UN report reveals true cost of disasters by UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)   May 2025   Disasters are increasingly expensive and their impacts under-estimated. The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) 2025, highlights how direct disaster costs have grown to approximately $202 billion annually, but that the true costs of disasters is over $2.3 trillion when cascading and ecosystem costs are taken into account.   The burden of this cost- and the debt it creates- disproportionately fall on developing countries, but it doesn't need to be this way.   Published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the GAR 2025 report titled "Resilience Pays: Financing and Investing for our Future," outlines how aligning investments with risk realities can break spirals of debt, uninsurability, and increasing humanitarian needs.   "This year's Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction examines the risks posed by disasters from now to 2050 and presents an indisputable case for action. It shows the eye-watering losses inflicted by disasters today, which hit vulnerable people the hardest. And it demonstrates that, on our current trajectory, costs will continue to mount as the climate crisis worsens.   But it also illustrates that, by boosting and sustaining investment in disaster risk reduction and prevention, we can slow that trend and reap economic benefits - saving lives and livelihoods while driving growth and prosperity, to help reach our Sustainable Development Goals," wrote Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in his foreword welcoming the report.   The report outlines how the effects of increasing disaster costs are already being felt around the globe, from the emergence of areas deemed too risky for insurance companies to cover, to growing national debts, and recurring humanitarian crises.   However, it also presents case studies and policy recommendations for how investments in resilience can help stop the growing economic cost of disasters, reduce humanitarian needs, and make scarce international assistance resources even more effective.   "Systematic and greater investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience can not only arrest these trends but also reverse them. When riverbank communities have access to scientific tools for planning their land use, when they have resources for building flood protection systems, and when they have early warning systems, they not only reduce damages and losses from floods, but also create conditions for prosperity and sustainable growth in their communities," said Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of UNDRR.   The findings of GAR 2025 are especially relevant ahead of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, and speak to specific options for enhancing multilateral finance to better protect smaller developing economies.   The report also shows how the private sector can play a key role in reducing the economic damage of disasters and in filling the protection gap that leaves many countries in a worsening spiral of repeated disasters.   Increasing the quantity and quality of disaster risk reduction investments, in everything from early warning systems to critical infrastructure and schools, will be a focus of many of the discussions at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which UNDRR is convening from 2 to 6 June, and is hosted by the Government of Switzerland in Geneva.   http://www.undrr.org/news/billions-trillions-flagship-un-report-reveals-true-cost-disasters-and-how-reduce-them http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163716 http://www.undrr.org/gar/gar2025 http://www.internal-displacement.org/news/disasters-triggered-nearly-265-million-forced-movements-over-the-past-decade/ Visit the related web page
	Myanmar’s deadliest earthquake in decades by UN News, UNICEF, agencies   May 2025   Several weeks on, the impacts of the 28 March earthquakes in central Myanmar continue to drive significant humanitarian needs, both for immediate relief and early recovery.   Many families remain displaced in temporary shelters or rental housing due to safety concerns, including fear of returning to structurally compromised homes, with limited sustainable long-term shelter solutions in sight.   Disruptions to food supply chains, health services, and livelihoods have reduced access to nutritious food, especially for families already affected by poverty and displacement. Over 500,000 people (57 per cent of targeted population) still urgently need food assistance.   11 Apr. 2025   The devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on 28 March 2025 caused widespread destruction—reducing homes, hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure to rubble—in areas where over 17 million people live.   More than 9.1 million live in the hardest-hit areas, including Mandalay and Sagaing, where entire communities have been upended, forcing people to seek shelter in makeshift conditions often in the open, upending essential services—including running water, sanitation, and health care.   The earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks compounded and multiplied the needs of people already facing immense humanitarian needs. Even before the disaster, an estimated 19.9 million people were in need due to ongoing conflict, climatic disasters, displacement, and economic hardship.   The earthquake has pushed those already vulnerable even deeper into crisis—while tipping many others into new and urgent needs. The scale of the disaster has been devastating and will be felt for years to come.   According to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), over 3,600 people have died, 4,800 have been injured. Among the more than 857,000 people assessed in both urban and rural areas, urgent needs include emergency shelter, food, safe drinking water and water sources for domestic use, healthcare, and sanitation support.   Access to essential services has been upended. People in the hardest-hit areas face tremendous challenges to access clean water, electricity, with phone and internet access remaining severely disrupted due to the destruction.   The UN and its humanitarian partners have mobilized to provide emergency assistance, working closely with local responders and communities to provide shelter, medical care, clean water, sanitation support and food subject to limted resources.   The UN and humanitarian partners launched a $275 million emergency appeal to reach 1.1 million people with urgent aid.   http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-earthquake-response-situation-report-no-6-17-may-2025 http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-earthquake-hnrp-flash-addendum-issued-april-2025 http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-more-40000-people-including-children-living-shelters-one-month-after-earthquake-save-children http://www.savethechildren.net/news/thousands-children-myanmars-earthquake-zone-face-new-school-year-without-schools http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/unicef-myanmar-flash-update-no-9-earthquake-18-april-2025 http://unocha.exposure.co/myanmar-under-the-open-sky   8 Apr. 2025   Dangers grow for Myanmar quake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed'. (UN News)   Ten days after a 7.7 magnitude quake levelled buildings and buckled bridges across central Myanmar, the latest death toll has passed 3,500 and is “likely to rise”, said Titon Mitra, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Representative in the country, speaking from the devastated city of Mandalay. Well over 4,000 people have been injured in the quakes last week and more than 80 per cent of buildings have been damaged – especially in the major townships of Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway.   “The health system is completely overwhelmed, hospitals are unable to cope with the number of patients they're dealing with,” Mr. Mitra said,.   According to the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA), more than 500,000 people across the country have been left without access to life-saving health care.   The disaster has been compounded by intense rainfall which started last week in Mandalay, impacting the response and worsening the living conditions of homeless survivors.   Mr. Mitra said that shelter is a major issue. People are “fearful” to go back into their damaged homes and are sleeping on the streets at night, “often without any sort of cover”, he told journalists in Geneva.   Food is also in huge demand as markets are “severely disrupted” in Sagaing and Magway, people don't have incomes and there are “signs of hyperinflation in place”, he said.   “With an active civil war, we have to make sure that the aid, if it's coordinated by military authorities, is going to areas which may be in resistance control,” he insisted. The earthquake disaster has compounded chronic and “very deep vulnerabilities” in Myanmar, the UNDP official said.   The country’s people have already suffered more than four years of fighting sparked by the military junta’s February 2021 coup d’etat.   Prior to the earthquakes, nearly 20 per cent of the rice fields were already lost to conflict, more than 3.5 million people had been forced to flee their homes, over 15 million were facing hunger.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1161991 http://news.un.org/en/interview/2025/04/1161886 http://news.un.org/en/interview/2025/04/1161741 http://www.wfp.org/stories/myanmar-earthquake-wfp-delivers-assistance-hardest-hit-areas http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/powerful-earthquake-rocks-myanmar http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/04/comment-un-human-rights-office-spokesperson-ravina-shamdasani-continued   Mar. 2025   On 28 March 2025, two strong earthquakes occurred in central Myanmar, in Sagaing Region, near Mandalay (the second largest city in the country). The first one was at 7.7 magnitude at 12:50 pm local time, and the second one was at 6.4 magnitude at 13:02 local time. The earthquakes have caused large scale destruction of structures and buildings.   The earthquake sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads and caused bridges to collapse, especially in municipal area of Mandalay city. The recently constructed capital Nay Pyi Taw, has seen extensive damage with high numbers of casualties, collapsed buildings and buckled roads.   An assessment by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said hospitals and health facilities had sustained “extensive damaged or destruction”.   Major bridges, roads, universities, hotels, historical and religious sites and public buildings have also been heavily damaged or destroyed, according to UNOCHA.   “People need shelter, medical care, water and sanitation support. This disaster puts more pressure on already vulnerable people facing an alarming crisis,” OCHA, said.   The quake compounds a desperate situation in Myanmar, which has been gripped by conflict since 2021 when the military seized power, ousting the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Over 15 million people – nearly a third of Myanmar’s population – are facing acute food insecurity.   The ruling military junta made a rare international appeal for aid, as it continued air strikes against armed groups it has been fighting in the country's four-year civil war.   The UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called on the junta to cease bombing raids. "I'm calling upon the junta to stop its military operations. The junta should follow opposition forces and declare an immediate ceasefire.. Military conscription should be suspended; aid workers should not have to fear arrest and there should be no obstructions to aid getting to where it is most needed".   Given the fragility of available social infrastructure and services in Myanmar, the earthquake is anticipated to have a significant impact on families and children’s access to essential services in a country with 20 million people are already in need of humanitarian assistance. The earthquake has damaged homes, schools, health facilities and water supply infrastructure.   30 Mar. 2025   UNICEF calls for urgent response as homes, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure have sustained severe damage.   “This earthquake is another brutal blow to children in Myanmar—many of whom were already living through conflict, displacement, and deprivation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “In minutes, they lost loved ones, homes, and access to essential services.”   The earthquake and aftershocks caused widespread destruction across central Myanmar, including Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Sagaing, Bago, and Shan regions. Homes, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure have sustained severe damage.   Many families already surviving in fragile conditions now face even greater hardship, with limited access to safe water, healthcare, and shelter. Children are among the most affected—facing further disruption to what little stability they had.   “Children in Myanmar are enduring a crisis on top of a crisis,” said Russell. “More resources are urgently needed to save and protect the lives of children and their families. At the same time, we need safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to affected areas so we can assist those in desperate need.”   Myanmar is one of the most complex humanitarian emergencies globally. Even before the earthquake, over 6.5 million children were in need of assistance, with one in three displaced people a child. Yet, the humanitarian response remains critically underfunded, with less than 10 per cent of the 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal received to date.   UNICEF is calling for funding to scale up the delivery of life-saving support to children and families affected by the earthquake.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/millions-children-grave-risk-following-myanmars-deadliest-earthquake-decades http://www.icrc.org/en/news-release/myanmar-icrc-calls-bring-respite-suffering-communities http://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-flash-appeal--earthquake-response-in-myanmar http://www.nrc.no/news/2025/march/myanmar-rapid-unrestricted-aid-critical-for-earthquake-affected-communities http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/statement-earthquake-response-un-resident-coordinator-and-humanitarian-coordinator-ai-behalf-united-nations-myanmar-country-team-31-march-2025 http://plan-international.org/blog/2025/03/28/lessons-from-the-rubble-simple-truths-from-monster-earthquakes/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/04/myanmar-military-actions-compound-dire-humanitarian-situation-aftermath http://reliefweb.int/disaster/eq-2025-000043-mmr http://reliefweb.int/country/mmr Visit the related web page
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