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(i) In November 2005, the Communiqué of the Malta Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting included two paragraphs addressing Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Assistance. Point 75 calls for “action to strengthen disaster management through increased capacity for disaster preparedness, early warning systems, risk management and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction”.
(ii) In implementing this mandate a number of areas that require greater focus have been identified. These includes: 1) Development of knowledge base for Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management; 2) Capacity building at regional level on disaster management and 3)Providing technical support through CSAP volunteers in disaster management.
(iii) In Africa, this has been implemented through a range of activities, including capacity building workshops covering specific aspects of disaster management in the Africa regions and deployment of technical experts to to advise member Government on DRR strategies.
(iv) During 2008/09 a regional conference was held that examined how DRR &DM can better be mainstremed in development programming. A subsequent national workshop was supported in Uganda and a scoping study supported for Kenya. During the 2009 CHOGM in Trinidad, the Heads reaffirmed their commitment to supporting disaster risk reduction efforts.