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At the end of the conference, a number of recommendations were issued to include:The set up of a unified Gulf System to manage emergencies, crisis and disasters, develop unified strategies and plans, in addition to methods of standardized training and organization of joint exercise using similar tools to face any crisis or disaster that might occur in any government in the region, thus exchanging expertise in confronting crisis and disasters. The importance of the civil society institutions' participation to include NGO's and educational institutions in all strategies and plans related to emergency, crisis and disasters. The need to deal with members of the community with full transparency and honesty on all levels to include all kinds of cultures during emergency, crisis and disasters. The second day of the conference started with a keynote speech delivered by Dr. Abdulaziz Yusuf Hamza, Chairman of the GCC Emergency Management Centre followed by two plenary sessions. Dr. Hamza stressed on the importance of preparing plans to deal with the challenges faced by countries in the region, notably the Arab-Israeli conflict, the spread of nuclear weapons, the conflict for control of the vital waterways, the scarcity of food and water, technological war and other related challenges. First Plenary Session: Crisis Management Coordination and CooperationThe First Plenary Session featured four speakers. AmjadA bashar, Head of the Regional Office for Arab States at the united Nations International Strategy for Disaster reduction, examined "Hyogo framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters." Abashar asserted that: "Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) aims to reduce the damage caused by natural hazards like earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones, through an ethic of prevention." He added: "Disasters caused by vulnerability to natural hazards kill more people in developing than in developed countries, and disaster-related economic losses, measured against a country's wealth are much larger in poor countries."Kyung-Soo Han, Vice President and Head of Emergency Management office of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, gave a presentation entitled: "Crisis Management of Korea's Nuclear Power Plants." Han briefed about the crisis and disaster type, the emergency response system, nuclear security post-Fukushima crisis management and Korea's effort to enhance nuclear security stating: "Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will be held on March 26-27, 2012 where 200 participants at CEO level will be present. The summit will treat the role of nuclear industry to enhance nuclear security and safety and the international collaboration to strengthen security on nuclear information."Ahmed Awad Al Katheri, Head of Prevention Section at NCEMA, had a lecture on "The role of Numerical Models in Predicting Natural and Nuclear Disasters." Al Katheri stated: "A huge amount of money and tremendous efforts is exerted by the global community to increase the global awareness and preparedness. The objectives of the numerical modeling roles in crisis management are to spotlight on the vital positive impacts that scientific modeling could have in crisis management through monitoring, predicting, etc. and to point out the difficulties facing the modeling researches throughout the region."The final speaker of the first plenary session, Captain Ramiro Galvez, Station Commander at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and member at the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), United States. Captain Galvez briefed on "The effective urban search & rescue-capitalizing on interoperable GIS technology." He stated: "Urban & Rescue is the process of locating, extricating and providing medical treatment to victims trapped as a result of structural collapses and other natural accidental or man-made catastrophes." Galvez added: "Among the remaining challenges is the use of standard language to define urban area searches following catastrophic disasters, in addition to the use of technological equipment to better collect, collate and share information gathered from search teams."Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2012.
