During the third session of Governing Council of Asia and Pacific Centre for Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat, HI(M), the Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was elected as Vice Chair of the Councils in recognition of Pakistan’s distinct contributions and active role in the field of disaster management in the region. Dr. Seyed Hamid Pourmohammadi, Deputy Vice President, Plan and Budget Organization of Iran was awarded the Chair, as traditionally the position goes to the host country as per the diplomatic norms. During this event Chairman, NDMA lead Pakistan’s delegation to attend the third session of the Governing Council of APDIM and the High Level Expert Consultation on Disaster Information Management in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran from 18-19 Dec 2018. The Governing Council comprises of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iran, Macao, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Turkey. The High Level Expert Consultation meeting was attended by senior officials and experts from ESCAP member countries from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russian, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and Turkey. The meeting was also attended by senior officials of UNISDR, UNDP/GCDS and JICA. The consultative meeting was held to discuss strategies, approaches and mechanisms in developing information management for disaster risk reduction and for monitoring the progress in achieving the targets of the Sendai Framework and disaster related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. In a broader perspective, the event turned out to be very rewarding for the country as Pakistan was selected as the next destination to host the forth session of as Governing Council in 2019 and also managed to secure the cooperation for Tsunami Risk Assessment of Makran region in partnership with UNESCO/IOC. Further, Pakistan beside Iran was recommended for APDIM’s capacity development programme on Sendai Framework Monitoring as the initial pilot countries, in partnership with UNISDR and in coordination with UNCTs. During the course of this visit, the Chairman NDMA also took part in the inauguration ceremony of the APDIM building along with high level officials from the Government of Iran, including Dr. Gholam-Hossein Dehghani, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran. Other participants included senior representatives from UNISDR, UNDP/GCDS, JICA and ESCAP as well as members of APDIM Governing Council and a number of delegates from Asian and Pacific countries. It is important to mention that APDIM is established as a regional institution of the Commission with the following agenda; Firstly, it will serve as a knowledge and information repository for all disaster-related data in the region. Secondly, it will lead on capacity development by developing knowledge management tools and facilities such as e-learning platforms for disaster risk resilience with specific training modules. Thirdly, it will deliver information services on cross-border disasters to the countries and organizations of the region.
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