Colombo to host international disaster convention
View(s):Colombo is hosting its first ever International Disaster Convention on 16-18 November in a pilot event together with the UNDP and the Disaster Management Centre. “The aim is to establish Sri Lanka as a centre of excellence and knowledge on Disaster, Climate Change and Sustainability. The purpose is to share understanding and information,” the conference organisers said.
The media announcement said Sri Lanka’s pivotal importance at the hub of the Indian Ocean is now widely recognized. The procession of Western and Asian powerbrokers who have visited these shores over the last year underlines the fact. “The Indian Ocean Region covers about one seventh of the earth’s surface.There are nearly 50 states in and around this region, containing 2.6 billion people, 39 per cent of the world’s population. This whole area is deeply vulnerable to floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, tidal surges, landslides and tsunamis. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), nearly 50 per cent of the world’s natural disasters occur in the Indian Ocean,” it said.
As a result the Indian Ocean Region is sometimes called the “World’s Hazard Belt.” Sri Lanka lies at the very centre of this region. At the crux of the world sea lane connecting east and west, the island is ideally positioned to be a hub for disaster relief across the Indian Ocean.
The organisers said disaster relief and management is all about working together in a common human need. It also represents a major strategic, diplomatic and commercial opportunity. Hubs are not all about trade, they are about cooperation, sharing and mutual benefit.