A DISASTER management planning meeting organised by the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was held from August 24 to 26 at Traders Hotel in Yangon.

“MRCS works at the service of the government so we must consider how we can better shape the role we play in the country,” Dr Tha Hla Shwe, the president of MRCS, said at the opening ceremony. “This meeting will help us determine how we can cooperate with other organisations and how we will respond on the event of a disaster.”

The meeting was attended by representatives from 12 government departments involved in disaster preparedness, such as the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, as well as from state and division Red Cross supervisory committees.

U Zaw Htoo Oo, the program officer of the MRCS Disaster Management Division, said another meeting will be held in late November to further discuss disaster preparedness, followed by a third meeting whose date has not yet been set.

“After the third meeting we will develop a definitive plan for disaster management,” he said.