Indonesian tsunami: Director-General convenes the Task force on prevention of natural disasters: UNESCO

Task force on prevention of natural disasters: UNESCO:

"As risk prevention is a major priority, the sciences sector will examine, in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the possibility of extending to the Indian Ocean the Tsunami Warning System established in the Pacific by the International Coordination Group. The system, created by the IOC in 1968, includes 26 Member States. As the expertise acquired in the Pacific can be usefully applied to the Indian Ocean, Mr. Matsuura has decided to bring up the question at international conferences upcoming in January in Mauritius and Kobe (Japan). The sciences sector will also work with the education sector to set up programmes in natural disaster prevention and sustainable development.

"The information and communications sector, relying on its experience in establishing community radios, will study the necessary means for participating, on one hand, in setting up a natural disaster warning system that will effectively alert populations, and on the other, providing support for distance education programmes for displaced people. "