The 6th Australian and New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference will be held over the 22 – 23 May at The Star Gold Coast, Queensland.

Mr Darryl Glover, Project Manager at the State Emergency Service joins us next month to discuss ‘Volunteering for disaster risk reduction in international development – 12 months in Mongolia’.

Volunteering in emergency response and recovery is a mainstay of emergency management in Australia.  More rarely is it applied in disaster risk reduction or undertaken internationally by Australians.  This presentation will outline the experiences of a 12 month (March 2015 – March 2016), professional volunteer assignment in the Policy Coordination Unit of the National Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia, (NEMA). The principle tasks of the assignment were capacity building, institutional strengthening and skills exchange. The assignment was sponsored through the Australian Volunteers for International Development, (AVID) an Australian Federal Government Initiative administered through the Department of Foreign affairs and Trade and facilitated by the Australian Red Cross.

Conference participants will hear the perspectives of Major Bazarragchaa Duudgai on the capacity building and institutional strengthening outcomes for Mongolia, (by video link) the value of international volunteering to Australia’s interests from the Ambassador to Mongolia John Langtry (by video link) and the professional development and personal growth outcomes from volunteer Darryl Glover.

The experiences highlight the opportunity for emergency service organisations to support a more extensive and coordinated program of professional volunteerism of their staff and internal volunteers, to share the strengths of Australian emergency services, and continue to develop participant’s personal and professional capabilities.

For more information on the 2017 Australian and New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference and to secure your spot, visit www.anzdmc.com.au.