As many as 60 experts from 20 Asian countries gather at a meeting in Thua Thien-Hue province to evaluate the impact of natural disasters

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA)- As many as 60 experts from 20 Asian countries gathered at a
meeting in Thua Thien-Hue province on August 25 to evaluate the impact of natural
disasters in the region.

Neil R. Britton, a senior expert on natural disaster risk management from the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), said his bank has given top priority in natural
disaster control to anti-natural disaster programmes, calling for financial
assistance and tightening cooperation among social organisations and
non-government organisations.

From 1987 to 2009, ADB disbursed over 9.6 billion USD in aid to Asian countries
to cope with natural calamities, including 19 percent in relief aid, 45 percent
in control programmes and 36 percent in resettlement.

The biggest development bank in the continent has funded 11 relevant projects
worth over 428 million USD for Vietnam during the above-mentioned period.


The three-day workshop under the co-sponsorship of Hue Economic University ,
the University of Delhi, India, and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology
of Disasters, Belgium , is part of the Microdis project, short for ‘micro
analysis of disasters’.

The project aims to strengthen prevention, mitigation and preparedness strategies
in order to reduce health, social and economic impacts of any natural disasters
on communities in Asia .

The continent is predicted to be the most vulnerable to climate change. Droughts,
floods and rising sea water levels are threatening the lives of millions of
people in the region.

Southeast Asia is called a hot spot of storms in the world as over 10 storms
wreck havoc in the region annually. enditem