1st global meeting to prepare for large disasters held in Kobe+

KOBE, Sept. 15 Kyodo -
The first global meeting of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group,
a network of disaster response experts under the U.N. umbrella, was held
Wednesday in the western Japan city of Kobe to help strengthen their
preparedness against large-scale disasters.
The three-day INSARAG meeting had more than 200 participants from about 80
countries, while the group usually organizes meetings at the level of its three
regional groups for Africa and Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and the Americas,
according to the group.
But the latest annual meeting's co-hosts including the Japanese Foreign
Ministry have opted to hold a global meeting in the city in Hyogo Prefecture
which was once flattened by the Great Hanshin Earthquake of Jan. 17, 1995, that
killed 6,434 people.
The participants include those from Haiti and Indonesia, which recently
experienced major earthquakes that trapped many victims alive, organizers said.
==Kyodo
2010-09-15 23:17:06