The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan organized a meeting in Islamabad to discuss the implementation of the Disaster Management Confidence Building Measure under the Heart of Asia initiative.

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), as the official technical partner of the program, will contribute to the main areas of the Measure. This includes lending support in developing a regional risk analysis to promote informed and resilient development planning, creating regional response capacity, and addressing the impacts and risks of changing climate patterns in the region.

The one-year action plan will contribute to the Heart of Asia’s main objective of creating a safe, stable and prosperous Afghanistan by promoting security and cooperation to build confidence and trust in the region.


During the meeting ADPC briefed an audience made up of Embassy representatives and development partners such as the Asia Foundation, JICA, WFP and UNDP on the background of the initiative.

The action plan aims to establish a disaster risk reduction portal, increase disaster response capacity, develop guidelines for sharing cross-border early warning information, design simulations to assess regional coordination, and promote resilient development planning through disaster risk reduction mainstreaming. The plan also includes strengthening research, capacity building and knowledge management for the eight participating Heart of Asia member countries.

During the meeting, the Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, Major General Ashgar Nawaz, welcomed the support of the Heart of Asia member countries and stressed the need to synergize the efforts of relevant stakeholders working in the region and develop Host Nation Support guidelines. He further requested the participants of the meeting to contribute both financial and technical resources for the successful completion of the one year action plan with the collaboration and support of ADPC.