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Measuring extreme events and disasters

Review paper by UNECE

In-depth review on Measuring extreme events and disasters 
The CES Bureau carried out an in-depth review of measuring extreme events and disasters in October 2014. The Bureau noted in its review that national statistical offices have valuable data that can be used for disaster relief, preparedness and risk reduction. In order to fully make use of this data, the role of national statistical offices in providing information on disasters and extreme events needs to be clarified.
Outcome of the review
The CES Bureau set up a UNECE Task Force on Measuring Extreme Events and Disasters in February 2015. The main object of the Task Force is to clarify the role of official statistics in providing data related to extreme events and disasters, and identify practical steps on how national statistical offices in coordination with national agencies responsible for disaster management can support disaster management and risk reduction.
The work is working in collaboration with the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group (OIEWG) on Terminology and Indicators Relating to Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Related initiatives


The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) is coordinating international work in disaster reduction and provides the secretariat for the OIEWG. The OIEWG is designing the monitoring of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The joint work of these groups aims to improve the harmonization of concepts and terms with statistical practices and thus enable greater re-use of statistical data.
ESCAP is carrying out a programme for the development of natural disaster statistics in Asia and the Pacific. UNISDR and ESCAP participate in the UNECE Task Force with a number of other organizations.
The work on measuring extreme events is closely related to the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM) and related initiatives.
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This page was last updated on: 16 February 2017