Coordination of efforts to establish a tsunami warning and mitigation system in the Indian Ocean rests with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC). The first International Coordination Meeting for the development of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation system (IOTWS) was held in Paris from 3-8 March 2005, followed by a second meeting in Mauritius from 14-16 April 2005. These meetings agreed on a framework for the IOTWS as consisting of a coordinated network of national systems and capacities, with Member States having the responsibility for warning issuance and dissemination within their respective territories, utilizing or building on existing institutions and complementing existing warning frameworks, within a multi-hazard approach. The Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the IOTWS, composed of interested IOC Member States from the Indian Ocean Region, will govern the system, with the IOC Secretariat as secretariat. The IOTWS/ICG was established by the 23rd session of the IOC Assembly from 21-30 June 2005, and held its first meeting in Perth, from 3-5 August 2005, and its second meeting in Hyderabad, India from 14-16 December 2005. >>more