The United Nations’ agency for humanitarian affairs is seeking greater collaboration with India on issues of emergency relief in the region, besides using the lessons learnt from India’s own experiences in the field of disaster management.

The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms Valerie Amos, has met a number of Indian officials, including the Home Secretary and representatives of India’s disaster management authorities to discuss the prospect of greater cooperation.

The first chief of the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to visit India, Ms Amos said India has been an important partner for the UN in the field of humanitarian work and the agency’s Asia Pacific office in Bangkok would do well to increase exchanges and cooperation with the country.

“Half the work of our regional office is in the realm of preparedness and we are striving to explore ways in which our regional office can work more closely with India on a range of issues,” Ms Amos told PTI here.

The meetings are also aimed at assessing the disaster preparedness of India. The UN official said she has already met representatives from the National Institute for Disaster Management and officials from SAARC’s Disaster Management Centre to explore options for greater regional coordination.

Her interactions in India include meetings with the Foreign Secretary, Ms Nirupama Rao, and officials of the National Disaster Management Authority.

“India has also done a lot of work having prepared for disasters and we would really like to work more with India on how we learn the lessons from that and how we learn to support the world out of some those lessons,” she said.

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