The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rreeppoorrttss that 59.5 million individuals were forcibly displaced in 2014, but this number had risen to 70.8m by the end of 2018. According to UNHCR, the drastic increase of forced displacement was mainly due to the Syrian conflict as well as other conflicts in the region, conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa and the inflow of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) hhiigghhlliigghhttss that the Philippines and China have the largest number of internal displaced people due to disasters, with each having 3.8m newly displaced in 2018, followed by 2.7m in India, and 1.2m in the United States.

In countries susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, the construction of buildings plays a vital role in reducing the risk of homes, businesses and lives being destroyed. The Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction (2015-2030), endorsed by 187 UN states in 2015, calls for businesses to integrate disaster risk into their management practices. The framework identifies the need for disaster risk education and training for construction professionals, a view supported by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

2021 International Women’s day celebrated on the 8th March 2021, particularly the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in

A national conference titled ‘COVID-19: Impact, Mitigation, Opportunities and Building Resilience’ was held on the 27th and 28th of January 2021. The conference was organized by the National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka.

The era of hazard-by-hazard risk reduction is over. In our increasingly complex interconnected world, risk has become systemic, challenging single-hazard approaches, and governance mechanisms of established disaster risk management institutions. We need to reflect on the systemic nature of risk in how we deal with it. Systemic understanding of risk goes far beyond previous notions and concerns.

It was encouraging to see the National Science Foundation (NSF) has taken a timely move of organising a research conference on COVID-19. It was all about the impact, mitigation, opportunities and building resilience with a fitting theme ‘from adversity to serendipity’. The Postgraduate Institute of Management was so glad to be a strategic partner for this noteworthy endeavour and I was part of the steering committee of the conference, that was ably led by NSF Chairman Prof. Ranjith Senarathne.

A national conference titled ‘COVID-19: Impact, Mitigation, Opportunities and Building Resilience’ was held on the 27th and 28th of January 2021. The conference was organized by the National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka. As part of project activities, two abstracts titled: 1) ‘Settling the Ripples: An Examination of Sri Lanka’s Approach to Addressing Cascading Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic’ and 2) ‘Towards Broadening the Scope of Disaster Risk Reduction:

From ReliefWeb - Promoting the accessibility and application of science, technology, and research for enhanced multi-hazard early warning and disaster risk reduction, and supporting implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction towards 2030

International Symposium on Multi Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction(MHEW 2020) was held successfully during the period 14th to 16th December 2020 to promote availability and application of research, science and technology to promote implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and it was organized as a virtual event.

The International Symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction concluded with the adoption of the Colombo Declaration, which calls for greater efforts to accelerate the use of science, technology and data for policy formulation, and to promote an end-to-end multi-hazard approach to early warning.

International virtual symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction (MHEW and DRR: 2020) held for three days concluded yesterday (Dec 16) at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). Secretary of State Ministry of National Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management and Secretary of Defence Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne attended the closing ceremony as the Chief Guest.

From Flood Resilience Portal - This declaration was adopted at a recent "International Symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction" which brought together over 2,500 participants from the Sri Lankan government, private sector, non-governmental organisations and higher educational institutions. The declaration expresses deep concern at the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate related challenges and the continuing impact of disasters, resulting in an unacceptable loss of human lives and livelihoods, displacement of people and environmental and economic damages in Sri Lanka and across the world.

From PreventionWeb - This declaration was adopted at a recent "International Symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction" which brought together over 2,500 participants from the Sri Lankan government, private sector, non-governmental organisations and higher educational institutions. The declaration expresses deep concern at the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate related challenges and the continuing impact of disasters, resulting in an unacceptable loss of human lives and livelihoods, displacement of people and environmental and economic damages in Sri Lanka and across the world.

Paper supplement on Daily Mirror and the paper advertisement on MHEW 2020.

It is indisputable that Covid-19 is a tragedy, claiming thousands of lives and crippling economies and livelihoods worldwide. But in Sri Lanka, where the death toll and number of cases have been relatively and significantly low, does Covid-19 qualify as a disaster? We ask Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga, Professor of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at the University of Huddersfield, UK, and the Head of its Global Disaster Resilience Centre.

Professor Dilanthi speaks to the Sri Lankan Nespaper Aruna on multi hazard disaster preparedness

The annual £1 million Newton Prize celebrates outstanding international research partnerships between the UK and Newton countries, enabling international research partners to continue working together to address some of the world’s most pressing health and development issues such as malaria, antimicrobial resistance and climate change.

Coastal urban areas are particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards, which tend to hit the poorest and most marginalised people the hardest. The recent flooding and tsunamis in Indonesia highlight the devastation caused by coastal hazards, and the urgent need to build the resilience of coastal communities.

The National Science Foundation is in the process of constructing a digital platform with technical support of SLAASCOM with a view to harnessing Sri Lankan expatriate scientists, professionals and entrepreneurs for national development. Two webinars in this connection were held with active participation of and valuable contribution from Sri Lankans in Australia and America.

The University of Huddersfield’s Global Disaster Resilience Centre takes lessons from tsunami warning system research into helping Sri Lanka to plan for

The University of Huddersfield's Global Disaster Resilience Centre (GDRC) is bringing its expertise to bear in a project to help disadvantaged countries prepare for pandemics following the award of £166,000.

You may be interested in the following official Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission status report for the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Mitigation System (IOTWMS), that Prof. Richard Haigh and Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga co-wrote as members of the IOC UNESCO Task Team, and for which we also did much of the underpinning survey design and analysis.

RICS’s UN Global Compact Communication on Engagement report Fostering the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in land, construction,real estate and infrastructure was published in 2018, and shows how it is encouraging implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is doing so by developing standards and promoting their adoption, supporting cutting-edge research, increasing capacity for sustainable built environments, and enabling community action (rics.org/unsusdev).

During the WFH period, there are several activities are being implemented to make this period a meaningful for everyone and, conducting capacity building programs are one area that could easily be focused and concern by NBRO. One program was successfully conducted on 10th April 2020 on “Scientific Paper Writing”. As employees of a research organization, this is one area to be expertise by all.