On Thursday, 5 October 2023, Ambassador Azhar attended the Opening Ceremony of Training Workshop on "Disaster Management & Climate Change Adaptation organized by Akhtar Hameed Khan (AHK) National Centre for Rural Development, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad from 4 - 10 October 2023. It was inaugurated by Brig. (Retd) Fayaz Hussain Shah, former Director General of National Institute of Disaster Management.
Present at the ceremony were members of diplomatic corps in Islamabad, international participants from 7 Asian and African member countries of African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) which include, Jordan, Oman, Malaysia, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen as well as Pakistan. Mr. Mohd Nizam Bin Mokhtar, Director, State Development Office of Kedah, Perlis and Penang, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development and Ms. Norasniza Binti Hamzah, Town & Country Planner, Department of Town and Country Planning, Eastern Zone Project Office, Kelantan represented Malaysia at the workshop.
The purpose of the workshop was to share experiences and build capacity of the participants from AARDO's member states on the issues related to disaster management and climate change adaptation. The module covered various types of disasters and their impacts on environment, economy and people; mitigation techniques for disaster risk reduction and management; raise awareness and amplify discourse on factors contributing to climate change, its adverse impact and possible solutions; and provide a forum for sharing of experiences and strategies with regard to disaster management and climate change adaptation.
