日本語

The Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management – Sri Lanka National Platform (A-PAD Sri Lanka) was launched on 20^th August 2014 during the inaugural meeting in Colombo. The launch was attended by representatives of civil society, private sector, service organizations, United Nations agencies, donors and diplomatic staff as well as A-PAD Management Office staff from Japan. The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in partnership with the Ceylon Chambers of Commerce (CCC) facilitated the process.

A-PAD Sri Lanka National Representative and CHA Executive Director Jeevan Thiagarajah welcomed the attendees and spoke of current and emerging disasters which require cohesive short and long term mitigation and response. Megumi Kuwana, representing A-PAD Management Office, shared the Japanese experience in responding to disasters through effective CSO-private sector partnership and the road map in establishing similar national platforms in the Asia Pacific region. Senior Assistant Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Chandraratne Vithanage, shared the experiences of the private sector in humanitarian response in Sri Lanka and reiterated the importance of CSO-private sector partnership through this platform. Deputy Executive Director of CHA Firzan Hashim spoke of the national platform’s potential and effectiveness and reported on recent emergency response activities to assist the drought-affected areas in the country.

Questions about the government’s role and the platforms’ mechanism were answered by the panelists and an interaction session closed the event. The platform will assist national efforts through civil society ? private sector partnership in humanitarian response.