China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations’ migration agency, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to promote collaboration and mutual assistance on disaster risk reduction and emergency response worldwide.
The MoC was signed in Beijing by Ministry of Emergency Management Vice Minister Shang Yong and IOM Director General António Vitorino on the occasion of his first official visit to China.
The document will foster an exchange of knowledge and expertise between IOM and the Ministry. This will include the sharing of relevant standards and guidelines for emergency response operations and coordination, as well as exchanges of experience in helping disaster-affected populations.
Under the MoC, IOM will also support the Ministry in promoting the establishment of a Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management.
This is a first step towards cooperation and trilateral collaboration to improve the disaster risk reduction and emergency management capacities of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
IOM Director General António Vitorino said: “IOM welcomes the opportunity to engage in this important and timely initiative with China. This document ushers in a new era of cooperation between IOM and China at a time when more people than ever before are being displaced by natural disasters and environmental change.”
IOM, which became a related agency of the United Nations in 2016, has extensive global experience and expertise in assisting governments and affected populations to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, and in building resilience.
Original source: IOM
Published on 31 May 2019
