The annual working plan of RCECWA was approved in its first Governing Board meeting

The First Governing Board Meeting of the “Regional Education and Research Center on Earthquake Risk Management and Resilience for West and Central Asia (RCECWA)”, as the Category 2 Center under the auspices of UNESCO was held at the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) on Tuesday July 4, 2023. This Center was established based on the proposal of IIEES in 2016 and the approval of the 40th UNESCO General Conference (Paris) in 2019. On January 2023, the Islamic Republic Parliament has also ratified the law of establishment of the Center. In this meeting, the working plan of the Center was discussed and some guidance in this regard were mentioned by the members of Governing Board..

Prof. Baziar, President of IIEES, had a welcome short speech and introduced the Governing Board members of the Center. He also explained the main areas of supports of IIEES to the Center.

Then, Ms. El-Khoury, director of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office stated that the Center can provide important assistance to the countries located in Center and West Asia as well as other parts of the world. She also introduced some joint activities between IIEES and UNESCO during the recent years.

The next speaker was Mr. Yasukawa, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Unit of UNESCO. He defined the important roles and responsibilities of the center for the region, as the first Category II center on earthquake risk management and resilience under auspices of UNESCO.

Then, Dr. Amini Hosseini, Director of the Center presented the main tentative working plan of the Center for 2023, according to the Agreement signed between I.R. Iran and UNESCO. The following items were discussed and approved:

1- Following up the membership of the countries in the Center;
2- Establishment of four committees for different tasks of the Center (including Technical, Training and Education, Networking and Communication, and Administrative committees);
3- The main projects and training programs of the Center in 2023 and developing more detail of future plans;
4- Estimated budget of the Center for the year 2023.