OSDMA Managing Director gets invite from United Nations

The state has been invited for earning international recognition in setting benchmarks in disaster management in the last few years, post Phailin.
United Nations headquarters (File Photo)
United Nations headquarters (File Photo)

BHUBANESWAR: Special Relief Commissioner and Managing Director of Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) Bishnupada Sethi will deliver the keynote address at the United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) Disaster Resilience Week, commencing from August 26 at Bangkok.

The State has been invited for earning international recognition in setting benchmarks in disaster management in the last few years, post Phailin.

Sethi, who will deliver the keynote address on the opening day, will throw light upon how governments in Asia-Pacific region can further cooperate in improving the disaster management systems.

“The success the State has achieved is not the work of a day or month but of continuous endeavour over 20 years,” Sethi told reporters. “Disaster resilience can be built through empowerment, inclusion, shared understanding and joint strategic action plan among the nations in Asia-Pacific region.”

The State has won international recognition and praises for its disaster management efforts. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was felicitated by the United Nations for effective handling of cyclone Phailin by evacuating over 10 lakh people before the calamity hit Odisha coast in 2013.

The then UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlstrom had described Odisha a ‘global leader’ in disaster management.The UN body once again praised the State for managing extreme weather event including cyclone Fani which hit Odisha coast in May this year.

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