Sir John Holmes , Former Under Secretary General, Humanitarian Affairs, on urban disasters
editHaitian and Indonesian earthquakes, floods in Pakistan and the 2004 tsunami demonstrated the complexity of responding to large scale disasters affecting urban areas and the particular vulnerability of poorer populations.
Urban risks: moving from humanitarian responses to disaster prevention
Monday 22 – Thursday 25 November 2010 (WP1059)

Academics, policy makers and humanitarian actors from over 23 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the US, Thailand and Vietnam met to discuss the changing nature of disaster response and ways in which the international community can respond more effectively.

The conference brought together disaster prevention, preparedness and response experts from governments, military and civil society to identify and share key learning including: respective roles and capabilities of different responders; the potential for more effective risk reduction measures; and ways in which the existing humanitarian toolkit should be adapted for urban emergencies.
Speakers included:
- Sir John Holmes (Former Under Secretary General, Humanitarian Affairs); Yasemin Aysan (Former Under Secretary General, Disaster Response, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)
- Bhichit Rattakul, Executive Director, Asia Disaster Preparedness Centre
- Atle Leikvoll, Deputy Secretary General, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Nan Buzard, Senior Director, American Red Cross
- Apurva Sanghi, Senior Economist, Joint World Bank – UN Project on Economics of Disaster Risk Reduction

Podcasts
Two podcasts were recorded during our conference:
Urban disasters with Sir John Holmes
Urban disasters: coordinating recovery with Nan Buzard, Vinod Chandra Menon and Bhichit Rattakul

This conference was supported by:
- Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence (Canberra)
- Asia Disaster Preparedness Centre (Bangkok)
- Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, World Bank
Further information
Conference on Urban risks: moving from humanitarian responses to disaster prevention
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