Thursday, June 1st, 2006
International Recovery Platform Holds Second Steering Committee Meeting
Participants in Geneva, Rome and Tokyo Discuss First Year Achievements
The International Recovery Platform (IRP) held its second Steering Committee meeting at the TDLC on June 1, 2006, connecting International Labour Organization (ILO) Headquarters in Geneva, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome to Tokyo via videoconference.
Mr. Andrew Maskrey, Chair of the Steering Committee, opened the session expressing his appreciation for videoconferencing. "Without videoconferencing, it wouldn't be possible to have a meeting of this kind in 4 different locations at the same time".
Touching on the network's progress since the first Steering Committee meeting in September 2005, Mr. Maskrey reported that the IRP had now successfully established a formal Secretariat in Kobe. He also highlighted the achievements of the IRP's 3 hub activity areas, in advocacy and knowledge management, enhanced recovery operations and training and capacity building. Mr. Salvano Briceno, Director of UN/ISDR, stated that for the future, the challenge will be to ensure that collaboration and coordination contributes to a common process, to ensure the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.
The IRP, an initiative of UNDP, UN/OCHA, UN/ISDR and ILO, was launched in May 2005 in Kobe at the International Seminar on Recovery held as a follow-up to the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The TDLC has collaborated with the IRP since its inception, facilitating connections for the Seminar spanning Washington, Ankara, New Delhi and Rome.
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