Kick-off: Regional Workshop on Lessons Learnt of Indian Ocean Tsunami Wave Exercise 2016

15289053_10154748422799253_4817907890393133688_oRegional Workshop on Lessons Learnt from Community Exercise of Indian Ocean Tsunami Wave Exercise (#IOWave16) and Intersessional Meeting of ICG/IOWTSM Working Group 1 on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness is underway from 5 – 8 December 2016, in Grand Tjokro Hotel, Bandung city, West Java, Indonesia. The Regional Workshop is organized by UNESCO/IOC (Intergovernmental Ocenographic Commission), UNESCO/IOTIC (Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Center), and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in collaboration with United Nations Economic and Social Commissions for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) with generous support from Government of Japan.

The Regional Workshop was officially opened by the Vice Rector of ITB – Prof. Bambang Riyanto Trilaksono, representative of ICG/IOTWSM Secretariat – Dr. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala and Director of Preparedness of Indonesian Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) – Mr. Medi Herlianto. As part of the opening ceremony, Head of Agency for Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) in Indonesia, Dr. Andi Eka Sakya, delivered his keynote speech on “The Role of BMKG Indonesia in Indian Ocean Tsunami Wave Exercise”. Furthermore, from the local perspective, the Mayor of Padang city, Indonesia – Mr. Mahyeldi Ansharullah – shared his view on the role of local government and community of Padang city in the IOWave16.

During the first-length of the Session 1 “Lessons Learned on Community Activity in IOWave16”, Mr. Yuelong Miau and Ms. Nora Gale from the ICG/IOTWMS Secretariat presented the review and preliminary report of Indian Ocean Tsunami Wave Exercise 2016. On behalf of the UNESCAP, Mr. Mizan Bisri and Mr. Avianto Amri, provided the highlight of facilitation on Strategic Documentation and Communication for the IOWave16 and beyond, as platform for all stakeholder. Finally, Dr. Harkunti Rahayu, Principal Investigator of the #PEERScienceITB research team and Chair of Working Group 1-IOTWMS, delivered powerful report on “From science to tsunami early warning policy improvement: perspective for the IOWave16 and beyond”, using lessons learned from Padang city, Indonesia.

Altogether, 47 participants from 11 countries in Indian Ocean Region (Australia, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles and Timor Leste) and 4 local governments in Indonesia (Padang, Pandeglang, Pangandaran and Pacitan) already gather in Bandung and will work together to learn from the experience during the #iowave16, to improve the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System. Each will deliver their stories and experiences during the #iowave16 in the next two days.

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The outputs from the Regional Workshop will be presented to the Intersessional Meeting of the ICG/IOTWMS Working Group 1 on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness that takes place in the same venue on December 7th and 8th 2016.

Follow live updates from: https://twitter.com/iowave16 | http://iowave16.org/

Reported by @mizanbisri and @aviantoamri powered by IOTIC-IOC/UNESCO, ITB through #PEERScienceITB team and UNESCAP with generous support from Government of Japan.