SARGODHA - The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday concluded a three-day Training and Simulation Exercise (SIMEX) on disaster risk reduction.
The workshop was organized by NDMA and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab in collaboration with the University of Sargodha. The event was sponsored by Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).
It was aimed at planning and promoting training and research in the field of Disaster Management to promote a culture of safety through action oriented knowledge. Simulation Exercise made the participant practice almost all of the imparted concepts through preparedness and response planning and table top exercise.
The training covered a host of related topics to complete Disaster Management Cycle besides important subjects like gender and child protection, national and international Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) frameworks, early warning systems, logistics and warehouse management while the simulation exercise will focus on disaster preparedness and response planning.
The training module consisted of interactive discussion and situation based simulation exercise aiming at better comprehension of response mechanism at district level.
Participants declared the training all-encompassing, much-needed, well-imparted and a wonderful knowledge-sharing endeavor with an aim of spreading the words to others for good of all and as a national service.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, the Vice Chancellor University of Sargodha expressed his gratitude to National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and appreciated its efforts towards achieving the goal of resilient Pakistan. He emphasized the need for such training to be conducted frequently in order to build the capacity of government officials and other stakeholders of Sargodha Division.
The Vice Chancellor remarked that Pakistan is one of the countries hit-hard by the climate change and it has been bearing huge human and material loss due to floods, earthquake and other natural calamities, therefore, it is imperative to be prepared for averting any untoward incident in the wake of climate change. He informed the ceremony that Sargodha University has so far planted 4,000 plants as part of the government's Plant for Pakistan drive. The university will plant 100,000 plants in total to reduce the drastic effects of global warming and climate change, he added.
Solat Saeed, the Deputy Commissioner Sargodha was chief guest of the concluding ceremony remarked that such training workshops and exercises enable the administration and community to react proactively in any disaster situation in order to reduce the risk. Simulation Exercise organized with the purpose of testing the plans and procedures that would come into effect during a real emergency, helping to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Brig (r) Fiaz Hussain, Senior Capacity Building Specialist NIDM thanked the Vice Chancellor for extending his support and hosting the event at the university. He appreciated the simulation exercise and its methodology which enabled the participants to understand concepts in a much better and practical manner. He also praised the role played by NIDM and NDMA in advocating for resilience and disaster preparedness.
More than 60 officials of the university, PDMA Punjab, different government line departments of Sargodha division, District Disaster Management Authorities, Armed Forces of Pakistan, Punjab Police and other humanitarian organizations attended the training/exercise. At the end, certificates were distributed among the participants.