Indian Ocean region works towards Tsunami Readiness on the occasion of World Tsunami Awareness Day 2022

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready Hybrid Workshop was held in Bali, Indonesia during 22 to 26 November 2022 in commemoration of World Tsunami Awareness Day 2022.

Photo: School tsunami evacuation drill in Tanjung Banoa, Bali, Indonesia on 25 November 2022.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready Hybrid Workshop was hosted by Indonesia’s Agency of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics and organised by the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Center and the ICG/IOTWMS Secretariat. Funding to support the workshop was provided by Government of Republic of Indonesia, Government of Australia, and UNESCAP. The workshop was attended by 8 representatives of 2 United Nations agencies and 270 participants (90 in-person and 180 online) from 29 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor Leste, United Arab Emirates and the United States. 

The aim of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready Workshop was to invite, encourage and support Member States of the UNESCO-IOC Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) to implement the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme (TRRP), which contributes towards the UN Ocean Decade goal of 100% of communities at risk of tsunami being prepared for and resilient to tsunami by 2030. Specifically, the workshop (i) introduced the UNESCO-IOC TRRP and its twelve indicators, (ii) shared the experiences from India and Indonesia in TRRP implementation, (iii) shared learnings between countries, and (iv) recognised the Tsunami Ready communities in Indonesia.

The workshop learned from personal accounts of the successful Tsunami Ready recognition of two villages in the Indian province of Odisha, Noliasahi and Venkatraipur, and also the village of Tanjung Benoa in Bali. The communities of Kalurahan Kemadang in Yogyakarta (in process), Desa Pangandaran in Jawa Barat (in process), Desa Kuta Mandalka in est Nusa Tenggara (in process), Desa Tambakrejo in East Java (recognized), Kalurahan Glagah in Yogyakarta (recognized), Desa Panggarangan in Banten (recognized) were presented with certificates of their achievement towards UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready recognition. Further, Kelurahan Tanjung Benoa in Bali was presented with an updated certificate of their achievement.

Workshop participants participated in a school tsunami evacuation drill in the community of Tanjung Banoa, the first IOC-UNESCO recognised Tsunami Ready community in Indonesia, and were briefed on tsunami response operation procedures at the Bali Province Disaster Mangement Office.