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Background:
Long term Capacity Building to manage water related disasters with special reference to extreme flood events was one of the key recommendations of the recently completed High-level Expert Group Meeting to Reduce Flood Disaster Risk in Pakistan (HEGM), Islamabad , Pakistan on 9-10 November 2010. This meeting was jointly organised by ESCAP, UN Country Team in Pakistan and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan .
The recent flood catastrophe in Pakistan was considered to be related to extreme climate events the country has been facing in the year of 2010. While climatologists need to analyze whether the extreme flood event was associated with climate change, it is expected that c limate change and increased climate variability would bring more severe impact primarily through water and biological processes interacting with human activities. Developing capacity to deal with these priority areas of disaster risk management will enable the country to effectively deal with other potential areas of impacts by the climate change, including melting of the glaciers, drought and desertification, spread of pest and diseases and sea level rise.
Objectives:
The overall objective of this Workshop which is organized in collaboration Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), SUPARCO, UNESCO at SUPARCO, Islamabad, Pakistan is to develop the capacity to build better resilience to water related disasters as well as for more effective adaptation to climate change through the applications of space technology and flood risk management in Pakistan. Experts from China , Japan , the Republic of Korea and other countries and from international organizations will share their practices in these areas. The Workshop will, primarily, focus on the following areas:
- Identification of major technology and capacity gaps in space applications, including relevant geo-information technology in Pakistan so as to enhance capacity of related agencies for better risk management of water-related disasters, especially in terms of flash floods and flood risk management.
- Information sharing in water resources management for more effective management of flash floods and reservoir operations
- Identification of related climate change impacts which are anticipated to worsen floods and drought situations, and preparatory needs for future flood risk management, especially in the immediate future.
- Offer training opportunity to water managers on how to operate the Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS), which is a free tool for flood forecasting and warning supported by available ground-based and satellite-based rainfall data.
Target Groups and Participants
The target group will be all agencies responsible for disaster management at national, provincial and local government levels. The primary targeted agencies are the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Water and Power with its affiliated agencies.
Related documents: Information note , Concept note , Programme , List of participants
Opening statements: Pakistan Meteorolgical Department , UNESCO , ESCAP
Presentations:
Report
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