2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS).

GDACS is a joint venture between the European Commission, OCHA and UNOSAT, with the aim to provide early alert and impact estimations after sudden onset disasters, and coordination platforms to support information exchange and coordination among the affected country, international responders and humanitarian organizations in the first days after the disaster.

The GDACS annual meeting 2024 will reflect on key achievements in the last 20 years, and discuss priorities for the future of the system in an interactive session, drawing into consideration the results of the user survey of 2023.

Agenda

• 16:00–16:10 Welcome by GDACS Secretariat, Ms. Thomas Peter
• 16:10–16:15 Welcome by GDACS Chairperson Ms. Marzia Santini
  
  
• 16:15–16:30 Opening remarks
  • OCHA: Ms Sahrah Muscroft, Chief Response Support Branch, Coordination Division, OCHA-Geneva
  • JRC: Mr. Tom De Groeve, Head of the Disaster Risk Management Unit
  • ECHO: Ms. Olimpia Imperiali, Deputy Head of the Situational Awareness Sector
  • UNOSAT: Mr. Luca Dell’Oro, Chief, Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience Section
    
    
• 16:30–17:00 GDACS 20th Anniversary: let’s celebrate together!
  • 16:30–16:35 GDACS 20th anniversary video
  • 16:35–16:40 Former Chairperson Mr. Thomas Peter “We started from nothing”
  • 16:40–16:45 Former Chairperson Mr. Peter Billing “The strength of GDACS: 20 years of collaboration in disaster risk management”
  • 16:45–16:50 Col. Artavazd Davtyan, Armenia “The strength found in diversity and unity”
  • 16:50–16:55 Former Chairperson Mr. Alessandro Annunziato “The role of Science in GDACS”
  • 16:55–17:00 Chairperson Ms. Marzia Santini “Current and future challenges for GDACS”
    
    
• 17:00–17:10 “20 years have passed, is GDACS still fit for purpose? Let’s listen from the Users: results of the 2023-2024 GDACS survey” (Mr. Dario Masante, European Crisis Management Laboratory – ECML, JRC)
  
  
• 17:10–17:20 Improving the disaster satellite mapping coordination: the new SMCS (UNITAR-UNOSAT Ms. Ida Svendsen, Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience Section)
  
  
• 17:20–17:25 Main achievements and upcoming developments in Multi-Hazard EWS (MHEWS Ms. Chiara Proietti, European Crisis Management Laboratory – ECML, JRC)
  
  
• 17:25-17:30 Closing remarks and next appointments