The Regional Office for the Americas of the UN Office for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and Brazilian Government have created a Center of Excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) based in Rio de Janeiro that will help implement national DRR policies and actions while aligning them with international standards and best practice.
30 November 2012: The Regional Office for the Americas of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), working with the Brazilian Government, has inaugurated a Center of Excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) based in Rio de Janeiro.
The Centre’s creation was announced by UNISDR Americas Chief Ricardo Mena on 30 November 2012, at a seminar on “Institutional Networks for Disaster Risk Reduction” held in Rio de Janeiro, and organized by UNISDR Americas and the Secretariat of Civil Defense of the State of Rio de Janeiro (SEDEC).
The new Center will work with Brazil’s National Secretariat of Civil Defense, state civil defense authorities and other federal and state entities to support policies and actions connected to Brazil’s National Platform for DRR. The Center will also seek to: align Brazil’s DRR policies and programmes with international standards and best practice; promote linkages among Brazilian experts from a variety of fields and with their international counterparts; and increase awareness within Brazil of the importance of DRR and management.
The new center will be housed on the Rio de Janeiro campus of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (“Fiocruz”), Brazil’s premier public health institute. [UNISDR Americas Press Release]