From Tuesday 10th to Thursday 12th May 2016, PIROI organised its 10th Annual Coordination Meeting in Reunion Island for natural disaster risk management (DRM) officers. Representatives of PIROI-member National Societies, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were invited for the occasion.
From Tuesday 10th to Thursday 12th May 2016, PIROI organised its 10th Annual Coordination Meeting in Reunion Island for natural disaster risk management (DRM) officers. Representatives of PIROI-member National Societies, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were invited for the occasion.
The General Secretaries and disaster risk management officers of the National Societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and Tanzania all accepted PIROI’s invitation. The Regional Disaster Risk Management Coordinator, Malika Ogwang, represented the IFRC, while the ICRC was represented by Angelo Botolahy, Cooperation Department Manager in Madagascar, and by Christoph Vogt, for whom, after 4 years as the ICRC Head of Regional Delegation, it was the occasion to say farewell to National Society members from the south-west Indian Ocean.
Over the course of three days PIROI members reviewed their National Society’s activities since the last workshop, held in May 2015. This experience sharing gave them the opportunity to discuss lessons learnt from activities implemented in their country, as well as each NS’s outlook in terms of future natural and health disaster risk management.
The workshop also allowed partners to discuss new programme perspectives, and especially progress in studying the establishment of the Regional Centre for expertise, training and innovation dedicated to risk management and climate change in the Indian Ocean (the PIROI Centre). PIROI members were able to express their priorities regarding this project, and share their suggestions concerning the future directions the Centre should be given.
On the workshop’s final day the National Societies were able to formulate and submit to PIROI a project proposal for the 2016-2017 regional programme. At the end of their work session several disaster risk reduction projects (using awareness-raising techniques) were proposed in Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros; disaster preparedness and response projects were also presented for Madagascar, Comoros and Tanzania. In addition a logistics capacity building project in Mozambique is under consideration. As part of its mandate to build the capacity of NS members PIROI will carefully study project proposals, which will then be finalised over the coming weeks; several will undoubtedly be implemented.