# Metadata guidance

How to tag content on undrr.org and PreventionWeb with themes, hazards and countries, and which other fields matter for finding it again.

> **About this guidance:** this guide summarizes guidance maintained elsewhere, for reference. If it conflicts with the editing form, the UNDRR Publications SOP or UNDRR Communications team guidance, those win; if you can't consult them, apply this guide and flag the point. [Sources](README.md#sources). Found a problem? Report it in the [Mangrove issue queue](https://github.com/PreventionWeb/undrr-mangrove/issues).

- **Applies to:** news, events, publications and blogs on the UNDRR Drupal platform
- **Last reviewed:** 29 September 2026. Term names below were checked against a copy of the production taxonomy taken on 24 September 2026. Terms are renamed and merged from time to time; if a name here doesn't match the editing form, the form is right.
- **Term IDs:** not listed here. For term IDs, used when configuring search widgets, see the [taxonomy reference](taxonomy.md), which is generated from the production taxonomy. For the search widget settings themselves, see the [search widget editor configuration](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-search-widget.txt) ([rendered version](https://mangrove.undrr.org/?path=/docs/components-syndicated-search-editor-configuration--docs)).

Tags decide where content appears: lists, search results and syndicated widgets on other sites, as well as theme, hazard and country pages. Tag for what the content is about, not for every word it mentions.

## Themes

Choose two to four themes that represent what the content is mainly about, most relevant first. Add one cross-cutting theme (such as Gender, Inclusion or Children and Youth) when the content genuinely addresses it, for example a chapter or a section, not a passing mention.

Baseline (December 2025): 98% of prominent items had themes, averaging about two per item.

### Theme list

**Core disaster risk reduction**

- Preparedness: preparedness planning, response readiness
- Risk identification and assessment: risk analysis, vulnerability and exposure assessment
- Governance: policy, institutional arrangements, coordination, legislation
- Early warning: early warning systems, monitoring, alerts, anticipatory action
- Disaster risk communication: public awareness, advocacy, media and risk communication

**Sectors**

- Urban risk and planning
- Climate change: adaptation and the links between climate and disaster risk
- Environment and ecosystems: nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based approaches
- Health and health facilities
- Education and school safety
- Food security and agriculture
- Water
- Shelter and housing
- Critical infrastructure
- Cultural heritage
- Structural safety: building codes, engineering standards

**People and society**

- Inclusion: disability inclusion, accessibility, groups at higher risk
- Gender
- Children and Youth
- Community-based DRR
- Traditional and Indigenous knowledges
- Civil Society/NGOs
- Private sector: business continuity, private sector engagement
- Social impacts and social resilience
- Social protection
- Livelihood
- Human mobility: displacement, migration, planned relocation

**Knowledge and tools**

- Science-policy-practice interface: research, innovation and its uptake in policy and practice
- Data and information management
- GIS and mapping
- Earth Observation (EO): satellite data, remote sensing
- Capacity development: training, skills, institutional capacity

**Finance and losses**

- Financing DRR: funding, investment, the economics of disaster risk reduction
- Insurance and risk transfer
- Disaster losses: loss and damage data, damage assessment

**Recovery**

- Recovery
- Recovery planning

**Contexts**

- Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
- Fragility and conflict
- Systemic risk: cascading and interconnected risks

Names changed since the December 2025 drafts of this guide: "Advocacy and media" is now Disaster risk communication; "Damages and Losses" is now Disaster losses; "Disaster risk management" is now Preparedness; "Economics of DRR" is merged into Financing DRR; "Science and technology" is now Science-policy-practice interface; "Space and aerial technology" is now Earth Observation (EO).

### Common combinations

From the baseline publications:

- Governance with Risk identification and assessment: policy frameworks, national strategies
- Urban risk and planning with Climate change: urban adaptation, city resilience
- Environment and ecosystems with Climate change: nature-based solutions
- Early warning with Governance: early warning system frameworks
- A sector theme with Preparedness or Risk identification and assessment: sectoral guidance

## Hazards

Tag a hazard only when the content focuses on it. Most cross-cutting and multi-hazard content should have no hazard tag; only 16% of baseline items had one.

- Tag: a tsunami preparedness guide (Tsunami); a report on floods and landslides in one region (Flood, Landslide).
- Don't tag: a general disaster risk reduction framework that mentions earthquakes as one example.

### Hazard list

- **Hydrometeorological:** Flood; Drought and Desertification; Cyclone, Hurricane and Typhoon; Storm surge; Heatwave and Extreme Heat; Cold Wave; Thunderstorm; Tornado; Wildfire and Bushfire
- **Geophysical:** Earthquake; Tsunami; Volcano; Landslide; Avalanche; Land subsidence
- **Biological:** Epidemic and Pandemic; Insect infestation
- **Technological and environmental:** Technological hazard; NBC - Nuclear, Biological, Chemical; Sea level rise

Renamed since December 2025: Drought is now Drought and Desertification; Heatwave is now Heatwave and Extreme Heat; Wildfire is now Wildfire and Bushfire.

## Country and region

The **Country and region** field is hierarchical. Countries sit under one of five regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania), and some also sit under the groupings LDCs (Least Developed Countries), LLDCs (Landlocked Developing Countries) and SIDS (Small Island Developing States). Term IDs for every region, grouping and country are in the [taxonomy reference](taxonomy.md#countries-and-regions). Country names follow UNTERM; see the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt), section: UNDRR-specific terminology.

The regions are geographic. They don't match UNDRR's offices: Algeria is under Africa but covered by the Arab States office, for example. Tag the region the content is about, not the office that produced it. Which office covers each country is in the [taxonomy reference](taxonomy.md#undrr-offices).

Decide by geographic scope:

| Content covers | Tag |
|---|---|
| Nothing geographically specific | Leave blank |
| One country | The country; add the region when the content is relevant to the wider region too |
| Several countries in one region | The region, plus the countries if there are fewer than about five |
| A few countries in different regions | The specific countries |
| Many countries across regions | The regions |

There is no "Global" term; leave the field blank for global content.

Don't:

- Tag more than about seven or eight countries; it dilutes search relevance
- Tag countries that are not actually discussed
- Tag a region when only one country is relevant, unless the content speaks to the region

### Worked example: the Sahel

There is no term for the Sahel or other subregions, so tag through the region and its countries:

- A report on drought early warning in the Sahel that discusses Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in detail: **Africa**, plus **Burkina Faso**, **Mali** and **Niger**.
- A report covering the whole Sahel, from Senegal to Sudan, without focusing on particular countries: **Africa** only. Tagging every Sahel country would pass the cap of about seven or eight countries and dilute search relevance.
- A report on the Sahel and the Horn of Africa that focuses on two or three countries in each: **Africa**, plus those countries, as long as the total stays within the cap.

### Groupings

Use the grouping terms **LDCs (Least Developed Countries)**, **LLDCs (Landlocked Developing Countries)** and **SIDS (Small Island Developing States)** when the content is about the group as a group: for example, a report on disaster risk financing in least developed countries, or a programme for small island developing States. Tag the countries as well only if the content discusses fewer than about five of them in detail.

Don't add a grouping term just because a tagged country belongs to it, and don't rely on the taxonomy to tell you which countries belong: its grouping memberships are incomplete (see the [taxonomy reference](taxonomy.md#regions-and-groupings)). For content about small island developing States, also consider the **Small Island Developing States (SIDS)** theme: the theme says what the content is about, the grouping term says where.

## Other fields

- **Organization** (required on news and publications) or **Organizer(s)** (required on events): the publisher, author organization or organizer, and partners for joint or co-branded content
- **Author(s):** named authors, for bylines and author pages
- **Short description:** one or two sentences for cards, search results and social previews; see the guide for each content type
- **Image:** a relevant image with meaningful alt text

Publications also have ISBN/ISSN/DOI, Number of pages and Year of publication; see [publications](publications.md#metadata).

### Interestingness and longevity

The **Interestingness** and **Longevity** fields control how prominently and for how long content is promoted. Guidance on choosing values is internal:

- [Longevity and interestingness guidance](https://unitednations.sharepoint.com/sites/UNDRR-DRR-COMMS/SitePages/Longevity-Interestingness.aspx) (UNDRR staff only)

## Checklist

- [ ] Two to four themes, most relevant first
- [ ] Hazards only if the content focuses on specific hazards
- [ ] Countries and regions matched to the geographic scope
- [ ] Organization or organizer set
- [ ] Authors, short description and image with alt text