Gorgan, January 15, 2003 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran jointly organized a seminar here on flash flood prevention and mitigation.

The event is supported by Governor's Office of Golestan Province, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, and Gorgan University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management.

The seminar is aimed to discuss the root causes of flash floods in the Caspian Region and assess the achievements and failures of previous efforts."UN Secretary General Kofi Annan attaches highest priority to the issue of disaster prevention and mitigation," said UNDP Officer-in-Charge Mr. Philippe Devaud at the seminar. "He reminds us," added Mr. Devaud, "that to tackle the enormous challenge of natural disasters, we must prevent rather than cure, we must address the root causes and not just the symptoms; we must match our aspirations with effective actions".

The seminar encouraged specific commitment to specific actions for flood prevention in Iran, especially the Caspian Region.

Participants at the two-day seminar included representatives from relevant departments of Governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran, international experts with practical experience in flash flood mitigation, and experts from UN agencies.

The seminar commenced with presentations from Iran on the nature and problem with flash flooding in the Caspian region. Experts with experience in the mitigation of flash flooding provided brief presentations on the mitigation measures and best practices.

"With the effect of climate change and global warming," said Mr. Devaud, "more and more floods are expected. We should therefore join our forces on prevention, mitigation and preparedness. The most convincing argument why we should prevent -rather than respond to- disasters is in their sheer human and financial costs".