The course was inaugurated on 13^th of January with welcoming remarks of worthy Director General Mr. Israr Mohammad Khan and opening remarks of honorable guest, Director CIRDAP, Mr. Zakir Ul Haq.

2.       Objectives:

          In view of the importance of “Disaster Management and Climate Change Adaptation; the AHKNCRD and CIRDAP has designed this training programme with the following key objectives:

• To discuss various types of disasters that the Asia Pacific region are increasingly prone to;
• To discuss mitigation techniques for disaster management;
• To raise awareness and amplify discourse on factors contributing to climate change, its adverse impact and possible solutions; and,
• To provide a forum for sharing of experiences and strategies with regard to disaster management and climate change adaptation.

3.       Major Contents.

          The training programme was designed in such a way that the participants could have theoretical perspective of Disaster management and climate Change Adaptation as well as have exposure of on-ground management facilities and systems of Pakistan.

• On Day -1, after inaugural ceremony, the participants were first introduced with salient features of Pakistan’s Society, culture and geography by Mr. Aftab Rana, Managing Director, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.

• Soon after, an introductory session on “Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation” was delivered by Brig (R) Fiaz Hussain Shah Former Director General, National Institute of Disaster Management, NDMA and Chairman Integrated Resilience Network. Brigadier(R) Fiaz Shah gave a conceptual overview of nature of disasters, their risk reduction strategies and correlations with Climate Change adaptation.
• Afterwards, Climate Change and Disaster Risks in Asia and Pacific Region were discussed by Mr. Muhammad Israr Khan, IRD expert CIRDAP.

Subsequently Mr. Arif Goheer, Executive Director of Global Climate Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), Islamabad deliberated on International Negotiations on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.

• On Day -2, in the first session Brig (R) Sajid Naeem , Sr. Programme manager/Country Representative Asian Disaster Management Prepared Centre presented a comprehensive talk on Disaster Risk Reduction through Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. After these detailed orientation of the important themes of subject training, the participants were taken to study visit to National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) Islamabad of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) where the participants were briefed about working mechanism of NDMA, and facilities installed in the central Emergency Operation Centre.

In the afternoon, an excursion visit was arranged for Lok Virsa Museum and Pakistan Monument.

• On Day-3, the participants were taken to historical City of Lahore for visiting Provincial Disaster Management Authority of Punjab headquarter for getting exposure to working of disaster management at provincial level.

Lahore, the capital of Punjab province is the second-largest city of Pakistan and has a rich and diverse history spanning thousands of years. There are many historical places to visit in Lahore but due to paucity of time only visits of Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque could be managed.

The Lahore Fort, also known as the Shahi Qila, or Royal Fort, is the third of the major Mughal Forts in its capitals, the other two being in Delhi and Agra. It is the most important historic site in Lahore.

• On Day-4, the participants were taken to water sheds of Forest Department of Punjab in the hilly area of Muree to witness the effective water shed management which is essential for reduction of risks associated with disaster like Floods, Soil Erosion.
• On Day 5, the participants were given orientation in a in-house session on Community Resilience Strategies for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Preparedness by Mr. Raheel Nazir CEO Rah-e-Nau Constellation. After that, study visit was arranged to Pakistan Meteorological Department to witness multi Hazard early warning system, weather forecasting centre and glacial monitoring system of the MET department.
• On the 6^th Day, the participants were familiarized with water Monitoring Network and Early Warning systems alongwith Flood Fighting Plans in Pakistan by Mr. Zafar Iqbal, Senior Engineer, Federal Flood Commission, Islamabad