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IFRC reference centres focus on resilience at European Development Days 2016

IFRC reference centres focus on resilience at European Development Days 2016
24 June 2016

(This story appeared first earlier today on the website of the Red Cross EU Office in Brussels. It has been [...]

Vector control key to beating yellow fever as number of vaccinated Angolans tops 8 million

Vector control key to beating yellow fever as number of vaccinated Angolans tops 8 million
23 June 2016

The IFRC earlier this month called for “an immediate scale-up in response” to the spread of yellow fever in Angola [...]

A month on from Roanu and after ‘unusually high tides’, IFRC warns of monsoon danger to Bangladesh

A month on from Roanu and after ‘unusually high tides’, IFRC warns of monsoon danger to Bangladesh
20 June 2016

(This story is a press release that was issued by the IFRC earlier today from Geneva and Kuala Lumpur and includes [...]

‘Abnormal is the new normal’. May sets global climate records

‘Abnormal is the new normal’. May sets global climate records
15 June 2016

(This web story, edited here for length, appeared first yesterday on the website of the World Meteorological Organization, an IFRC [...]

New WWA analysis: strong climate link to French deluge but data on Germany inconclusive

New WWA analysis: strong climate link to French deluge but data on Germany inconclusive
9 June 2016

Human-caused climate change played an important role in the heavy rains that pounded parts of France late last month, scientists with World [...]

The hidden toll of El Niño in Timor-Leste

The hidden toll of El Niño in Timor-Leste
6 June 2016

(This blog by IFRC operations manager Jesper Fridolf, from the Swedish Red Cross, edited slightly here for length, was published [...]

Now scientists probe possible climate link to Europe floods

Now scientists probe possible climate link to Europe floods
3 June 2016

Scientists are this weekend urgently analysing whether climate change made the latest flood disaster in Europe more likely.  France and [...]

As Pacific returns to ‘ENSO neutral’ state, La Niña edges onto humanitarian radar

As Pacific returns to ‘ENSO neutral’ state, La Niña edges onto humanitarian radar
2 June 2016

(This story was first published earlier today on the Asia Pacific area of www.ifrc.org.) For the past year the International [...]

UN: ‘Fundamental culture change’ by humanitarian donors required for action based on forecasts

UN: ‘Fundamental culture change’ by humanitarian donors required for action based on forecasts
31 May 2016

A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) earlier this month looks at the impact of climate stresses [...]

Near-normal hurricane outlook most likely for season that’s ‘particularly difficult’ to predict, says NOAA

Near-normal hurricane outlook most likely for season that’s ‘particularly difficult’ to predict, says NOAA
30 May 2016

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Friday said the coming Atlantic hurricane season from June to November would probably [...]

Brazil Red Cross volunteers brace for ‘more active’ wildfire season in Amazon

Brazil Red Cross volunteers brace for ‘more active’ wildfire season in Amazon
27 May 2016

The IFRC’s science partners, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), earlier this month issued a forecast of a [...]

Social protection ‘key policy tool’ in battle against climate impacts

Social protection ‘key policy tool’ in battle against climate impacts
27 May 2016

Social protection programmes can build people’s “anticipatory, adaptive and absorptive” capacity to resist climate shocks and disasters, according to a new paper [...]

Disaster preparation means forecast-based financing, not band-aids

Disaster preparation means forecast-based financing, not band-aids
25 May 2016

(This article, reproduced here under Creative Commons, appeared first yesterday on the website of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.) [...]

WHS closes in Istanbul: ‘The test is what happens next’

WHS closes in Istanbul: ‘The test is what happens next’
24 May 2016

(This story is an IFRC press release published first earlier today on ifrc.org.) The World Humanitarian Summit draws to a [...]

SG’s address to Istanbul summit roundtable on natural disasters and climate change

SG’s address to Istanbul summit roundtable on natural disasters and climate change
24 May 2016

(This is the text of an address by IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy at today’s high-level leader’s roundtable, Natural [...]

Over 55,000 community volunteers help move half a million people out of harm’s way before Cyclone Roanu strikes Bangladesh

Over 55,000 community volunteers help move half a million people out of harm’s way before Cyclone Roanu strikes Bangladesh
23 May 2016

(This story appeared earlier today on ifrc.org and has been slightly edited here for length.) Just before Cyclone Roanu slammed [...]

Preparation and innovation key to reducing risk, and ‘a few days’ can decide life or death, 2016 Understanding Risk Forum hears

Preparation and innovation key to reducing risk, and ‘a few days’ can decide life or death, 2016 Understanding Risk Forum hears
23 May 2016

The head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Laura Frigenti, Friday told the closing session of the 2016 Understanding [...]

‘Extreme climate vulnerability’ among Movement concerns ahead of first-ever global humanitarian summit in Istanbul

‘Extreme climate vulnerability’ among Movement concerns ahead of first-ever global humanitarian summit in Istanbul
20 May 2016

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has affirmed its key messages to the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul, which [...]

IFRC to scale up response to drought and strengthen resilience in Southern Africa

IFRC to scale up response to drought and strengthen resilience in Southern Africa
17 May 2016

(This story is an IFRC press release issued today.) The IFRC today announced a major 110-million Swiss franc, four-year initiative [...]

What the world needs now: ‘preparedness and resilience’ (and forecast-based financing)

What the world needs now: ‘preparedness and resilience’ (and forecast-based financing)
13 May 2016

Two of the most influential figures in the sector yesterday called for a more “forward-looking humanitarian system that takes preparedness [...]

Climate science initiative will help South Asian and East African societies prepare for extreme weather

Climate science initiative will help South Asian and East African societies prepare for extreme weather
11 May 2016

(This story is a press release issued today by the UK-based Climate and Development Knowledge Network, including a full technical [...]

Resilience tops ‘high-value’ UN to-do list at

Resilience tops ‘high-value’ UN to-do list at
9 May 2016

The major global ‘public-private’ conference announced at COP 21 last year to gather leaders from “government, business, cities and localities, [...]

Second humanitarian distribution in Uganda under forecast-based financing

Second humanitarian distribution in Uganda under forecast-based financing
3 May 2016

The Katakwi district branch of the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) Friday carried out another humanitarian distribution, for just over [...]

UN ‘loss and damage’ committee discusses managing climate impacts

UN ‘loss and damage’ committee discusses managing climate impacts
3 May 2016

The third meeting took place at the UN campus in Bonn last week of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw [...]

La Niña watch now in force

La Niña watch now in force
2 May 2016

The US Climate Prediction Center and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) last month jointly issued a [...]

CBA10: ‘Without involvement of the urban poor, no city will be resilient’

CBA10: ‘Without involvement of the urban poor, no city will be resilient’
29 April 2016

The tenth-anniversary Community-Based Adaptation Conference – ‘CBA10’ (proceedings) – ended yesterday on the Dhaka campus of the Independent University, Bangladesh, [...]

‘Let’s enlist the Paris climate deal to build resilience’

‘Let’s enlist the Paris climate deal to build resilience’
25 April 2016

(This opinion piece appeared first Saturday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Dr Maarten van Aalst is Director [...]

IFRC hails Paris agreement signing in New York as ‘breakthrough for vulnerable populations threatened by climate change’

IFRC hails Paris agreement signing in New York as ‘breakthrough for vulnerable populations threatened by climate change’
23 April 2016

(This is a press release issued by the IFRC Friday shortly after the signing of the COP 21 global agreement [...]

Paris agreement: 175 nations sign in New York, but

Paris agreement: 175 nations sign in New York, but
22 April 2016

The text of the historic global agreement thrashed out at the COP 21 UN climate talks in Paris last December was [...]

German-supported forecast-based action in Bangladesh will be all-cash

German-supported forecast-based action in Bangladesh will be all-cash
22 April 2016

Planning for the operational roll-out of forecast-based financing (FbF) in Bangladesh is now at an advanced stage, with an established [...]

Paris agreement: World eyes 55-55 ‘double threshold’ for climate deal to take effect

Paris agreement: World eyes 55-55 ‘double threshold’ for climate deal to take effect
21 April 2016

The text of the historic global agreement thrashed out at the COP 21 UN climate talks in Paris last December opens [...]

Up to date satellite-based climate services plus equals resilience

Up to date satellite-based climate services plus equals resilience
19 April 2016

(This article, edited slightly here for length, first appeared on the Understanding Risk website. Through the Global Framework for Climate Services [...]

Nearly 50m people in Southern Africa expected to be food-insecure before year end, says IFRC

Nearly 50m people in Southern Africa expected to be food-insecure before year end, says IFRC
18 April 2016

(This is a press release issued by the IFRC in Nairobi on Saturday. Its full appeals for Southern African nations affected [...]

Conflict and climate push Cameroon’s Far North to food-security brink

Conflict and climate push Cameroon’s Far North to food-security brink
13 April 2016

(This story appeared first on Monday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The Cameroon Red Cross and the [...]

Humanitarian sector grapples with El Niño’s global legacy

Humanitarian sector grapples with El Niño’s global legacy
11 April 2016

A cluster of agency reports from the field over the past week, including the IFRC, has emphasized that El Niño [...]

World Bank will ‘bring early warning systems to 100m people’ as part of new action plan on climate

World Bank will ‘bring early warning systems to 100m people’ as part of new action plan on climate
8 April 2016

The World Bank Group yesterday unveiled a new action plan on climate designed to accelerate efforts to tackle climate change over [...]

Coral bleaching on Great Barrier Reef ‘the worst in its history’, say Australian scientists

Coral bleaching on Great Barrier Reef ‘the worst in its history’, say Australian scientists
6 April 2016

Aerial surveys between Cairns, in northern Queensland, and Papua New Guinea show the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing the “worst, [...]

Red Cross mangroves in Vietnam and Climate Training Kit among case studies for GDPC 2016 Annual Event

Red Cross mangroves in Vietnam and Climate Training Kit among case studies for GDPC 2016 Annual Event
30 March 2016

(This story is a press release, slightly edited here for length, from the The Nature Conservancy issued yesterday as it [...]

Ghana handwashing game used in schools in Central Region

Ghana handwashing game used in schools in Central Region
24 March 2016

The Ghana Education Service and Red Cross and the Climate Centre earlier this month joined forces with UNICEF, Boston, Massachusetts-based [...]

Humanity faces a ‘hotter, drier, wetter’ future, says World Meteorological Organization

Humanity faces a ‘hotter, drier, wetter’ future, says World Meteorological Organization
23 March 2016

The World Meteorological Organization – which today marks the anniversary of the 1950 convention establishing the WMO – says last [...]

Record February global temperature shocks scientists, impacts Pacific fisheries

Record February global temperature shocks scientists, impacts Pacific fisheries
22 March 2016

February has set a record for being the most abnormally warm month since global records began in 1880. Data released [...]

El Niño complicates Cyclone Pam recovery

El Niño complicates Cyclone Pam recovery
18 March 2016

(This story first ran earlier this week on ifrc.org. The opening a year ago of the of the UN World Conference [...]

FbF distribution in Peru second of its kind by the Movement worldwide

FbF distribution in Peru second of its kind by the Movement worldwide
16 March 2016

A humanitarian distribution under Forecast-based Financing (FbF) has now been carried out in the rain-swept north of Peru, in only [...]

Climate change has ‘profound effects on disease vectors’, says UN risk-reduction chief

Climate change has ‘profound effects on disease vectors’, says UN risk-reduction chief
14 March 2016

Government officials and risk-management experts on Friday called for health resilience to be placed at the heart of managing disaster [...]

PMI reviews El Niño/La Niña scenarios

PMI reviews El Niño/La Niña scenarios
14 March 2016

The Indonesian Red Cross – often known internationally by its Indonesian-language acronym PMI for Palang Merah Indonesia – is reviewing [...]

Mongolian dzud disaster echoes 2011 SREX report on extremes, prompting new climate uncertainty

Mongolian dzud disaster echoes 2011 SREX report on extremes, prompting new climate uncertainty
11 March 2016

Many thousands of animals could starve over the next few weeks on Mongolia’s vast steppe where mid-winter temperatures have fallen [...]

Climate and Zika: an expert Q&A

Climate and Zika: an expert Q&A
2 March 2016

(This is an interview between the Wellcome Trust and Madeleine Thomson, Senior Research Scientist at IFRC science partners, the International Research [...]

Red Cross readies forecast-based action as heavy rains blamed on El Niño lash Peru

Red Cross readies forecast-based action as heavy rains blamed on El Niño lash Peru
1 March 2016

The Peruvian Red Cross is assisting 2,000 families as part of its German-supported ‘Forecast-based Financing’ (FbF) programme as heavy rain [...]

Dangerous heatwaves could be yearly events without ‘stringent emissions reduction’, says new US research

Dangerous heatwaves could be yearly events without ‘stringent emissions reduction’, says new US research
29 February 2016

Potentially dangerous heatwaves that normally strike once every two decades could become yearly events across 60 per cent of Earth’s [...]

IFRC renews appeal to donors as ‘drought, erratic rains and floods’ halve yields for Southern Africa farmers

IFRC renews appeal to donors as ‘drought, erratic rains and floods’ halve yields for Southern Africa farmers
26 February 2016

(This story is an IFRC press release issued yesterday in Pretoria and distributed by the African Press Organization.) The IFRC [...]

Winston may be Southern Hemisphere’s strongest-ever cyclone

Winston may be Southern Hemisphere’s strongest-ever cyclone
24 February 2016

With sustained winds of 230 kph and gusts of 325 kph – capable of blowing away houses, uprooting trees and [...]