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13 October marked the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction: This year’s theme, “Fund Resilience: Not Disasters” The theme resonates with me as it prompts us to rethink how we invest not just in response and recovery, but in preparedness, resilience, and community capacity. Lesotho’s breathtaking highlands and terrain make our country particularly prone to floods, droughts, strong winds, and heavy snowfall. These hazards are no longer rare occurrences; they are growing realities that threaten lives, livelihoods, and development. Building resilience is not just about funding infrastructure it’s about empowering communities, strengthening governance systems, and integrating local knowledge into disaster risk management. The more we invest in resilience today, the less we will need to recover from tomorrow’s disasters. POV: As someone deeply passionate about strategic public advocacy and humanitarian communication, I believe that communication goes beyond merely sharing stories. My focus is on humanitarian communication for organizational brand awareness and crisis response, ensuring that during emergencies, the right information reaches the right people at the right time. Humanitarian communication is a critical form of aid; it connects individuals, organizations, and solutions. Through direct engagement, media campaigns, and modern technologies, it enhances both community resilience and institutional capacity. #DRRDay #FundResilienceNotDisasters #ClimateAction #ResilienceBuilding #Lesotho #SustainableDevelopment #DisasterRiskReduction #Humanitariancommunication #HumanitarianAccountability #PublicAdvocacy #Public_Policy #TransformativeClimateJusticeEducation #GenderResponsiveClimateAction #ClimateActivism #Human_Right_Based_Approuches 📹By Lineo Thato Kalebe

October 13th is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Both rich and poor countries are facing more frequent natural disasters that are also larger and more destructive. This is partially driven by an increase in extreme weather events stemming from climate change, but it is also driven by risk-blind investments in community development.  The 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction emphasizes the following two key calls to action:  1. Increasing funding for disaster risk reduction (mitigation), within public budgets and international assistance. 2. Ensuring all public development and private sector investments are risk-informed and resilient. https://iddrr.undrr.org/

Happy International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025! This year’s theme, “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,” underscores the urgent need to address the escalating costs of disasters by shifting from reactive responses to proactive investments in disaster risk reduction. We’re excited to share that our article “Nature-based flood adaptation in Kigali’s Mpazi sub-catchment” has been published on United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) PreventionWeb. The piece highlights how Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) can play a critical role in reducing disaster risks while strengthening community resilience and providing long-term benefits for both people and ecosystems. 🔗 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dPvQv4FP

🇬🇹 Guatemala is one of the countries most exposed to natural hazards worldwide: more than 80% of its GDP is generated in risk zones, with nearly half of its population living in poverty. To address these risks, The World Bank has approved a $430 million Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) to strengthen institutional capacity, integrate resilience into sectors such as agriculture, transport, and housing, and protect vulnerable households. GFDRR is proud to have supported the preparation of this operation by working with national institutions on disaster risk management policies, advancing the regulatory framework, and providing technical inputs for social protection mechanisms. Learn more: http://wrld.bg/mn3w50X4kOX Luis Rolando Durán Vargas Giuliana De Mendiola Janibeth Miranda Maria Victoria Frascarelli

🌏 On this International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, we are reminded that early warning saves lives—but only when information reaches the right people, at the right time, in the right way. Our recent analysis of flood early warning systems in Pakistan reveals five persistent challenges that limit impact: ⚠️ Format & language mismatch – Alerts are technical, text-heavy, and not localized enough, leaving low-literacy users behind. 📡 One-way warnings – National and provincial authorities broadcast information, but communities lack a safe, structured way to share observations or ask questions. 👥 Capacity constraints – Thinly staffed local agencies struggle to turn community feedback into preparedness action. 📱 Digital access barriers – Power cuts, device sharing, and the gender digital divide reduce reach. 🏠 Land and housing insecurity – Informal settlements and insecure land tenure leave millions at risk and complicate evacuation and recovery. At Bristlepine Resilience Consultants, we aim to help local communities access, understand, and act on complex risk data and disaster preparedness strategies. Our team combines global expertise with local partnerships to ensure that climate and disaster information is actionable, equitable, and protection-sensitive—so every warning leads to timely, safe, and effective response. #DisasterRiskReduction #ClimateResilience #EarlyWarning #InclusiveDevelopment

NRM Regions Australia is getting behind this year’s theme for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)'s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters”. Funding resilience now means we can avoid paying for disasters later. However,  funding and resources for disaster resilience are still significantly less than needed, with  only 15% of Australia's investment in disasters goes to preparation and mitigation, with 85% on recovery. This is at the same time that the National Climate Risk Assessment points to extreme events continuing to increase. Nature-based solutions such as catchment repair, appropriate fire management and mangrove restoration are an untapped opportunity to create landscape level disaster resilience, while also meeting nature and climate mitigation and adaptation targets. Examples of the great landscape resilience work of regional NRM organisations and their partners through the national Nature-led Resilience project can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ecWV2w5Y We support UNDRR’s call for greater public and private investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience, including Nature-based Solutions, to protect our environment, our economy and our communities, from the increasing threat posed by natural disasters. #ResiliencePays #DRRday #natureledresilience #naturebasedsolutions #disasterresilience NQ Dry Tropics, South West NRM, Burnett Mary Regional Group, Terrain NRM, NACC NRM, Perth NRM, OceanWatch Australia Ltd. NRM North, Cradle Coast Authority NRM, NRM South, FRRR (Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal), Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), CSIRO, Paul Box, Russell Wise, Minderoo Foundation Image: Wongabel, Far north Queensland

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) designated 13 October as the International Day for Disaster Reduction to promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness. The theme for the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), celebrated on October 13, is "Fund Resilience, Not Disasters". This theme calls for a significant shift in investment from reactive disaster recovery to proactive disaster risk reduction, highlighting the massive economic disparity between disaster costs and the underfunding of resilience-building efforts. The call to action: The campaign emphasizes the need to increase funding for disaster risk reduction (DRR), especially in public budgets and international assistance. It also urges that all public and private sector investments be risk-informed to ensure they build resilient infrastructure and communities. The reasoning: The theme is motivated by the rising costs of disasters, which the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) notes are becoming more frequent, costly, and devastating. The true cost of disasters, including indirect costs, is estimated to be nearly $2.3 trillion annually, a figure dwarfed by the inadequate investment in DRR. Hashtags: The campaign uses hashtags like #ResiliencePays and #DRRday to promote the message on social media. #DisasterRiskReduction #IDDRR2025 #FundResilienceNotDisasters #BuildBackBetter #DisasterPreparedness #ClimateResilience #SafeCommunities #RiskReduction #SDGs #GlobalSafety

In Jowhar, Somalia, two neighboring communities—Daymasame and Maandheere—have been working together to rehabilitate their riverbanks using nature-based solutions. When unexpected floods hit, more than 350 spontaneous volunteers stepped up to stabilize vulnerable embankments, applying the skills they’d been practicing in real time. So far, 333 meters of riverbank have been restored using bioengineering techniques. Beyond reducing flood risk, the process has strengthened cooperation and trust between the two communities. Resilience work isn’t just about infrastructure—it’s about relationships, too! Full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g5MzA24p

Ngurare warns of rising disaster risks to Namibia’s economy and infrastructure Prime Minister Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare, PhD has warned that Namibia’s economy and infrastructure remain vulnerable to disasters such as droughts, wildfires and urban fires, which continue to cause major losses. He said weak local preparedness and limited risk-based planning often lead to preventable damage, adding that stronger national coordination and investment in resilience infrastructure are crucial to reducing long-term costs. Speaking at the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Windhoek, held under the theme “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,” Ngurare said development planning must be guided by real data on hazards and vulnerabilities as outlined in the National Risk Profile. https://lnkd.in/dfzUE8q8 #namibia #economy #infrastructure #disasterrisk #drought #wildfires #urbanfires #riskbasedplanning

🌍 The #WorldRiskReport 2025 is out now uncovering crucial insights on global flood risks! This year’s report, published by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft an alliance of ten German NGOs, including Welthungerhilfe (WHH) in collaboration with the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at Ruhr University Bochum, assesses disaster risks in 193 countries, covering more than 99% of the world’s population. 💧 What’s new in 2025? 🔹 A special analysis of global flood risks, along with a dedicated world map. 🔹 A deep dive into local flood hotspots down to the provincial level. 📊 Highlights from the #WorldRiskIndex 2025: 🔹 Risk hotspots continue to be concentrated in Asia and the Americas, while Africa remains the most vulnerable continent. 🔹 The Philippines once again ranks highest in the #WorldRiskIndex due to its geographic fragmentation and high exposure to extreme weather events. 🔹 Social inequality, weak health systems, and structural vulnerabilities continue to drive global risk. 🔹 Floods remain one of the most frequent and destructive disasters between 2000 and 2019, they affected over 1.6 billion people and caused economic losses exceeding 650 billion USD. 💡 So, what really works in flood prevention and disaster risk reduction? There’s no single solution it takes a comprehensive and collaborative approach that includes: ✔️ Good governance and long-term planning ✔️ Utilizing data, AI, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems for accurate forecasting ✔️ Investing in people-centered early warning systems,locally-led preparedness, and Anticipatory Action. ✔️ Promoting nature-based solutions such as wetlands and urban green spaces for sustainable risk reduction 🖊️ Welthungerhilfe (WHH)’s contribution to the report: The Anticipatory Action by Welthungerhilfe (WHH) team is very familiar with these approaches. Our experts, including Muhammad Fawwad and Julia Burakowski, have therefore contributed an inspiring article to this year's WorldRiskReport, in which they explain how Indigenous Knowledge Systems can help reduce flood risks through Anticipatory Action. 📘 Read the full #WorldRiskReport 2025 here: https://lnkd.in/eU2SbBs2 Ruhr University Bochum Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) #WeltRisikoBericht #WeltRisikoIndex #WorldRiskReport #DisasterRiskReduction #Sustainability #FloodRisk #AnticipatoryAction #ClimateAction #IndigenousKnowledge #WHH #CSRForum #RuhrUniversityBochum