
IRDR's Executive Director, Prof. Saini Yang (top right), participates in the 6th Global Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Disaster-related Statistics
Prof. Saini Yang, Executive Director of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme, recently participated in the 6th Global Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Disaster-related Statistics, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 3-4 September 2026 in a hybrid format.
The Forum brought together producers and users of disaster-related statistics from national institutions, international and regional organisations, academia and other stakeholder groups. Discussions focused on advancing the implementation of the Global Disaster-Related Statistics Framework (G-DRSF) and strengthening collaboration between the statistical and disaster risk reduction communities.
During the session on Disaster Impact Statistics, Prof. Yang delivered a presentation titled “From Data to Knowledge: IRDR's efforts in support of Disaster-related Statistics”. She introduced IRDR’s efforts in strengthening disaster risk knowledge, including work related to hazard classification, standardisation, and the applications of disaster loss data in territorial planning and decision-making. She highlighted the importance of improving the consistency, accessibility and application of disaster-related data to support risk-informed policy-making.
The event formed part of a dedicated week on climate change and disaster-related statistics in Geneva organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), providing an opportunity to strengthen collaboration across the climate, disaster risk reduction, statistical and geospatial communities.
IRDR’s participation in the Forum reflects its continued commitment to strengthening the connection between science, data and decision-making, and to support risk-informed sustainable development.





