News
Friday, November 02, 2012
Engaging SAARC in disaster resilience termed a wise stepStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in collaboration with Oxfam GB, organised a two-day consultation meeting on engaging SAARC in disaster resilience at Islamabad Club on Thursday. Participants from SAARC countries and representatives from related national institutions are participating in the event. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira was the chief guests on the occasion.
Oxfam Asia Deputy Regional Director Cherian Mathews, in his welcome address, said, “This is prime time when we all have to take the challenges of climate change to make our communities resilient to disasters.” He appreciated NDMA for taking lead in organising a joint consultative meeting for engaging SAARC in disaster resilient and bringing together representatives from SAARC states and civil societies and academia and media.
Participants from member countries shed light on the common vulnerabilities and the system in place for disaster management in their respective regions and how they cope with these natural atrocities. Countries of South Asian more or less comprise same topographies and are always exposed to natural disasters.
Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs’ Disaster Management Division head Pradip Koirala said that due to the fact that the country is surrounded by huge mountains, the land is prone to calamities. Therefore, it is their priority to engage in both disaster risk management (DRM) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities. Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management Secretary MS Muhammad said that his country was exposed to the risk of floods and was coping with the seasonal disasters. Their early warning system is quite effective.
Maldives Meteorological Services Director Abdul Muhsin said that his country was a conglomerate of small islands and faced a continuous threat of floods. NDMA Chairman Zafar Iqbal Qadir, speaking on the occasion, said that Pakistan is exposed to all kinds of natural disasters being a piece of land that has all the seasons and almost all kinds of terrains. In recent years the country has seen all kinds of natural adversities from earthquakes to cyclones and landslides to floods. He said that disasters have no boundaries or set frequency.
He said, “We know that disasters have no boundaries. When the earthquake hit seven years ago and the tsunami hit eight years ago, boundaries proved immaterial and people across the Line of Control in Kashmir and people across territorial limits of Sri Lanka and India were badly suffered. So, when there are no borders for disasters, why should not we think beyond borders and work jointly to save more and more lives.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk