Partners

Earthquake and megacities Initiative - EMI is an international, not-for-profit, scientific organization dedicated to the reduction of disaster risk in megacities and major metropolises. Based in Philippines, EMI is responding to the urgent need to stimulate urban earthquake preparedness and mitigation in developing countries. EMI serves as a catalyst for the delivery of scientific and technical knowledge to local government officials, policymakers, practitioners, and disaster management technical personnel. EMI contributes to the institutional capacity building of local organizations and mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction in the development agenda, planning and daily operations of local governments. EMI is also an advocate of the critical role local governments play in global and regional forums and in implementing the global agenda for disaster risk reduction, such as the Hyogo Framework for Action and the Millennium Development Goals. EMI’s www.cityriskpedia.com site is an online encyclopedia and wiki for documenting best practices in disaster risk management in the world’s most disaster-prone urban environments.

Habitat for Humanity International - HFHI is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Founded in 1976, HFHI has built over 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people in 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter. HFHI’s Disaster Response program works with the global Habitat community in the areas of disaster mitigation, preparedness, shelter and long-term recovery initiatives to address the housing needs that arise from natural disasters and humanitarian emergency conflicts. The mission of Disaster Response is to develop innovative housing and shelter assistance models that generate sustainable interventions for people vulnerable to or affected by disasters or conflicts. Disaster Response also builds the capacity of the global Habitat community in the areas of disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery through education, training and partnerships.

RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) is the pre-eminent organization of its kind in the world.  RICS is a not-for-profit body with a public interest mandate and helps to set, maintain and regulate professional standards in land, property and construction.  RICS has 100,000 members in 146 countries.  It provides impartial advice on key issues affecting business, society and governments worldwide.  RICS Disaster Management Commission and its BuildAction programme were set up in 2005 to contribute expertise of RICS and its members to help improve disaster management policies and practices.

Shelter Centre is a non-governmental organization registered in Switzerland which supports the sector of humanitarian operations that responds to the transitional settlement and reconstruction needs of populations affected by conflicts and natural disasters, from the emergency phase until durable solutions are reached. All Shelter Centre activities are designed and maintained so that the maximum number of sector stakeholders participate in their development and benefit from their outputs.

The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat - UNISDR - serves as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster risk reduction issues and to ensure synergies among the disaster risk reduction activities of the United Nations system and regional organizations and activities in socio-economic and humanitarian fields. Its mission is to catalyze, facilitate and mobilize the commitment and resources of national, regional and international stakeholders of the ISDR system to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters through the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.

The World Housing Encyclopedia -WHE is a joint project of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), and the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE). The purpose of the encyclopedia is to provide a resource on understanding and reducing vulnerable construction practices, as well as developing a comprehensive global categorization of characteristic housing construction types in seismically active areas of the world via an interactive web-based encyclopedia. In addition to these housing construction reports, tutorials on various construction materials are available for download in several languages. The endeavor links over 250 volunteer engineers and architects worldwide, who are providing housing professionals and the general public with the tools to improve housing vulnerable to earthquakes, thereby saving lives and reducing future economic losses.