H.E. Dr. Sohail Khan, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Thailand, shakes hand with Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Special Advisor at ADPC, as they exchange gifts and take a group photo with key staff members from ADPC and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Thailand.

His Excellency, Dr. Sohail Khan, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Thailand visited Asian Disaster Preparedness Center last week to discuss the role of the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management in operationalizing the Sendai Framework and other global instruments for promoting resilient development in the region.

The 13th RCC meeting will be co-hosted by the National Disaster Management Authority on 17-19 October in Islamabad, Pakistan. ADPC has been serving as RCC’s secretariat since 2000.

ADPC’s Executive Director, Dr. Jingjai Hanchanlash, and Special Advisor Dr. Bhichit Rattakul welcomed H.E. Dr. Sohail Khan who was accompanied by Mr. Kamran Dhangal, Third Secretary from the Embassy of Pakistan.

ADPC briefed the Ambassador about disaster and climate risk management activities being implemented in Pakistan as well as in the region.

Referring to Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Khan said that it would be very helpful if ADPC could extend more support in terms of building technical capacities of government officials at the national, sub-national and local levels. “Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has been supporting provinces on DRR but it still needs technical support from international partners like ADPC”, he said.

H.E. Dr. Sohail Khan, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Thailand (left), Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Special Advisor at ADPC (center), and Dr. Jingjai Hanchanlash, ADPC’s Executive Director a.i. (right) having a discussion during the meeting.

The Ambassador also suggested that ADPC should invite Pakistani students and government officials who are studying at the Asian Institute of Technology for technical lectures.

Dr. Bhichit Rattakul informed the Ambassador that ADPC has been supporting Pakistan and other regional courtiers under the banner of RCC for the past several years. “We are glad that NDMA Pakistan would be the co-host of the upcoming RCC and we hope that this meeting will generate useful outputs that can be shared at other regional forums”, Dr. Rattakul said.

Dr. David Ganz, Chief of Party, SERVIR-Mekong, briefed the Ambassador about ADPC’s role in building capacity of institutions and individuals to use NASA’s publically available data for flood and drought mitigation. “Remote sensing technology is publically available. The issue is the capacity to use that technology for better and informed decision making,” he said adding that SERVIR-Mekong has developed decision support tools which can help governments in better water management, ecosystem protection, land use planning and crop monitoring.

“Pakistan’s NDMA and other institutions may also benefit from these tools through our partners, especially ICIMOD, as the regional SERVIR hub that covers Pakistan,” he concluded.

Key staff of ADPC including Dr. Peeranan Towashiraporn, Director, Bill Ho, Department Head ITCD, Irfan Maqbool, Department Head SDPI, Dr. Rishiraj Dutta, Technical Specialist, Climate Risk Management, and Dr. Hamid, Capacity Development lead, SERVIR-Mekong, and others also spoke at the occasion.