The sixth session of the Governing Council of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management was held online on 8 February 2022. The Council addressed the programmatic and technical activities and the administrative and financial issues of the Centre.

The Council acknowledged the report on the activities of the Centre since its fifth session and expressed its satisfaction with the progress made in the implementation of the programme of work of the Centre. The Council endorsed the Centre’s revised programme of work 2021–2022.

The Council expressed its deep appreciation to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting the Centre and providing generous financial and in-kind contributions to the Centre. The Council further expressed its thanks and appreciation to the governments of Cambodia and Macao, China, for providing financial contributions to the Centre.

The Council encouraged the Government of the host country, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to continue providing its valuable support to the Centre. The Council further encouraged the members and associate members of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to mobilize financial and/or in-kind support for the Centre and to take an active role in the delivery of the Centre’s programme of work.

The Council endorsed the draft elements for a regional plan of action on sand and dust storms and recommended further consultations with ESCAP member States with a view to submitting the draft regional plan of action to the Commission at its seventy-eighth session, in May 2022, for its consideration and endorsement.

The Council elected Cambodia as its Chair and Turkey as its Vice-Chair until its next regular session. The Council endorsed, with appreciation, the offer made by the Government of Turkey to host its seventh session.