By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 30: A three-day regional capacity building training programme for academicians of Northeast on ‘Inspiring the Minds for Disaster Risk Reduction’, jointly organised by North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, and Indian Universities and Institutions Network on Disaster Risk Reduction (IUINDRR-NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), kicked off on Monday.
The training programme commenced with an inaugural programme at the auditorium of the Shillong Science Centre, NEHU Campus here that marked the culmination of intensive learning and collaboration.
In an era marked by growing environmental challenges and the increasing frequency of natural disasters, a collaborative effort to inspire and empower minds for disaster risk reduction has taken centre stage. The three-day training programme will focus on key considerations and raise awareness educating the public and encouraging community engagement in disaster risk reduction efforts. More than 60 delegates participated in the training programme from the Northeastern states including Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.
During the inaugural session, Head of GIDRR and Director of IUINDRR- NIDM, Prof Santosh Kumar, in his address, highlighted that disaster risk resilience is of paramount importance because it saves lives, protects communities and economies, and ensures that societies can recover and thrive in the face of disasters.
There are 216 institutions registered for IUINDRR, he added.
Chief guest of the programme, Vice-Chancellor of NEHU Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla, in his special address, advised the young researchers to interrogate critically about the developmental practices currently used in the North eastern hilly region and understand how they are impacting the society in long term.