Turkey, Shares Disaster Management Experiences with the Asian Countries

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Middle East Technical University's (METU) Disaster Center jointly organized a Disaster Management Training with experts from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Pakistan.

Through the mutual efforts of TİKA, JICA, and METU, one training program per year has been organized in the field of "Disaster Risk Management and the Development of Disaster-Resistant Societies" since 2017, amounting to a total of 3 trainings, for Asian countries that frequently face disasters.

METU Disaster Management Implementation and Research Center hosted the third of the two-week training program in which 12 experts and academics from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Pakistan received theoretical and field-oriented training.

Following the program in which Turkish and Japanese trainers and experts taught courses on disaster risk management and disaster mitigation, sustainable development and developing resistant cities in disasters, urban planning, post-disaster recovery plans, and flood risk management in terms of urban planning and social risks, field assessments were carried out in Ankara, Bolu, Bursa and Istanbul, and visits were made to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Through the two-week trainings, participants were equipped with new information and practices they could transfer to their own countries and more cooperation opportunities in the area of disaster management were created with the communication network that was formed among these 4 countries. Participants conveyed that these trainings were very effective with respect to the transferring of Turkish and Japanese expertise to other countries.