David Shearer has today congratulated Labour's Canterbury Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel on her appointment to the UNISDR Advisory Group of Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction.

"The appointment reflects the amount of work Lianne has done since the September 2010 earthquake. She has worked tremendously hard for her constituents in Christchurch East and for all Cantabrians in the aftermath of the quakes and during the on-going recovery.

"The purpose of the UN group is to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters and to encourage understanding of the need for reducing risk.

"Lianne will be joining a dozen other MPs from around the world to discuss the challenges and opportunities in mainstreaming disaster risk reduction at every level of society. I wish her and the group well," said David Shearer.