Training Workshop on Risk Informed Urban Planning for BIMSTEC Member States

Training Workshop on Risk Informed Urban Planning for BIMSTEC Member States

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Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) is organizing a four–day Capacity development program from 17 to 20 December, 2019 on Risk Informed Urban Planning for the BIMSTEC Member States. A Government of India initiative announced by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India at the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit held in August 2018 in Nepal, towards India’s commitment to promote peace, prosperity and disaster risk informed development in the Region.

India attaches great importance to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which is a regional organization comprising seven Member States (viz. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity, housing 1.67 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.71 trillion.

It is expected that by 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. As cities continue to grow, exposure of lives, livelihoods and economic, social and environmental assets is set to increase exponentially. The growing concentration of people and assets in cities means disasters are affecting more urban dwellers with increasingly harmful consequences for employment, housing and critical infrastructure. The future challenges facing urban disaster risk management will be increasingly affecting future urban growth, where the capacity to plan and manage rapid urban growth, avoid creation and propagation of new risks and adapt to emerging hazards (including risk amplifiers such as climate change) is the need of the hour.

A four-day workshop has been conceptualized with the technical support from United Nations Office for Disaster risk Reduction (UNDRR) to understand the urbanization process, risk profile and exposure in the BIMSTEC region and increase awareness among participants on the need to mainstream disaster risk reduction into the urban planning and management processes. Lot of experience sharing amongst the delegates of the BIMSTEC Member States would be part of the program.

During the inauguration of the program Mr. P K Taneja, Director General of GIDM welcomed all the delegates from the BIMSTEC Member States and reiterated the importance of the capacity development program by stating “Cities are where the battle for sustainable development will be won or lost”. The representative from Ministry of External Affairs, GoI also presented and gave brief details on initiatives undertaken for BIMSTEC Member States.