Colombo (News 1st): A team of high-level experts in disaster risk management representing countries of the Asia Pacific arrived at The Capital Maharaja Organisation today (April 9).

The team was led by the Country President of Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD) in Sri Lanka, Firzan Hashim.

The delegation was welcomed and were introduced to the flagship ‘Sahana Yathra’ initiative, which has, over the past decade, acted as a catalyst in collection and distribution of relief items during times of natural disaster such as floods, landslides, and droughts in Sri Lanka, and propagated the importance of disaster risk reduction and resilience.

A discussion was held on how this model could be replicated in other A-PAD countries, whereby media acts as the pivotal connecting point between government agencies, and those affected by the disaster – in order to expedite relief efforts, by adopting a multi-stakeholder approach.

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