ADPC delivers a two-day orientation training on disaster risk management to a group of senior civil servants of Bhutan, the 13th Batch of the De-Suung. The DeSuung (literally means the Guardians of Peace) is a regular training program in Bhutan envisioned by Druk Gyalpo, King of Bhutan.

“This is a value-based personal development program, with the aim of encouraging active citizenry to build the national capacity and promote engagement in various volunteer initiatives during and after disaster relief operations,” says Head of Department Mr. Aslam Perwaiz from ADPC.

The training program also includes lectures and interactive learning exercises in life skills and leadership management. The underlying premise of the training is built upon the spirit of ‘volunteerism’, the need to reinforce ethical standards and also to cultivate values of community service, integrity and civic responsibility.

Reinforcing the value of community spirit through disaster risk management

Building on the civil servants’ existing technical and managerial skills, the training is aimed at increasing practical knowledge and skills to develop agency-level expertize, management and coordination, information exchange, and joint learning on disaster risk and climate risk management.

“This will help the Government of Bhutan to create a more harmonized and coordinated approach to disaster risk and climate risk management among its ministries and agencies,” states Mr. Perwaiz.

The training was participated by 23 members of parliament, 17 district governors, 67 senior civil servants and 24 private sector heads including Managing Director of Bank of Bhutan, Mr. Pema Tshering.