Senior government officials from Central and South Asia will meet to discuss cooperative efforts for regional disaster
preparedness at a conference here Sept. 12-14, 2006.

The Conference on Disaster Preparedness in Central and South Asia, co-organized by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and U.S. Central Command, will provide a forum for approximately 50 participants to examine the importance and benefits of cooperative regional efforts, such as the establishment of a Regional Cooperation Center for Disaster Preparedness. Participants will focus on practical outcomes, including reaching ministerial consensus for creating a regional disaster preparedness coordination mechanism and developing the structure and framework for a disaster preparedness working group to guide the way ahead.

The conference will feature plenary sessions and open discussions on topics including lessons learned from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the responses of international organizations to recent disasters, followed by working group sessions. Participants include representatives from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, the Eurpean Union, the United Nations, NATO, the U.S. European Command, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development - Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The conference will be conducted in English, Russian and Dari.