Publish Date: 31 January 2018 - 21:25

TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (MNA) – Under- Secretary-General of the United Nations Shamshad Akhtar, said in Tehran on Wednesday that Iran was chosen to host the Asia-Pacific Center for Disaster Information Management (APDIM) because it faces lots of natural disasters.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Second Session of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) in Tehran, Shamshad Akhtar, tenth Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific said “given the fact that Iran is exposed to a lot of natural disasters and its good capabilities, we decided to set up a center to meet the needs of the region in dealing with natural disasters.”

In response to Iran's role in advancing the goals of the APDIM, she added "natural disasters cross borders of the countries, so we need regional cooperation to confront them,” adding “Iran has abided by its political and financial commitments and ESCAP will also add expertise and knowledge in all aspects of natural disasters to what Iran provides in this regard.”

The Second Session of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) opened in Tehran on Tuesday, with Iran’s head of the Plan and Budget Organization Mohammad Bagher Nobakht's speech.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in its resolution 71/11 decided to establish the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) as a regional institution of the Commission. Elected members of the Governing Council for the period 2016-2019 comprise, along with the host country the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bangladesh; Cambodia; Macao, China; Nepal; Pakistan; the Philippines; Sri Lanka and Turkey.

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