TEHRAN – The head of the Planning and Budget Organization of Iran, Davoud Manzour, and the chairman of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense of Tajikistan, Rustam Nazarzoda, agreed to strengthen cooperation in dealing with natural disasters and implementing joint projects to build resilience to natural hazards.

The officials also discussed holding training and retraining courses for experts and specialists of the Committee for Emergency Situations of Tajikistan.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the eighth meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian and Pacific Center for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) in Dushanbe on Friday.

Manzour, for his part, stressed the need for expanding collaboration in preventing, handling, and recovering damages caused by natural hazards.

He highlighted the importance of regional countries’ cooperation in dealing with natural disasters.

He also announced Iran’s readiness to enhance cooperation and exchange experiences with Tajikistan.

APDIM meeting

Representatives of ministries and organizations related to disaster management from Iran, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Macao, Micronesia, Mongolia, Turkey, and Tajikistan, as well as representatives of international organizations participated in the 8th APDIM meeting.

The representatives of these 9 countries shared their information and experiences; discussed the situation of the region and identified the main challenges in facing the impact of climate change and climatic events that are a serious threat to economic and social development.

“The abnormal warming of the air temperature in Asia is higher than the global average. It increases the likelihood of droughts, floods, landslides, and wildfires in different regions of the world, including Tajikistan. These are concerning phenomena that lead to loss of life and damage the infrastructure,” Nazarzoda said.

He went on to say, “I am sure that our meeting will become a platform that will enable our countries to achieve global goals of disaster risk reduction.”

APDIM history

The Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) was established to reduce human losses material damages and the negative impact of natural hazards.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s initial proposal to establish APDIM was approved at the sixth-seventh session of the Commission in 2011.

Subsequently, in 2015, ESCAP Member States decided to establish APDIM as a subsidiary body of ESCAP.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and ESCAP signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of APDIM in January 2018 and the Centre was officially opened and headquartered in Tehran in the same year.

Iran’s potential in dealing with natural disasters

In 2022, Stefan Priesner, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran, said, “Iran has the potential to deal with natural disasters broadly and the United Nations is willing to document these valuable experiences.”

In case of natural disasters, the United Nations is ready to provide services by forming a permanent working group with representatives of the UN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Disaster Management Organization, IRNA quoted Priesner as saying.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Mohammad-Hassan Nami, the head of the National Disaster Management Organization, suggesting that the two sides should hold meetings every three months for further coordination.

For his part, Nami said all nations have a sense of philanthropy and kindness, but they will face sanctions if they want to provide help. So, this issue should be resolved.

In June, Priesner said the United Nations will use all its power and capacity to assist Iran in dealing with natural hazards by increasing operational performance and improving safety in specialized areas.

“Expressing the desirable capacities of Iran in dealing with natural hazards, he said that we will do everything to assist Iran. In this regard, we can increase operational performance and improve safety in the sector to enhance cooperation.”

MT/MG