Crisis & Emergency Management Conference 2014

27 January 2014 News

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hazaa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, NCEMA will hold the “Crisis & Emergency Management Conference 2014” on February 25-26th, 2014 under the title “Preparedness & Response is Everyone’s Responsibility: Vigilant Community”.

It is the fourth edition of this conference which initially was held in 2008, as an initiative that had no precedence, neither locally nor regionally.

H.E Mohamed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, General Director of NCEMA qualified the kind patronage of this conference by HH Sheikh Hazaa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a confirmation of UAE Leadership’s attention to the issues related to the management of emergencies, crises and disasters, be they natural or manmade and its keenness to address them with the highest degree of competence and professionalism for the sake of securing lives and gains.

HE. Al Rumaithi explained in a speech delivered on his behalf by Dr. Jamal Mohamed Al Hosani, Director of Technology and Communication at NCEMA, that the aim of this conference is to promote emergency, crisis and disaster management in the UAE in particular, and in the region in general, to reach an optimal level guaranteeing more rigorous and feasible preparedness and an effective response to any kind of emergencies or crises. This is deemed achievable through optimal learning from international experiences and practices, by using all available resources and modern technologies, as well as by developing methods, frameworks, and processes to ensure the promotion of the areas of coordination and collaboration with concerned entities at the local, regional and international levels.

HE. Al Rumaithi noted that the makeup of the conference’s next edition will be five sessions that will focus on five keynotes, namely: preventive prediction, role of media in raising awareness about emergencies, disasters and community, first responder, climate phenomena, and natural disasters and risks management. These keynotes will be discussed by 20 experts, academics and specialists from the UAE, GCC and other Arab countries, in addition to others from Australia, USA, UK, Italy, Japan and the United Nations.

HE. Al Rumaithi further pointed out that the community’s vigilance remains the focal point of all the efforts deployed by everyone else. It is a scientific process based on continuous knowledge consolidation and fine-tuning through awareness raising, training and benefiting from others’ experiences.

HE. Al Rumaithi noted that a vigilant community ready to face all types of emergencies and crises is our target. It is the corner stone for the success of any program, plan and strategy, and without it most capacities, resources and energies are deemed vain and useless.

The first session in this Conference’s fourth edition will be titled “Preventive Prediction not Improvised Countering”. It will discuss the different approaches to develop the national capabilities on how to address, ensure resilience, and maintain business continuity during emergencies and disasters.

The second session will be held under the title “Media versus Emergencies and Disasters Management”. It will focus on the role of media in raising the community awareness, devising a media strategy and handling the media during emergencies, crises and disasters.

The third session will discuss the topic of the community as a first responder. It will focus on the role of Civil Defense, Red Crescent and volunteers in responding to crises and disasters. The fourth session will touch upon climate phenomena and natural disasters, how to address earthquakes, floods, and mitigate their effects, as well as climate phenomena’s roles during disasters.

The fifth session will focus on “Risk Management”, particularly the industrial and nuclear ones. During this session, the UN Report on Disaster Risk Mitigation will be presented and for the first time”.

It is worth noting that NCEMA was first established by a Decree issued by HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The President of the UAE (May God keep him) on May 14th, 2007, and by the Decree Law No. (2) of 2011 dated June 19th, 2011 which established NCEMA within the structure of the Higher Council of National Security for the sake of protecting the lives of UAE citizens and expats and safeguard its properties and gains.

NCEMA aims at achieving the UAE policy in relation to the procedures required for managing emergencies, crises and disasters. Therefore, NCEMA’s role is to participate, in coordination and cooperation with concerned entities in the UAE, in devising and coordinating strategic plans for managing emergencies, crises and disasters; devising response plans and taking the appropriate measures for implementing them; overseeing the development of response plans by recommending and coordinating programs between concerned entities; opening a risk and threat log at the local and national level and updating them regularly.

Further, NCEMA has for responsibility to manage emergencies, crises and disasters; coordinate the roles of concerned entities during emergencies, crises and disasters; participate in the coordination of contingency plans for the critical infrastructure in the UAE and follow up their implementation; participate in proposing, developing policies and standards for vocational and organizational safety and security as well as the business continuity plans and standards; participate in setting up the standards to assess emergencies, crises and disasters management procedures; conduct the necessary scientific studies and researches by establishing a center for information and resources related to emergencies, crises and disasters, predict their occurrence and how to handle them; participate in developing, coordinating and implementing exercises related to emergencies, crises and disasters management, and follow up their implementation; propose the laws and regulations governing the management of emergencies, crises and disasters and identify NCEMA’s relations with concerned entities.