"I feel like I should try to save my family"- Young pastoralist Abdullahi's fight for resilience



Abdullahi and his little brother from Kenya



 A colleague passed along this amazing video clip to me this morning..about Abdullahi, a Kenyan boy who, demoralized in the face of devastating loss of livestock due to drought, found a way to still bring a ray of hope into his community for the future. "I think about ways that I can work hard and get an education", he says, "so that I can change my family's standard of living."

How Abullahi does this - this ray of hope - is beautiful and painful to witness... This poignant short story says more than words ever could about the unique and powerful role that children and youth often do have in catalyzing change in their communities...even in the worst circumstances. Let's make a point to notice and celebrate children's contributions to envisioning and bringing about a better future wherever and however these occur. As for Abdulahi's community, raising awareness and support for schemes that support pastoralists to face existing and impending losses is another way to build resilience.

Kalacha, Marsabit district where a satellite imaging insurance scheme will be used
Photograph: Gideon Mendel/© Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Abdullahi's Story

















































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Killer Year caps deadly decade - reducing disaster impact not an option, says UN SRSG Margareta Wahlström

2010 tied for the warmest year on record, and ranks as one of the deadliest in two decades for natural disasters, with the Haiti earthquake and the Russian heat wave driving total deaths to nearly 300,000. $109 billion was spent on dealing with disasters in 2010 - money which could have been invested in helping vulnerable communities cope with poverty, climate change and other development deterrants. With the scale of these statistics coming in to cap this deadly decade... disaster risk reduction (DRR) is no longer 'an option'.

Speaking from Geneva, Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative to the Secretary General said,

"These figures are bad, but could be seen as benign in years to come...Unless we act now, we will see more and more disasters due to unplanned urbanization and environmental degradation. And weather-related disasters are sure to rise in the future, due to factors that include climate change."

When will we think ahead and begin to really work together well? It does seem that what was once an issue that may have been in the margins is now becoming mainstreamed into public conscience - and into development mechanisms at national, international and local levels... but this is happening far too slowly and these good cases are too few in comparison with the scale of the problem. Among the critical issues now are to bring DRR into mainline development budgeting and implementation processes at these various levels, and to bring all the stakeholders around the table to truly make reducing risk 'everybody's business' - rather than the business of disaster managers or civil protection or "specialists". Everyone has a role to play in becoming aware and being prepared, in reaching out during disasters, and in their aftermath to build back better. Speaking on the importance of key actors in this process, Ms. Wahlstrom said,

"It’s critical for local governments, city leaders and their partners to incorporate climate change adaptation in urban planning,” Ms. Wahlström said, stressing that disaster risk reduction was “no longer optional”. “What we call ‘disaster risk reduction’ – and what some are calling ‘risk mitigation’ or ‘risk management’ – is a strategic and technical tool for helping national and local governments to fulfill their responsibilities to citizens.”

A recent press release by the UNISDR draws on research provided by CRED on disaster trends - which hopefully are a wakeup call for us all to our own role in building resilience both at home and abroad.

President of UN General Assembly convenes first ever Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk Reduction - coming up!

World Vision, UNDP, Save the Children and youth from Canada and the Philippines are preparing a dynamic side event at the upcoming Thematic Debate on DRR at the UN headquarters in New York. The event is entitled: Taking Collective Action in DRR for Good Governance – Investing in Our Children’s Future: A multi-stakeholder dialogue between youth, NGOs, UN agencies, Government and partners on working together to integrate DRR and development, addressing risks which undermine sustainable development.

This special side event will occur from 1:15 - 2:45 p.m. on 9 February, 2011 at UN Headquarters in New York at the informal Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by H.E. President Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, the current President of the UN General Assembly. For more information on this debate, and other initiatives of the President, see http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/65/initiatives/drr.shtml

Background to the meeting: The High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held from 20 to 22 September 2010, acknowledged that disaster risk reduction and increasing resilience to natural hazard can have multiplier effects and accelerate achievement of the MDGs.

The event is sponsored by World Vision, UNDP, Save the Children and partners. For more information, please contact @melisamar on Twitter or palm@un.org

BBC interviews Margareta Wahlstrom on Disaster Reduction

Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General, speaks here to the BBC on the importance of investing in disaster risk reduction.

Cancun - opening day of COP16



Live coverage of COP16 http://www.oneclimate.net/cancun



Today marks the opening day of the Conference of Parties (COP) 16 conference in Cancun. Stay tuned for live updates on the COP16 as the conference progresses.

Can you Change the World? Messages of Hope from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Desmond Tutu, and God Himself

A Message of Hope from Arnold Schwarzenegger at COP-15

"Change starts from the grassroots," California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said today at his speech to the COP-15. The leaders of the Copenhagen conference need to listen to "ordinary folks" when journalists queried whether he honestly expected Africa to learn from the example of California on climate change. California leads the US in its mandate to cut greenhouse gases and become a green state. "We don't wait for Washington," he said, "We've given up on that long ago."

"But how happy we would be", he said, "if all the world's harbors would be as clean" as Copenhagen's! And Schwarzenegger presented California's dream of a clean state as a story of "transformation"... and the reason behind the COP-15 meeting, "...the desire, the hope and the need for planetary transformation."

And is the story a fairy-tale, a dream, a false hope, "and if it is not, how do we make it real?" asks Schwarzenegger. And why do we put so many hopes and eggs into the big, international agreement basket, when the UN has reported that over 80% of greenhouse gas mitigation will be done at the sub-national level? These are profound questions posed by the Governor of California, a man whose political mettle more than a few have questioned. Questions meriting an answer!

So what is your place in this story? What is your dream? Can you imagine living in a world where people took care of our planet the same way they take care of what is most precious to them in life? Can you imagine that you can change the world? What are you waiting for?

...to be continued...

COP-15: Amidst Dissent over Climate Agreement in Copenhagen

In the heart of Copenhagen there is a loud shout going on and its all about what's happening with the earth's climate.. but not only that; it's about an age-old rift between the rich and the poor. Today, nearly 100,000 demonstrators march to show their dissatisfaction and put pressure as world leaders gather for an unprecedented event taking place just 4 miles away. The COP-15 is an unprecedented event and a veritable circus of activity and interests around the central theme of reaching a climate agreement that will put a stop to the earth's climate decline. With nearly 42,000 registered participants, 1500 journalists, some 110 heads of state from 194 nations, the possibility of reaching a legally binding agreement is becoming slimmer by the day. Today the demonstrations downtown have been mostly peaceful with the exception of 300 black-clad youths who capitalized on the moment, throwing bricks and smashing windows. They were a black spot on what is actually a colorful display of protest extending from the Arctic to Australia, intending to send a message to politicians to act now to save the earth and its peoples from the onslaught of climate change.

A draft agreement circulated Friday ignited significant debate over key issues: poorer countries complained that it failed to specify commitments on finance, the US contested it failed to commit China and other rapidly growing developing nations to strict emissions commitments, and the EU stated it did not go far enough to curb warming to 2 degrees celcius. Currently lack of agreement on these issues, and an apparent rift between China and the US, as well as lack of agreement between small island states and other developing nations who have allied with China, is blocking the process from moving forward.

This morning's debate was marked on both ends by an empassioned plea from the represenative of the small island state Tuvalu, Ian Fry, to save his island nation. "I woke up this morning crying", he said to the COP-15 President, Connie Hadegaard. "...And that is not easy for a grown man... the fate of my country rests in your hands." Despite disagreement by powerful nations such as India and Saudi Arabia, the COP-15 President promised not to "sweep the issues under the rug" in the midst of the pressured negotiations. The bold words of Mr. Fry, which cut a clear rift in the negotiations, symbolize the struggle of many small nations to defend not only economic rights, but their very existence.

Rich nations have pledged a climate fund of $10 billion and poor nations say this is insufficient. So the isues at stake in this debate are not only environmental; they cut to the core of the human rights debate and a litmus test of views on how nations should develop. "Some of the small islands will disappear, we accept that", said Crispin Gregoire, Dominican Ambassador of the 42-member Association of Small Island States (AOSIS), "but we want an agreement that will address our survival."

Which is one reason why police fill the streets of Copenhagen now...COP-15 has revealed the life-or-death issues at stake, and as the world awaits a decision which seems unlikely to some, the struggle in Copenhagen for a better life on and of the planet goes on...