DISASTER MANAGEMENT is FOCUS OF FIRST COLLABORATIVE FORUM IN BANGKOK

(Reissued as received.)

BANGKOK, 22 June (UN Information Services) -- The first meeting of a group of experts will gather for three days on 22-24 June at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.  The High-level Expert Group on Technical Options for Disaster Management Systems:  Tsunamis and Others is composed of civil defence policy-makers and system developers from the Asia-Pacific region.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) receives, with much appreciation, generous funding from France and the Republic of Korea to organize the meeting.

Numerous high-level meetings since the 26 December earthquake and tsunami have emphasized the importance of early warning systems, and, in more general terms, requested that effective disaster and other hazard management be incorporated in national development plans.

The aim of the forum is to gather together technical experts with national disaster-management officials, to exchange ideas and improve capabilities for disaster management.  A second aim is to explore possible activities towards improved regional cooperation in comprehensive disaster management.

The meeting is a collaboration among ESCAP, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the TSB/ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, and the APMCSTA Asia-Pacific Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications.

For further information, please contact:  UN Information Services, Bangkok, tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-69, fax: +(66-2) 288-1052, e-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org, http://www.unescap.org.  Contact persons at ESCAP: Wu Guoxiang, Chief, STAS/ICSTD, tel: (662) 288-1466, fax : (662) 288-1085, e-mail: wugu@un.org; or Htin Aung, Coordinator, tel: (662) 288-2591; fax (662) 288-1085, e-mail: aungh@un.org.

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