16 November 2009, Jakarta -- The very first Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Disaster Management officially opened in Cibubur Scout Complex in Jakarta today which will run until 19th November 2009.

Asia-Pacific Region lies in the "Ring of Fire」 which continuously hit several natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami.
To better understand the role of Scouts and what they can do in the time of difficulties, the World Scout Bureau/Asia-Pacific Region organized this workshop to give Scouts a technical know-how on disaster management.

Present at the opening was the Minister of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia, Tifatul Sembiring who officially declared the workshop open.

In his opening remarks, Regional Director Abdullah Rasheed, elaborated that the act of kindness and bravery of Scouts who rush to the site only show what Scouts can really do. He added that the very meaning of the mission of Scouting can be felt when it is communicated through its contribution to community.

The workshop, hosted by Gerakan Pramuka, had 46 participants including 26 overseas participants Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Present at the workshop were Regional Scout Committee member and Gerakan Pramuka Chief Commissioner Dr Azrul Azwar; past Management Sub Committee Vice-Chairman Mari Nakano, Scouting Profile Sub-Committee member Berthold Sinaulan, Adult Support Sub-Committee member Alfian Amura and Mohd Hafiz bin Ariffin and Ari Wijanarko Adipratomo from the present Young Adult Members group. Joining these people who are also serving as resource speakers and facilitators are Hiroshi Iwasaki (Japan) and Jamal Abdullah (Malaysia) who are working together with local resource speakers from the government and non-government organizations in Indonesia.

Coordination work is handled by the regional office represented by Director S Prassanna.

-- Berthold Sinaulan, APR Honorary Correspondent (Gerakan Pramuka, INDONESIA)