May 2017. Urban disasters highlight need for resilience in Africa

Urban disasters highlight need for resilience in Africa





Rescuers work at the scene of the rubbish dump landslide in Addis Ababa (Photo: AP/Mulugeta Ayene)
 
By Evelyne Karanja

NAIROBI, 10 May 2017 – Rising disasters in Africa’s cities and their links with poverty and rapid, unplanned urbanisation are ever more apparent from tragedies such as the recent rubbish dump landslide in Addis Ababa, which killed at least 113 people.
Tackling urban risk will be a key issue when governments and a broad range of other stakeholders, including businesses and tech experts, meet in two weeks’ time in Mexico for the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Read more: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/53015



UNISDR Communications
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
Geneva, Switzerland
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2017 Metro CERT Training (Jun 1, 2017 - Jun 8, 2017)

2017 Metro CERT Training (Jun 1, 2017 & Jun 8, 2017)

You are invited to the following event:         2017 METRO CERT TRAINING

Multiple events from:
Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 6:00 PM &
Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 9:00 PM (EDT)
                 Carmen E. Turner Training Facility
                 3500 Pennsy Dr
                 Landover, MD 20785


Event registration is by invitation only. Register with your email address to attend this event.

Who can Participate:

•  Everyone who has completed the CERT Basic training.
•  The Metro CERT Training:
•       -Is for two days, June 1st  and June 8th, you must choose both dates and attend both             evening training sessions which start at 6 pm and end at  9 pm.
•      -On June 1st & 8th, you will need to bring your own or have change for snacks;   
•   June 8th will consist of hands-on training you will need your safety boots and cert vest.

  Metro CERT Training will cover:

1. What your local risks are and what you need to do to prepare as a CERT member riding Metro.
2. How to manage utilities, hazardous materials, and put out small fires using the appropriate Fire Extinguisher
3. CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims and organize spontaneous volunteers to be effective as a team and collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.
4. CERT members can react to emergencies ranging from rail safety to identification of terrorist activity. The members are taught how to help themselves and their fellow passengers.
5. To be a member of the Metro Citizen Corps, you must be an active CERT member, a regular Metro rider, a U.S. Citizen, and 18 years of age or older.
6. Metro CERT-trained volunteers will be well-versed in what to do in the event of an emergency in a transit environment.
7. CERT members will receive actual hands-on training in the rail system and the mock tunnel environment including a tunnel and “right-of-way" walk where participants will test third rail electric power of the tracks with a hot stick and learn the safe way to cross over the electrified rail.
8. CERT members will receive information on the location of emergency trip stations and how to access them in the case of an emergency. 

Metro Safety Video:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkdFBvTntpg&feature=player_embedded
       

We hope you can make it!

Cheers,
James Morrow Volunteer Service Coordinator

Take up the ‘noble pursuit’ of disaster risk reduction

 
By Andy McElroy

BEIJING, 12 May 2017 – Young researchers in China have been urged to take up the ‘noble pursuit’ of applying science and technology to save lives and protect livelihoods from disasters.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, called on students at Beijing Normal University to develop scientific evidence that informs policy and action to prevent and reduce disaster risk and losses.

Read more: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/53044 

Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, calls on students at Beijing Normal University to take up the 'noble pursuit' of disaster risk reduction (Photo: UNISDR) 





UNISDR Communications
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
Geneva, Switzerland
UNISDR.org | Preventionweb.net  | Twitter  
Facebook | YouTube | Flickr | Instagram

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