The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), in collaboration with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) and Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue(HD), organized a Policy Implementation Workshop on Climate Change and Humanitarian Assistance(HA)/Disaster Relief(DR) in the Bay of Bengal on 24-25 October, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The workshop was aimed at stock-taking of HA/DR Guidelines in the Bay of Bengal region, assessing the implementation of these guidelines and synthesizing HA/DR best practices to enhance regional cooperation. Representatives of the BIMSTEC member States, Clingendael Institute, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Academia and the BIMSTEC Secretariat attended the workshop.

The Secretary General of BIMSTEC, in his opening remarks, highlighted the importance of the Workshop in addressing interrelated challenges of adverse impacts of climate change and providing HA/DR in Bay of Bengal region. He hoped that the Workshop would enable BIMSTEC to initiate concrete steps to strengthen its capacity and efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and provide HA/DR.