more opportunities in high school.

    The topics covered include how governments and democracy work, how laws work, the rights of individuals, diversity and national identity, and how to critically evaluate different sources of information.

    Every three years since 2004, a national sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students are assessed on their civics knowledge, skills and attitudes through a national test.

    In the most recent results from 2019, 53% of Year 6 students were at or above the national proficient standard for civics, while only 38% of Year 10 students were at or above the standard. Year 10 students’ results have shown a substantial decline since 2004.

    This suggests many young people are leaving school without the knowledge, skills and values to sustain our democracy.

    Both Australian and international studies have repeatedly shown civics and citizenship education makes a positive difference to young people’s political participation (including the likelihood they will vote), understanding of democracy and support for democratic values.

    What does good civics education look like?

    1. Make sure it has its own subject

    At the moment, civics education might be included as part of students’ work in history or other humanities subjects. But research shows it should be taught as a separate subject, otherwise it can get lost among other material.

    2. Don’t forget senior students

    It should also be taught at relevant points in students’ lives.

    While Year 11 and 12 are times when students get to pick most of their subjects for major exams, it is important they also study how the electoral system works. Many will vote in elections before they even leave school.

    3. Make it relevant to young people

    As important as they are, some aspects of civics – such as lawmaking or how parliament works – may seem dry to young people.

    Research shows teachers need to make the content engaging. This means students are shown how lessons relate to the real world.

    For example, a lesson on how parliament works could focus on the passage of contentious legislation such as banning social media for young people. Or lessons on misinformation could look at how social media had an impact on a particular issue or election.

    4. Have class discussions

    Research also shows students need to learn civics knowledge, skills and values in various ways, including role play, problem-solving, simulations and direct instruction.

    Students should be encouraged to ask questions in an open classroom environment. Class discussions are important for controversial issues so both sides of issues can be discussed in a supervised environment.

    5. Have school elections

    My research has found school elections (for school captains or a student council) can engage students in democratic processes. This way, they see first-hand how elections work and how voting can have an impact on their lives.

    6. Train teachers in law and government

    It is also important for teachers to have specific training in law, government or politics. Research shows teachers with these backgrounds have a greater impact on students’ civic knowledge – students come away knowing more. Similarly, teachers with these backgrounds achieve better results with students’ civic media literacy – or ability to handle misinformation and “outrage” online.

    This means existing teachers need to have professional opportunities to upgrade their civic knowledge and skills.

    Ultimately, it will take well-trained teachers, teaching a compulsory subject, to see Australian students appropriately educated about our democracy and how to participate in it.

    Murray Print receives funding from the Australian Research Council. An ARC grant was conducted in association with the Australian Electoral Commission.

    – ref. There’s a new push to teach Australian students about civics. Here are 6 ways to do it well – https://theconversation.com/theres-a-new-push-to-teach-australian-students-about-civics-here-are-6-ways-to-do-it-well-249584

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 31 January 2025 A family affair: Traversing the seas to bring vital immunizations to island communities

    Source: World Health Organisation

    Though Mimi stayed home while her mother was at work, she’d often spend her free time playing doctor. Years later, Rabiah, a single mother, would send Mimi to midwifery school following in her footsteps. Her three other siblings would also become health workers.  

    “She is the greatest inspiration in my life,” says Mimi. “Since I was a child, I saw her fighting for the community. So, I also feel the desire to be like her, to be dedicated to the island communities.” 

    Braving big waves to prevent diseases 

    With over 17 500 islands in Indonesia, many people face challenges accessing sufficient medical care, including routine immunizations. As a result, the risk of disease is very high, especially for vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles. 

    On Sanane Island in South Sulawesi Province, where Mimi provides care, more than 95% of children have received their routine immunizations, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the country’s health workers and health cadres. 

    Because some islands are small and remote, it is difficult for each one to have a dedicated immunization centre or clinic. Without an immunization centre, some islands lack the ice or refrigeration needed to keep vaccines cold.  

    Midwife Rahmi (Mimi) prepares vaccines at Baring Primary Health Care Centre in Pangkep, Indonesia, for transport to a remote island, while her daughter watches. © WHO / Harrison Thane 

    However, the District Health Office organizes specific vaccination days in the communities where Mimi works. On those occasions, Mimi wakes up well before dawn, gathers her vaccine carrier and collects the vaccines she needs from the primary health care centre. She then boards a boat and starts her long journey to the island, storing her vaccine carrier within the boat’s ice box to further keep the vaccine vials cold—the same journey her mother took throughout her career before retiring in 2013.  

    Once she arrives on the island, she and other health workers and volunteers spend the afternoons educating families and caregivers about the importance of immunization, and building trust among the community, a skill Mimi’s mother handed down to her.  

    “When you go to an island, first, be nice to the people,” advises Rabiah to Mimi. “Be kind to them. Promote your work well, using gentle words. If they don’t accept your promotion the first time, try again.” 

    The efforts to build trust in the community have paid off. On this day, Mimi is vaccinating children at Pala Island Public School #24 in South Sulawesi against human papillomavirus (HPV) and measles and rubella depending on each child’s immunization schedule. 

    Kurniati Yasin, Pala Island Public School #24 headmistress says, “When the health workers came to our school, braving the big waves, I felt happy, moved, proud. The programme at our school has helped our students understand the importance of health, how to take care of themselves, how to protect themselves, especially through the immunizations they received.” 

    Rahmi (Mimi), a midwife, applies an adhesive bandage to 10-year-old Fitriani, after she receives her vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). © WHO / Harrison Thane 

    The immunizations have improved the children’s health, says Mimi. “I see that the children are healthier. The diseases that usually affect children who aren’t vaccinated don’t affect the children who are vaccinated. That’s why I continue this immunization programme.” Besides providing immunization for children, Mimi also provides immunization for pregnant women, protecting them against tetanus and diphtheria.  

    Reaching all children with immunizations 

    The Government of Indonesia has been intensifying efforts to address the decline in immunization rates caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on reaching un- and under-vaccinated children, particularly in remote and underserved areas like Pangkep, where Mimi operates. The pandemic caused significant disruptions to routine immunization services in the country, resulting in a drop in immunization coverage from 85% in 2019 to 67% in 2021. 

    In response, the government has implemented comprehensive and multi-faceted strategies to restore immunization coverage. A new electronic immunization registry has been introduced to ensure accurate tracking and improve follow-up efforts.  

    To catch up on missed vaccinations, three rounds of nationwide periodic intensification of routine immunization have been conducted, targeting children under age 5 who missed their doses. Technical assistance has been strengthened for priority provinces, and WHO’s Sustainable outreach services approach ensures immunization services are delivered to even the most remote communities, such as those on isolated islands.  

    “Every child, no matter where they live, has the right to immunization to protect them from life-threatening diseases. Together, let’s ensure no child is left behind—because every dose matters, and every child counts,” says Dr Prima Yosephine, Director of Immunization at the Indonesia Ministry of Health. These combined efforts aim to rebuild immunization coverage, strengthen health systems, and protect every child in Indonesia from preventable diseases.  

    ———–

    Do you want to receive the latest news on vaccines and immunization? Click here to subscribe to the Global Immunization Newsletter.

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    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 11 February 2025 Departmental update Heads of road safety agencies meeting to drive down road deaths

    Source: World Health Organisation

    Heads of national road safety agencies and officials from more than 80 countries will meet to share knowledge to advance their national road safety strategies and action plans on the eve of the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, Morocco, next week.

    The Global network of heads of national road safety agencies meeting, co-hosted by WHO and the Global Road Safety Facility at the World Bank, will bring more than 110 officials together in Marrakech on 17 February to discuss the opportunities and challenges lead road safety agencies face in meeting the global goal of halving road deaths as set out in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

    “Empowering heads of road safety agencies is key to helping countries reduce road deaths and apply proven solutions. Lead road safety agencies drive national road safety strategies and coordinate across government. The network is here to help them advance that important work,” said Matts-Ake Belin, WHO global lead on the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

    Launched after the United Nations High-Level Political Declaration on Global Road Safety in 2022, the WHO-hosted network supports governments in establishing the policies, coordination and actions to ensure safe mobility for all citizens. It fosters collaboration and learning, provides technical support and monitors progress against the Global Plan for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

     As part of the network, WHO and the Global Road Safety Facility at the World Bank have delivered a range of capacity-building initiatives for road safety leaders in the last few years. Occasionally they have partnered with the Swedish Vision Zero Academy, the Indian Institute of Technology and other partners.

     Road safety governance is a key theme at the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. A session on governance will leading experts together to examine how different organizational models and governance mechanisms can deliver sustainable, results-driven road safety outcomes.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Charting a path for global action on land and drought

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    The largest and most inclusive UN land conference wrapped up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, charting a path for global action following two weeks of intense negotiations on how best to tackle land degradation, desertification and drought, which affects one quarter of the world.

    The nearly 200 countries gathered at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and committed to prioritising land restoration and drought resilience in national policies and international cooperation as an essential strategy for food security and climate adaptation.

    While parties failed to agree on the nature of a new drought regime, they adopted a strong political declaration and 39 decisions shaping the way forward.

    According to UNCCD’s newly released World Drought Atlas and Economics of Drought Resilience reports, droughts affect the livelihoods of 1.8 billion people worldwide, pushing already vulnerable communities to the brink. They also cost an estimated $300 billion per year, threatening key economic sectors such as agriculture, energy and water.

    Among the main outcomes reached at COP16 were:

    • A prototype launch of the International Drought Resilience Observatory, the first ever global AI-driven platform to help countries assess and enhance their capacity to cope with harsher droughts
    • Mobilisation of private sector engagement under the Business4Land initiative
    • The creation of designated caucuses for Indigenous Peoples and for local communities to ensure their unique perspectives and challenges are adequately represented

    “Today, history has been made”, said Oliver Tester from Australia, a representative of Indigenous Peoples. “We look forward to championing our commitment to protect Mother Earth through a dedicated caucus and leave this space trusting that our voices be heard.”

    UN News/Martin Samaan

    Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an Indigenous Peoples rights campaigner, attends the COP16 desertification conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    Global drought regime

    Nations also made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026.

    At COP16, more than 30 decisions were issued on key topics through the negotiation process, including migration, dust storms, enhancing the role of science, research and innovation, and empowering women to tackle environmental challenges.

    Some decisions introduced new topics to the agenda, namely environmentally sustainable agrifood systems and rangelands, which cover 54 per cent of all land. The degradation of rangelands alone threatens one sixth of global food supplies, potentially depleting one third of the Earth’s carbon reserves.

    At the same time, more than $12 billion was pledged to tackle land challenges around the world, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Right now, some two billion people living in pastoral areas are among the world’s most vulnerable in the face of desertification, land degradation and drought.

    Now, the work begins

    COP16 was the largest and most diverse UNCCD COP to date. It attracted more than 20,000 participants, around 3,500 of them from civil society, and featured more than 600 events as part of the first Action Agenda to involve non-State actors in the work of the convention. It also set records for youth attendance and for the most ever private sector participants at a UN land conference, with more than 400 representatives from such industries as finance, fashion, agri-food and pharmaceuticals.

    UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said now, the work begins.

    “Our work does not end with the closing of COP16,” she told delegates. “We must continue to tackle the climate crisis. It is a call to action for all of us to embrace inclusivity, innovation and resilience”

    She said youth and Indigenous Peoples must be at the heart of these conversations.

    “Their wisdom, their voices, and their creativity are indispensable as we craft a sustainable future with renewed hope for generations to come.”

    Vital turning point

    The meeting also marked a turning point in raising international awareness of the pressing need to accelerate land restoration and drought resilience, according to COP16 president, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Alfadley.

    “We hope the outcomes of this session will lead to a significant shift that strengthens efforts to preserve land, reduce its degradation, build capacities to address drought, and contribute to the wellbeing of communities around the world,” he said in closing remarks.

    UN Under-Secretary-General and UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw agreed, underscoring a significant shift in the global approach to land and drought issues and the interconnected challenges with broader global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, forced migration and global stability.

    NOOR for FAO/Benedicte Kurzen

    In Koyli Alpha, Senegal, women work in tree nurseries created as part of the Great Green Wall Initiative.

    ‘Solutions are within our grasp’

    During COP16, participants heard that UNCCD estimates that at least $2.6 trillion in total investments are needed by 2030 to restore more than one billion hectares of degraded land and build resilience to drought.

    This equals $1 billion in daily investments between now and 2030 to meet global land restoration targets and combat desertification and drought.

    New pledges were also announced for large-scale land restoration and drought preparedness and for some existing projects that are already winning the battle, like the Great Green Wall, an African-led initiative to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land straddling across the Sahel region, which mobilised $11.5 million from Italy and nearly $4 million from Austria.

    UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw summed up a common message heard throughout COP16 in his closing remarks.

    “As we have discussed and witnessed, the solutions are within our grasp,” he said.

    “The actions we took today will shape not only the future of our planet but also the lives, livelihoods and opportunities of those who depend on it.”

    Read more stories on climate and the environment here.

    Sacred Lands Declaration

    © UNCCD/Papa Mamadou Camara

    Assessing drylands in Caating, Brazil.

    In a landmark decision, COP16 parties requested the creation of a caucus for Indigenous Peoples with the goal of ensuring that their unique perspectives and priorities are represented in the work of the Convention to Combat Desertification.

    The Sacred Lands Declaration, presented during the inaugural Indigenous Peoples Forum on 7 December, underscored their role in sustainable resource management and called for greater involvement in global land and drought governance, including through participation in land restoration efforts.

    Here are some calls for action in the declaration:

    • We call on parties to ensure an approach that embraces human rights and Indigenous Peoples’s rights in all policies and actions related to land restoration and resilience building
    • We call on parties to respect, recognise, promote and protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, based on the fundamental right to self-determination, provided for in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and its General Recommendation 23

    • We encourage the UNCCD to create a dedicated fund for Indigenous Peoples’ initiatives on land restoration, conservation, desertification and drought resilience

      Read the full Sacred Lands Declaration here.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN World Court concludes landmark hearings on States’ responsibility for climate change

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held historic hearings from 2 to 13 December addressing States’ obligations under international law to combat climate change, a process spearheaded by small island nations facing existential threats.

    Initiated by a UN General Assembly resolution, the proceedings involved 96 countries and 11 regional organizations presenting their views on the “obligations of States with regard to climate change” under international law.  

    While ICJ advisory opinion will be non-binding, it is expected to shape the future of international climate law.

    Small islands call for justice

    The hearings opened with an appeal from Vanuatu and Melanesian Spearhead Group, representing nations most vulnerable to climate change.  

    “The outcome of these historic proceedings will have repercussions for generations to come, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our planet,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change.  

    The Pacific Island nation highlighted the catastrophic impacts of rising seas and extreme weather, calling the failures of high-emitting States “illicit”.

    The country’s Attorney General Arnold Kiel Loughman argued that “the failure of a handful of high-emitting states to meet their obligations constitutes an internationally wrongful act,” as they have brought humanity “to the brink of the abyss.”  

    Small island developing States (SIDS), represented by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), echoed these calls.  

    They asked the World Court to affirm principles of international law that address sea-level rise, including the recognition of maritime zones and statehood even if territories are inundated.  

    Differentiated responsibilities: Brazil, China weigh in  

    Brazil highlighted its commitment to ambitious emissions reductions, stressing that despite being a developing country, it faces significant challenges like poverty eradication and extreme climate impacts.  

    The country’s special envoy on climate change, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, underscored the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, asserting that high-emitting developed countries bear the greatest burden in addressing the crisis.  

    China, meanwhile, urged the ICJ to avoid creating new legal obligations and focus on existing frameworks such as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

    As one of the world’s largest emitters, China argued that developed nations must bear historical responsibility, while developing countries require longer timelines to meet climate goals.

    UN Photo

    The towers and gables of the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

    US, EU take diverging stances  

    The United States acknowledged the severity of the climate crisis but argued that international treaties like the Paris Agreement are not legally binding.  

    Margaret Taylor, the US representative, also rejected the notion that “common but differentiated responsibilities” is a fundamental principle of international law.  

    On the other hand, the European Union (EU) emphasised cooperation and stressed the non-adversarial nature of the advisory proceedings.  

    EU representatives pointed to the importance of existing treaties in addressing climate change but stopped short of calling for enforcement mechanisms.  

    A crucial moment for international climate action

    While the ICJ deliberates, nations and observers alike await its advisory opinion, expected to guide future legal interpretations of States’ responsibilities for the climate crisis.

    For small island nations and vulnerable communities, the stakes are existential.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: It’s official: January was the warmest on record

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    The world has just experienced the hottest January ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday, citing data crunched by UN partner the Copernicus Climate Service

    Last month was 1.75 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level and 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average, despite expectations that the La Nina weather phenomenon might bring cooler temperatures.

    In 2015, the international community agreed to try to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

    Surprise data

    The January data was “surprising” even to climate change experts at Copernicus, the European climate change service, which noted that it was the 18th month in the last 19 where the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.

    “January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the last two years, despite the development of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures,” said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus Strategic Lead for Climate.

    For many in the northern hemisphere January 2025 will be remembered by “wetter-than-average conditions” over western Europe, as well as parts of Italy, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, Copernicus said, highlighting “heavy precipitation” and flooding in some regions.

    Regional variations

    On the other hand, drier than average conditions were recorded in the northern UK and Ireland, eastern Spain and north of the Black Sea.

    Beyond Europe, it was wetter than average in Alaska, Canada, central and eastern Russia, eastern Australia, southeastern Africa, and southern Brazil, with regions experiencing floods and associated damage.

    But drier-than-average conditions took hold in southwestern United States and northern Mexico, northern Africa, the Middle East, across Central Asia and in eastern China as well as in much of southern Africa, southern South America and Australia.

    Global temperature rise is primarily attributed to humans burning fossil fuels which have led to record concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Other factors are also key, including deforestation. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Report details onslaught of cyberattacks

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    More than 1,300 advanced persistent cyberattacks targeting China were detected last year, with more than half aimed at the Chinese government institutions and education sector, according to a newly released research report.
    Domestically developed software systems in China have become key targets, the 2024 Advanced Persistent Threat Report published by Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 said.
    The findings follow extensive cyberattacks on Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek at the end of January. The internet protocol addresses involved were all traced to the United States, according to the report.
    The report said cyberspace has become a critical battleground in regional conflicts, with global advanced persistent threat organizations maintaining high levels of activity.
    An advanced persistent threat is a prolonged, targeted cyberattack, often orchestrated by skilled hackers, typically state-sponsored, aiming to infiltrate and maintain access to a network for espionage or data theft.
    China has long been a primary target for advanced persistent threat organizations, the report said. More than 1,300 attacks targeting China were recorded last year, with the attacking organizations primarily originating from South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and North America.
    The attacks targeted 14 key industries in China, with government institutions accounting for 33 percent and the education sector 20 percent. Other heavily targeted sectors included scientific research, national defense and military industries, and transportation.
    “Government institutions and educational units have always been primary targets for advanced persistent threat groups,” said Bian Liang, a cybersecurity expert at 360.
    Attackers target diplomatic and overseas embassy institutions to steal information on the latest diplomatic strategies and positions on major international issues, Bian said, helping the political forces behind them gain an advantage in geopolitical conflicts.
    “In the education sector, most of the affected universities have backgrounds in aviation and military industries or undertake related national research projects, meaning the attackers are essentially targeting China’s national defense and technological development,” he said.
    Meanwhile, cyberattacks targeting national defense and military-related objectives primarily focus on aviation, aerospace, shipbuilding and weapons industries, the report said.
    “These cyberattacks are not only capable of espionage to gather military intelligence and disrupt enemy network communications, but they can also control military facilities, paralyze enemy command and control systems, and forge and transmit false commands,” Bian said. This capability makes cyber warfare an indispensable part of modern military conflicts, he added.
    The report also highlighted emerging cyber threats in the automotive manufacturing, new energy and telecommunications sectors.
    Domestically developed software systems in China have become major targets as more Chinese institutions replace foreign products with domestic alternatives, the report said.
    Bian warned that domestically developed software has a broad customer base among Chinese enterprises and institutions, meaning penetration of a successful supply chain by an advanced persistent threat organization could have severe consequences.
    The report also pointed to the risks posed by artificial intelligence large models to cybersecurity, noting a surge in their use and influence in 2024.
    In late January, DeepSeek, whose AI chatbot has been described as a challenger to ChatGPT, said on its website that its AI model services had been subjected to large-scale malicious attacks, preventing many users from logging in, registering or engaging in conversations.
    A January report by China Media Group cited Wang Hui, a cybersecurity expert at Chinese security company Qi An Xin Group, who said the IP addresses involved in the DeepSeek attacks were located in the United States.
    Wang said the wave of cyberattacks included brute-force attacks aimed at cracking users’ passwords to obtain private information.

    MIL OSI China News –