UN willing to co-op with Iran on dust storms: ESCAP top official
UNITED NATIONS, (MILLAT ONLINE)::Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) that was established in 2016 as a regional institution of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and the Executive Secretary of ESCAP Shamshad Akhtar has offered cooperation to Iran on dust storms.
In an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Wednesday, she said that containing the negative effects of dust and sand storms is also an issue that is related to the seismic risk cooperation between the institute and Iran that has already been strengthened.
“We want to continue to build on this to reduce the destructive effects of sand and dust storms,” she said.
Emphasizing that building regional cooperation for information management and capacity development is central to APDIM’s work, She said, ‘ESCAP has undertaken analysis in support of a science-and data-based sand and dust storm alert system, which recognizes the challenges emanating from drought, desertification and these storms in arid and semi-arid regions.’
As to the APDIM’s main agenda, she said that the institute is based on an ambition that is ‘building disaster resilience through information management.’
Describing the Asia and the Pacific as the ‘most disaster-prone’ region in the world, Akhtar said that natural phenomena such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes and sand and dust storms inflict major damages on the region and its inhabitants.
‘Furthermore, as climate change effects intensify increasingly disasters know no borders. So there s an obvious case for a regional approach – pooling knowledge, building capacity and disseminating innovative information services among countries to prevent the worst consequences of disasters and strengthen our resilience to them. APDIM s risk management agenda flows out of this recognition,’ the UN official said.