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MINISTRY AND THE UN TO MAKE CO-ORDINATED EFFORT FOR ASIA REGIONAL
DISASTER ASSESSMENT
The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India,
is with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
jointly sponsoring a training course on United Nations Disaster
Assessment and Coordination from 18-30 August 2002 at the National
Police Academy in Hyderabad. This is the first such course in
Asia and has as participants, senior emergency managers from Australia,
Cambodia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, Philippines,
Tonga, and Viet Nam as well as UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, HABITAT,
ECHO and the office for the Co-ordination of Human Affairs.
In September 2001, the Government of India became
a formal member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and
Coordination (UNDAC) system. The UNDAC system is designed to assist
the disaster affected country and the United Nations in meeting
international needs for early and qualified information during
the first phase of a sudden-onset emergency and in the coordination
of incoming international relief at national level and/or at the
site of emergency. It is designed to deploy at very short notice
(12-24 hours) to the field anywhere in the world. It also aims
at strengthening national and regional disaster response capacity.
Since 1993, the UNDAC Team has deployed 97 times in 61 countries
in response to emergencies.
Two senior Indian officials have already been trained
by the UNDAC system in May 2001 in Switzerland. The UNDAC Team
has 164 emergency managers from 64 countries as members now.
By hosting the first UNDAC Course in India for the
Asia Team, India provides a signal to governments in the Asia
region and beyond that it is taking a lead role in disaster response.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, which is now the focal point in
the Government of India for disaster management, feels that such
a regional initiative will go a long way towards self reliance,
both in India and the region.