South Asia unites on early warning and climate resilience at Colombo Dialogue
COLOMBO – The South Asian Policy Dialogue 2025 on Early Warning and Anticipatory Action for Accelerating Risk Mitigation, which brought together leading regional and local experts in disaster risk reduction and climate resilience, concluded on a high note in Colombo on August 28.
Organized annually by the Duryog Nivaran Network, the dialogue serves as a platform to address critical issues related to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate resilience at both local and global levels.
Delivering a keynote address, Dr Niranga Alahacoon, Researcher and Remote Sensing and Disaster Risk Specialist of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), elaborated on linking technology and Artificial Intelligence with decision-making in disaster mitigation and early warning efforts. He detailed how data-driven approaches can be integrated into decision-making processes, citing practical case studies.
“Climate change intensifies the disaster risks while urbanization increases the exposure,” Dr Alahacoon observed, underscoring the role of data collection and monitoring in disaster risk management and early warning.
Emphasizing that capacity building should not be confined only to government officials, he said it must reach the community level. “That’s how people are going to evaluate the accuracy of the information given by the institution. This is how the data should be taken into anticipatory actions,” he said, highlighting the importance of establishing a data ecosystem and data generation.
Major General (Retd.) Sampath Kotuwegoda, Director General of the Disaster Management Centre, also addressed the gathering, sharing insights on Sri Lanka’s disaster preparedness and response.
In his welcome remarks, Achyut Liutel, Chairperson, Duryog Nivaran Network, noted that the present challenge is to ensure that early warning systems are inclusive, people-centred, and actionable.
An interactive panel discussion was held with the participation of Mihir Bhatt, Director, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, Hasina Rahman, Country Director IRC Bangladesh and Takeshi Komino , Chair, ADRRN. The panel discussion was moderated by Karin Fernando, Steering Committee Member of Duryog Nivaran.
Additional expertise came via online interventions from Dr Jothiganesh Sundaram, Technical Lead for Climate and Weather-Related Risks at WFP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific; Ryce Ruangkhao Chanchai, Gender Advisor at UNDRR; and Srijana Parajuli, Program Manager at Nepal’s DWRF, who shared lessons learned and best practices from across the region.
The South Asian Policy Dialogue concluded with reflections from Kriangkrai Thitimakorn, Senior Program Officer (Environment and Climate Change), Development Cooperation Section, Embassy of Sweden in Thailand, who underlined the importance of regional collaboration and sustained investment in early warning and anticipatory action.
DMC DG Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sampath Kotuwegoda addressing the gathering DN Chairperson Achyut Liutel welcoming guests During the interactive discussion with the audience The panel discussion
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