ESSO - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

  Vice-Chair of ICG/IOTWMS

The IOC-UNESCO Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) held its thirteenth session in Bali, Indonesia during 28 November to 1 December 2022.

The meeting was held in hybrid format (in-person and online) and was attended by 54 delegates from 17 Member States in the Indian Ocean region (Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates), 4 staff from United Nations agencies (including 3 from UNESCO and 1 from UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)),and 10 observers from 5 countries (Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Iran and Oman).
Some of the key outcomes of the session included:
■ Focused efforts on supporting the UN Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme goal of 100% of at-risk communities resilient and prepared for tsunamis;
■ Extension of Tsunami Service Provider (TSP) and national efforts to help warn and respond to tsunamis generated by non-seismic and complex sources; and
■ Organisation of a symposium in 2024 for the 20th Commemoration of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004.

The ICG elected officers for the next intersessional period :
(i) Shri. E. Pattabhi Rama Rao from INCOIS (India) has been re-elected as a Vice-Chair of ICG/IOTWMS for the second term.
(ii) Mr. J. Padmanabham from INCOIS is nominated as a Vice-Chair of Working Group 2 on Tsunami Detection, Warning and Dissemination.
(iii) Mr. B. Ajay Kumar from INCOIS is nominated as a Vice-Chair of Working Group 3 on Tsunami Ready Implementation.
(iv) Ms. M V Sunanda from INCOIS is nominated as a vice-chair of the Sub-Regional Working Group for the North-West Indian Ocean for the second term.