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Jaffna’s District Secretary and the International Symposium’s Chief Guest V. Vethanayaham addressing the gathering
Others from: Chamber of Commerce and Industries Yalpanam Chairman V. Vignesh, A-PAD Sri Lanka National Representative Jeevan Thiagarajah, CHA Executive Director and Disaster Management Centre Director Major General L. B. R. Mark, Japan’s Deputy Head of Mission to Sri Lanka Minister Okai Asako, Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Chairperson and A-PAD Management and advisory board member of the Indonesia National platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Faisal Djalal and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Senior Assistant Secretary General Chandrarathna Vithanage
The international symposium ‘Public-Private Partnership Towards Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development’, organised by the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD) was held in Jaffna on 5 October.
Over 150 delegates participating from Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines alongside participants from Sri Lanka’s private sector.
Chief Guest at the event was Jaffna’s District Secretary V. Vethanyagam and the Disaster Management Centre’s Director General Major General L. B. R. Mark was the guest of honour. Among other guests were Japan’s Deputy Head of Mission to Sri Lanka Minister Okai Asako, A-PAD Management Chairperson and advisory board member of the Indonesia National platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Faisal Djalal, Chamber of Commerce and Yalpanam Industries Chairman V. K. Vignesh.
The event’s main focus was in creating disaster resilient communities and promoting better public-private partnerships. The event was held in Jaffna this year as a precursor to encouraging disaster resilient businesses in the district.
A-PAD Sri Lanka National Representative and CHA Executive Director Jeewan Thiagarajah made the welcome address. The participating delegates discussed and shared important information and experiences during the panel discussion where topics such as multi-sector collaboration for disaster resilience which included experiences from disaster management development in Japan and dealing with issues of equity from the Philippines.
Winners of the A-PAD Sri Lanka Photography, Cartoon Drawing and Essay Writing Competition received awards at the conclusion of the symposium. The half-day event was organised by A-PAD Sri Lanka with the collaboration of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies.