un-isdr

ICC News

United Nations Wants Stricter Codes

When earthquakes strike, collapsed buildings claim the largest number of lives. The United Nations (UN) is seeking stricter codes to ensure that buildings are able to withstand earthquake shocks considering the large number of casualties due to collapses. To this end, the International Code Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) to to enhance communications and information exchange between the two organizations and to collaborate on future projects.

The UN/ISDR was formed by the UN General Assembly in 1999 to increase global awareness of the importance of disaster mitigation for reducing human, social, economic and environmental losses due to natural hazards and related technological and environmental disasters. The MOU calls for the exchange of relevant news such as the UN/ISDR work on vulnerability reduction in the Americas, the Code Council participating in initiatives related to a regional platform for urban risks, and the development of technical information related to safer construction that will be made available in virtual libraries and other portals.