DHAKA, Nov 05, 2019 (BSS) – State members of South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should work together for responding to natural
disasters by sharing and deploying resources to mitigate their impacts as
South Asia is a disaster-prone region.
This was stated by the Secretary General of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Amjad Hussain B. Sial while addressing the
inaugural session of the South Asia Forum on Preparedness for Regional
Disaster Response.
SAARC and the International Federation of Red Cross jointly orgnised the
event, which brought together representatives from the member states of SAARC
and specialized agencies like UNOCHA and ADPC, in Kathmandu, according to a
press release received here today.
“SAARC accords high priority to strengthening regional cooperation for
preservation, protection and management of the region’s diverse and fragile
eco-systems. As other regions in the world, South Asia is also prone to
natural disasters,” said the press release quoted him as saying.
Mentioning SAARC’s different moves to protect ecology, the Secretary
General said at the political level, successive SAARC summits and meetings of
the SAARC Environment Ministers have provided valuable guidance for
intensifying regional cooperation in the areas of environment, climate change
and natural disasters.
“Most importantly, at the Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Mal‚ in
November 2011, our leaders adopted the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to
Natural Disasters, which provides an effective regional mechanism to achieve
substantial reduction in the loss of human life and damage to social,
economic and environmental assets in the region,” he added.