I am pleased to present the APDIM Biennial Report 2021-2022. The report outlines APDIM’s key results and achievements over the past two years mapped against APDIM’s Multi-year Strategic Programme of Work and the Biennium Programme of Work 2021-2022.

In the period under review, APDIM took important steps toward promoting disaster risk knowledge and information management and facilitating regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, including producing in 2021 the first regional risk assessment of the impact of sand and dust storms in Asia and the Pacific. Through a complex consultative process, involving member states, United Nations agencies and the scientific community, APDIM also facilitated the development, and subsequent endorsement by the ESCAP Commission in May 2022, of a Regional Plan of Action on Sand and Dust Storms in Asia and the Pacific. The Plan of Action was largely based on the findings of the Risk Assessment report and as such, provided a unique opportunity for countries to agree on a series of evidence-based recommendations.

As this Report details, APDIM efforts in the past biennium also included the development and dissemination of tools and methodologies to enhance disaster risk information management, as well as the provision of technical assistance, emergency, and capacity development support to member States. We also actively engaged in promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among countries and stakeholders by contributing to several regional and international events.

As we move forward, we recognize the importance of continued collaboration and partnership to achieve our shared vision of building disaster-resilient communities and contributing to sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. We remain committed to working closely with member States and partners to enhance disaster information management and strengthen disaster risk reduction efforts across the region.

We are grateful to our host country, the Islamic Republic of Iran, for its commitment to support APDIM’s mission and work. We hope that looking ahead, APDIM will be able to achieve its full potential as envisioned in its Multi-year Strategic Programme of Work 2021-2030.

I take this opportunity to also express my sincere gratitude to our Governing Council, all ESCAP member States and our partners for sharing our vision and extending their support to our work. My thanks must also go to the APDIM staff in Tehran and our ESCAP colleagues in Bangkok, whose guidance and support are crucial to achieving our mission.

Letizia Rossano
Director
Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific