Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 13: A four-day State Level Consultation on Child Centered Emergency Preparedness for Response got underway today.
Organized by Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority (JKSDMA) in collaboration with Divisional Disaster Management Authority Kashmir and UNICEF, the conference witnessed the participation of dozens of officials from the administration of various districts and the resource persons from UNICEF.
The consultation was formally inaugurated by the Advisor to Governor, B B Vyas, who was the chief guest on the occasion. The inaugural session was also attended by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmed Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah.
Besides, the conference was also attended by Director JKSDMA, Aamir Ali, Director School Education, Kashmir, Dr G.N Itoo, Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Dr Owais Ahmad, Dr Muzaffar Ahmad from UNICEF, Xavier Thomas from UNICEF and other senior officials from administration and representatives from UNICEF.
Congratulating the UNICEF and the State organizers for organizing such type of conference, Advisor Vyas said that the Kashmir has witnessed many disasters in the past and there is a need to educate people about the disaster management.
“It should be our collective resolve that whatever we learn from this conference, we should implement it on ground level and should not be limited to the documentation,” Vyas said.
He said that during any disaster, it is women and children who bear the major brunt and it is our responsibility to create a platform where all the stake holders can work together for the betterment of society as a whole in the times of disaster.
Speaking on the occasion, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir said that this conference is a great opportunity to learn how to manage disaster and directed the departments to implement in their respective departments what they learn from this conference.
While giving the detail about the conference, Director JKSDMA, Aamir Ali informed that the state Disaster management professionals with the help from MR Xavier Thomas of UNICEF have prepared a draft on rapid child-centered risk analysis and it will be further refined during the group activities and we hope to come out with a detailed risk analysis which will be shared with the Government.
On the occasion Director School Education Kashmir, Dr G N Itoo informed the gathering the Education department has formulated the State Action Plan for the school safety and disaster management, in collaboration with JKSDMA. The aim of this plan, Itoo said, is to strengthen the institutional commitment to safe learning environment and to ensure skill development in students with regards to the disaster.
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