The Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management was invited to the International Conference entitled “Role of Civil Society in Disaster Management” held on 17 ? 18 January 2014. The conference was organized by the Samutthan Foundation through the support of Japan Foundation and was held in New Delhi, India. Faisal Djalal, Chairperson of APADM represented the Alliance as a speaker during the conference.

The purpose of the conference was to highlight the issues concerning the involvement of civil society in disaster management. The conference invited paper proposals from various sectors in India as well as from other countries. It provided the opportunity to introduce APADM as a regional network for disaster management, to discuss related issues and share experiences with the participants. The conference was attended by a number of people representing national and international organizations, Universities, CSOs, and government agencies.

Mr. Faisal Djalal, as representative of APADM, gave a presentation on the second day of the conference during the fifth track session of Civil Society and Multi ?Sector co-operation in Disaster Management. The title of the presentation was “Networking and Private Partnership in Disaster Management,” and emphasized the importance of involving the private sector in preparedness, disaster response, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Moreover, Mr. Djalal shared the experiences of APADM members in collaborating with the private sector on the field, which was met with positive responses from the audience. A number of Indian government representatives, academics and NGOs showed interest in APADM membership.

The APADM Management Office will pursue potential partnerships from the interested organizations who would like to contribute to better disaster management in the Asia Pacific region.