Special Thematic Session of General Assembly on Water and Disasters

A day-long special thematic session of the General Assembly was held at UN Headquarters on the subject of water-related disasters. The event was organized by the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB).
Irina Bokova (centre right), Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), co-chairs a panel discussion on ""Experience and Lessons of Water and Disasters"" with Michel Jarraud (centre left), Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization. Also on the panel, from left: Florika Fink-Hooijer, European Commission Director for Strategy, Policy and International Co-operation; Bai-Mass Taal, Executive Secretary of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW); Shigeru Kikukawa, Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan; Thomas P Bostick, 53rd U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); Wang Min, Deputy Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China and representative of the country's Ministry of Water Resources; and Rae-kwon Chung, Chief of the Environment and Development Division at UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).