ASDMA convened workshop on climate change and role of media on its Foundation Day
Guwahati,Rongili Barta: On the occasion of its foundation day, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) organized a day long workshop on “Climate Change and Role of Media” in Guwahati today. The inaugural ceremony of the workshop was graced by Shri Keshab Mahanta, Hon’ble Minister of Revenue & Disaster Manage Department, Govt. of Assam, Dr. Samudra Gupta Kashyap, Chancellor, Nagaland University and Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, Wildlife Biologist as guest of honours and Dr. Madhulika Jonathan as special guest.
Prior to this workshop of foundation day, ASDMA convened a line of outcome based events starting from face to face conversation with the local media and discussion with the state and national level climate and media activists which would give a perception to the Authority to sensitise its various stakeholders.
On this behalf, ASDMA collaborated with the Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University and conducted a series of programmes like Editorial meet on climate realities, climate and disaster perspective film festival, discussing workshop on climate and disaster perspective with knowledge institutions, sensitization on climate and disaster outlook through online competition on documentary, short films, reels, jingle, photography etc. The community radio programmes through various community radio channels of the State was also launched today on disaster perspective to create the awareness in community level.
Today, 2 technical sessions were conducted i.e. “Climate Change Realities: from Perception to Action” and “Climate Change Advocacy: Strategy design & Media engagement” which was participated by the panellists like Dr Surbhi Dahiya, IIMC, New Delhi, Smt. Mubina Akhtar, Climate Activists, Prof. Arup Kr Sarma, IITG, Shri Rituraj Phukan, Climate Activists, Assam, Prof Santonu Goswami, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, Shri Anup Sharma, Digital Media Specialist, New Delhi, Dr Chandan Kr Goswami, Gauhati University and Dr Bharati Bharali, Gauhati University as Moderators. Further, Anand P Kanoo from UNICEF also presented on complementarities between DRR & CCA in the context of Assam.
ASDMA was established in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and adopted by the Government of Assam in December 2006, as notified in the Official Gazette. The chief minister of the State Government as the chairperson and minister, revenue and DM department as its vice chairperson, the Secretariat of the ASDMA became full functional since 2009. Since then, ASDMA plays a crucial role in disaster management in Assam, and its employees work together to mitigate and respond to disasters in the state.
ASDMA initiated this workshop and the events as an introductory exercise for journalists and field officials aiming to increase understanding of key concepts around disaster risk reduction and resilience and the links between DRR, climate change, poverty, environment degradation and sustainable development; understanding of the global policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and sustainable development and their interconnectedness; awareness of the role of the media in effective, positive and solutions-oriented communication around disaster risk reduction and resilience; understanding of key components and objectives of DRR stories and themes, drawing from real-life case studies and examples.
In his address to the participants, Mahanta welcomed all the attendees and also requested them to participate in the workshop to discuss the crucial matters related to the climate change realities reporting and role of media in sensitizing the general people on it. It would also help the government to receive the shortcomings and rectify on it.
The programme was also attended by Gyanendra D Tripathi, IAS, Chief Executive Officer, ASDMA, District PROs of the State, representative of the media houses of print, electronic and digital media, district project officers and seniors officials of revenue and disaster management department.