The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Honorable Richard Baloyi, will welcome 350 leading global experts in disaster risk assessment from more than 60 countries. 

The 2012 Understanding Risk Forum theme is “Mapping Global Risk”. The conference will discuss cutting-edge risk analysis methodologies and showcase the latest innovations in risk assessment through conference sessions led by global experts, an Innovation Expo and a series of technical training sessions.

Journalists are invited to the opening of the conference, with welcome remarks by the World Bank African Region’s Sector Manager: Water Resource Management, Jonathan Kamkwalala, the head of the World Bank’s Global facility for Disaster Reduction, Francis Ghesquiere and the African Development Bank’s South Africa Regional Director, Ebrima Faal. The Minister, Richard Baloyi, will close with a keynote presentation followed by a media briefing. 

Journalists are also invited to the evening “Ignite” session. Opening remarks will be provided by the Mayor of Cape Town, Honorable Patricia de Lille and Rowan Douglas, CEO Willis RE, followed by the “Ignite” – each conference session leader will provide a five minutes “lightning” presentation of their session, giving the audience an overview of all the material in the conference to come.

For RSVP please e-mail Zena John - with “MEDIA” in the subject line – on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information please contact:

                                  Cell phone: 076 227 5907

                                

                                 Cell phone: 073 888 1778.