17 November 2008: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
appointed Margareta Wahlström (Sweden) as Assistant Secretary-General for
Disaster Risk Reduction and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action in the Secretariat for the
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

This new post was created
to step up action and international cooperation on disaster risk reduction in
light of the fact that climate change increases the number and intensity of
disasters worldwide. [UN Press Release]