Watsan matters

Ugly, smelly and toxic.

Harmful algal blooms are naturally present in most aquatic environment but they are growing larger and more severe posing risks to human health, ecosystems, and even economies.

Algal blooms frequency increased by 59% between 2003 and 2020.

Their growth is driven by pollution from agricultural runoffs, wastewater and stormwater discharge and other human-related factors.

The equivalent of 18 months’ rainfall fell on one Greek village over 24 hours.

Storm Daniel delivered 750 mm of rain to Zagora, Greece, on 5-6 September 2023.

Mediterranean super-storms have been called ‘medicanes’ combining the words ‘Mediterranean’ with ‘hurricane’.

Storm Daniel unleashed devastation across Bulgaria, Türkiye, Greece and Libya.

Howling winds reached 85km/h, and torrential rain destroyed infrastructure, displacing thousands.

Libya suffered 20,000+ deaths when dams burst, flooding residential areas.

Medicanes’ infrequency means climate models have little data to draw on, making them difficult to study and predict.

Countries must prepare for a future with more extreme weather, and infrastructure must be built to last.

Desert dust storms are causing a public health crisis.

Humans have contended with them for thousands of years.

But modern desert dust storms differ from their preindustrial counterparts.

#ResilienceForAll https://www.preventionweb.net/news/desert-dust-storms-carry-human-made-toxic-pollutants-and-health-risk-extends-indoors

Keeping track of hazardous events, disaster losses and damages is an essential element of our understanding of risk.

This serves as a key decision-support tool for planning for and benchmarking progress in risk reduction, adaptation and resilience building.

In the last few decades, considerable progress has been made in systematically assessing and tracking disaster losses and damages.

Can trains run safely if telecommunication systems are down?

Will an electricity blackout disrupt the supply of clean water? 

Our societies rely on complex and interdependent infrastructure systems.

But modern infrastructure is vulnerable to failures  which can cascade across interconnected systems.

UNDRR’s Resilient Infrastructure Stress Test helps  governments identify vulnerabilities.

The tool analyses direct and indirect impacts of hazards on infrastructure assets and identifies interdependencies between systems. 

The UNDRR stress-testing tool helps realize the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure and is part of the Global Methodology for Infrastructure Resilience Review.

It is developed by UNDRR with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

Learn more about the Resilient Infrastructure Stress Test at https://www.undrr.org/ #ResilienceForAll

Will you be able to evacuate ahead of the storm?

Can you afford the repairs on your house after the flood?

We are not equal in the face of disaster risk.

For some – an inconvenience. For others – a deadly disaster

#ResilienceForAll | #BreakTheCycle | IDDRR 2023 More about the 2023 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction: https://iddrr.undrr.org/

Want to know why 2019 was worse than expected?

Find out here, and see what we did to help save and improve millions of lives with the support of donors, partners and affected communities.

When responding to a crisis, why should we care about listening to people who are affected?

Community engagement shouldn't be optional.

More than 20 million people in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are at a risk of famine over the coming six months.

UN agencies and their humanitarian partners are scaling up the response to avert a catastrophe, but the necessary funds and access to do so are required immediately.

OCHA delivers its mandate through coordination, information management, humanitarian financing, advocacy and policy.

OCHA mobilizes humanitarian assistance for people in need.

Internally Displaced People are “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border -

Find out more in this short animation. www.invisiblecitizens.org

In 2019, US$21.9 billion will be needed to tackle humanitarian crises.

With ever-increasing needs all over the world, this is the time to #InvestInHumanity

North-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are facing devastating humanitarian crises.

To avert a humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations and our partners have dramatically scaled up operations.

The climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis.

Members of the IASC highlight how global climate action must prioritize support to the most vulnerable in preventing, preparing for and adapting to the ongoing crisis.

Fabio Fussi gives a presentation on mapping shallow groundwater for manual drilling

Provided to RWSN for distribution by Jon Naugle

Training module on manual drilling techniques presented by Arjen van der Wal (Practica Foundation)

Provided to RWSN for distribution by Jon Naugle