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South Asia Marks 11th Anniversary of

Tsunami-2004?Tsunami Summit 2015
Hallmarks KAKHTAH Post-doc Multiversity
Repositories Across Asia.
In order to mark the solemn inscriptive commemorations of the Asian Tsunami of 2004, each
year on 26th of December, people from different walks of life along with thousands of the
survivors use to gather on the shorelines in the coastal zones of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,
Sumatra and Thailand. Moments of silence are observed at several places to mark the
moment !!!
UNISDR News Desk, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Asia, December 30, 2015
/PressReleasePing/ - An inter-regional, ten day summit has been organized by academicians
of SAARC region universities to mark the 11th anniversary of Tsunami. Led by Justice (R)
S.S. Paru, the summit ascribes resolutions of institutional significance concerning the disaster
risk reduction (DRR).

The Asian Tsunami of 2004 is considered to be the most devastating disaster of modern
history. It devastated almost 9 major oceanic sectors of Asia, leaving over 5 million people as
homeless, hundreds of thousands as displaced, and a toll rate exceeding 287,000.

The horrific, massive waves triggered by an earthquake of 9.1 magnitude (one of the historys
biggest tremors ), roared across the oceanic rim and rumbled along to hit more than a dozen
countries around the Indian ocean rim including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Thailand, and reached the East African zones of
Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.

Eradicating communities, devastating towns and cities and ruining the lands, the 2004s
Tsunami left billions of human eyes teared, hearts sorrowed and the nations mourned-marking one of the toughest moral tests for the rest of humanity- a hardest trial of human
solidarity, for the whole world.

Still, there remain numerous areas where the Tsunami victim populations have not recovered
their lives fully. And, notably, still there remain certain communities populated in the coastal
areas, prone to high risks of natural calamities.

In order to mark the solemn inscriptive commemorations

of the Asian Tsunami of 2004, each year on 26th of
December, people from different walks of life along with
thousands of the survivors use to gather on the
shorelines in the coastal zones of Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
India, Sumatra and Thailand.
Moments of silence are observed at several places to
mark the moment that set fixed the entire world in grief.

As the year 2015, categorically marks the last round-up for Hyogo Framework of Action, as
well as the conclusive year for the UN-MDGs, the observance got an extraordinary extended
significance.

Disasters can occur anywhere, anytime, at any location, to any society. The past few
decades have witnessed a significant increase in natural disasters. According to the UN
statistics, nearly 400-500 natural disasters and calamities take place annually.

The 2015s Summit of Asian Tsunami is intended to switch on and amplify the critical issues
of the UNs DRR-HFA, especially for the regions that are most prone to disasters. Instituting
the KAKHTAH DRR Multiversity is the first milestone towards the priority concerns of disasterprone regions, particularly in academic perspectives , says the summits official note on the
occasion.

The enormous observance also divulged a Post-doc Multiversity KAKHTAH, to be established

in Asia for higher research studies on disaster risk reduction.

Emergence of KAKHTAH DRR Multiversity:

Besides the utmost wreckage desolation, and unprecedented scale of destruction, Tsunami2004 brought forth a way to measure the real impact factor in terms of the actual on-ground
renderings conceded thereupon.

In 2006-7, an opinion poll was commissioned in hard-hit areas, in order to have the refugees,
the survivors and the victims their own say for-- who did what for them--- that brought some
meant-content for them in the aftermaths of the highest-observed devastating catastrophe of
the last two millennias recorded history of natural cataclysms.

The outcome of Tsunami Opinion Polls, coupled with inter-institutional and academic
consensus, evoked the unanimity in lieu of a historic resolution for instituting an ISDR
Multiversity, DRR repositories in Asian region and a scholarship medal named KASTAH,
that, at the instant has been renamed KAKHTAH for the same 2006s outcome.

The KAKHTAH multiversity is named after those who became responsible for bringing forth
some real difference during the hard test of human solidarity, through their meritorious
renderings. The multiversity is dedicated for DRR studies at post-doctoral level.

Title-Ovation of KAKHTAH Multiversity:

The revolutionary-edged KAKHTAH multiversity and scholarship medal gets its title-ovation
after the two individual entities and the two organizational bodies; 1- Kofi Annan - the former
UN secretary general, who paid prompt visits in far-remote affected areas with an aim to have
a first-hand knowledge of the ground situation. He himself prompted for the actual
circumstantial state-of-affairs, instead of relying on the executive summaries--rightly setting a
new custom and tradition in the hierarchical pyramids, 2- Helen Keller Intl- a US based
international organization that immediately incited the emergency humanitarian services in
Tsunamis Indonesias hardest-hit regions, saving the lives where needed right by the moment
of need, 3- Tzu-chi Foundation- a multi-regional NGO from Taiwan, having one of the largest
networks with representations and physical presence in almost all continents throughout the
world, whose volunteers remained on-board for over three years for long-term Tsunami relief
works, 4- Aurangzeb Hafi- an independent multi-disciplinary arch-researcher and
philanthropist from Pakistan, who foremostly conceptualized, directed, and almost singlehandedly kept-paced all major research projects concerning the disability related
constituencies and ivories during Tsunami. On account of disability inclusiveness trendsettings, Prof. Hafi can justly and righteously be credited for pioneering the cutting-edge
concepts of pre-birth multiple disabilities risk assessment, embryonic toxicity and teratogenic
proneness factor analysis among pregnant women and the disability+pregnancy inclusive
special protocols in cataclysmic emergencies and DRR modus of executional frameworks.

For more details: http://unesco-isdr-asia.org/kakhtah-multiversity-drr-digital-repository/

The historic, new-fangled KAKHTAH multiversity medal escorted with a 2.7 Million GBP
scholarship is proclaimed to be bestowed into 1900 global academic ivories, on a biennial
basis, for estimable post-doctoral research works in the areas of disaster management,
catastrophic policy lay-outs, cataclysmic forecasting and calamity prevention methodologies.

The seven members conferring jury for KAKHTAH scholarship medal, that includes national
and regional academic celebrities, is chaired by Justice(R) S.S. Paru, L.L.D., D.Litt., from
Indonesia. Sri Lankas ombudsman Dr. Wickrema Weerasooria, who had been Sri Lankan
High Commissioner in New Zealand and Australia, has been designated for serving as the
senior assessor of jury. Dr. Faisar N.M., Dr. E.M. Navaratne and Dr. Alex Jayawardene are
also adherent-members.

A selection slate named Tsunami Slate of Merit was made with the view to reckon-surmise
the real on-ground impact factor of different institutional entities, relief projects and
individuals with reference to Tsunami.

The selection slate draped a summing-up of 17 out-scored projects and 21 organizations.

Amongst them are, the Oxfam, Save the Children, SOS, Rotary International, MAVSO Intl,
Peak Freans-English Biscuits Manufacturers Ltd., Shadow Intl., and some regional and local
organizations.

A laurel of distinction Tsunamis Dame of Merit has been bequeathed on Dr. Bareera N. B., a
Pakistani anthropologist, who rendered her services for Tsunami affected women, and came
forward to accomplish EBMs mission of food-supplements provisions in Tsunami refugees
camps to address the mal-nutrition in babies as well as women. A scroll of gratitude has been
given to the Pakistani anthropologist for her services in Tsunami relief works.

Famous River Kawais bridge has been renamed as KAKHTAH-Tsunami Bridge to mark the
significance of DRR efforts in Tsunamis and other natural disasters.

A resolution has been unanimously passed by academicians from all major universities
belonging to the Tsunami-hit costal belt of Asia, which acclaims to establish KAKHTAH Postdoc Multiversity DRR Repositories across the region, along with a post-doc scholarship for

DRR studies under the UN-HFA and Post-HFA ISDR.

In several universities within the SAARC and ASEAN regions, a number of KAKHTAH
Disaster Forecasting Centers and KAKHTAH DRR Repositories are decided to be instituted
with a vision of cross-boundary and cross-disciplinary integration for disaster preparedness.

UNESCO chair at Punjab University becomes the first to establish the KAKHTAH repository in
Pakistan, for disaster forecasting and preparedness, affirm the VC Prof. Dr. Mujahid Kamran
and Dr. Khalida M. Khan, holder of the UNESCO and DESIMGOW research moderator chair
at PU.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlstrm said: It should
be remembered that the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami galvanised political commitment to
reducing disaster risk and disaster losses. The memory of that event helped to ensure the
adoption of the Sendai Framework this year which sets targets for the first time on reducing
mortality from disasters.

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news/v.php?id=47157&pid:50

Principal investigator of SAIRI Research Initiative, Prof. Dr. Aurangzeb Hafi emphasized on
disability-inclusive and pregnancy-inclusive protocols in disasters management policy
frameworks. Prof. Hafi is credited for pioneering the cutting-edge concepts of pre-birth
multiple disabilities risk assessment, embryonic toxicity and teratogenic proneness factor
analysis among pregnant women during Tsunami 2004, along with his fabled DESPO
appraisals on disability+pregnancy inclusive special protocols in cataclysmic emergencies and
DRR modus of pre-disastrous as well as post-disastrous phases.

Consisting of 23 formal academic sessions, and 9 high-level round the table panel
discussions, the 2015 Summit of Asian Tsunami is scheduled to be concluded by the
UNISDR-SAARC conjoint institutional stretch-term by 1/10/2016.

The 2015s Tsunami Summit contributed for the major reforms and thematic parts of the PostHFA ISDR.

To mark the 11th observance, a website www.asiantsunami.org has been dedicated for

catering the information needs of public as well as the academia, concerning the tsunamis.

Recommendations:

Recommendations of KAKHTAH UN-DRR Initiative are made to the governments and other
quarters of relevance, on strategic as well as thematic issues, which include; early warning
system, emergency action plans, disaster preparedness with a major emphasis on marginal
groups (especially the disabled, the children, the pregnant women and the older persons)
inclusive schema-protocols.

References & Further Readings:

http://unesco-isdr-asia.org/kakhtah-multiversity-drr-digital-repository/
http://www.disabled-world.com/news/asia/tsunami-2004.php
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. Alex Jayawardene
Tsunami Decade Summit
+64 221260299
info@unesco-isdr-asia.org
www.unesco-isdr-asia.org
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