Organized jointly by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Special Reporting Committee on Iran Flood 2019 (SRCIF), and the University of Tehran, the workshop was held in Tehran on October 9-10, 2019.
The event was attended by more than 100 experts drawn from China, India, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan and Thailand as well as from key UN and international and regional institutions, namely the Asia and Pacific Center for Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), Bangkok-based Asian Institute of Technology and Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System, International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management (Tokyo), and International Water Management Institute (Colombo), wrote the UN in a press release, a copy of which was e-mailed to IRNA by the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) in Tehran.
Recognizing that flood risk management is a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary endeavor, the high-level workshop facilitated knowledge sharing on region’s good practices, including science-based risk-informed public policies and investments, grey and green infrastructure for flood protection, resilient agriculture, effective flood forecasting and early warning systems, ecosystem-based approaches, economic analysis, socio-cultural and health-related challenges.
Following an unprecedented March/April 2019 floods, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani issued a decree to establish the “Special Reporting Committee on Iran Floods 2019” (SRCIF) headed by the President of University of Tehran and with the participation of distinguished academic scholars and technical experts from across the country.
The high-level expert workshop helped shaping ‘build a bridge’ initiative of the SRCIF by bringing together the national, regional and international institutions, experts and professionals to share common ideas and experiences on managing floods following the regional and south-south cooperation modalities. Lessons learned and experiences gained from Iran’s effective response to the recent floods and initiatives taken to enhance flood risk management in the country were shared with the participants at the workshop.
At the regional workshop, key messages from ESCAP’s flagship publication Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 in the specific context of the Islamic Republic of Iran were shared. The Report presents a comprehensive ‘riskscape’ of the country with annualized average loss from extreme and slow-onset disasters of $16 billion where drought/sand and dust storms, earthquake/tsunami and floods contribute to 48%, 46%, and 5% percent respectively.
It estimates around $4 billion additional investments in social protection, health, education, resilient infrastructure and agriculture, one-fourth of annualized average loss, to outpace disaster risk. The Report also presents pathways to capitalize on advances in innovative technologies, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, and regional cooperation to address shared vulnerabilities and risks.
The experts appreciated the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its strong commitment towards building disaster resilience in the region, including through its contributions to establish the Asian and Pacific for Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), recently established regional institution of ESCAP in Tehran.
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