“Reduce disaster loss and protect lives,” that refrain echoed through Cairo, the capital city of Egypt as a 3-day training event kicked off this week bringing together representatives from 11 Arab States committed to implementing the global plan for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Countries from across the Arab region have set out their collective stance ahead of the looming 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, following similar moves by other parts of the world.
World Tsunami Awareness Day will be marked for the first time this year, on November 5. This week 24 countries with exposed coastlines in the Indian Ocean are taking part in one of the largest tsunami drills ever staged.
It’s 6:00 am one September day when a powerful undersea earthquake rocks the Makran Trench along the coast of Pakistan and Iran. Minutes later, the tsunami warning centres in India and Indonesia issue simultaneous alerts, followed rapidly by their counterpart in Australia, and authorities across the Indian Ocean swing into action. It's all a test, and a critical component of the region's disaster preparedness.
World Tsunami Awareness Day makes its debut on the international calendar this November, and disaster experts from around the Indian Ocean have been given an early opportunity to step up and get involved.
Tsunami experts from across the Indian Ocean have gathered in Australia this week to work on ways to improve their ability to ward off a repeat of the tragedy that struck the region in 2004.
