‘Early Warning Systems essential’

[Naveed Yaseen]

The initiation and implementation of Early Warning Systems (EWS) has great potential in avoiding conflicts and managing crises in an effective manner, speakers said at an international seminar organised on Tuesday by the University of Karachi (KU) International Relations department, in collaboration with the Hanns-Seidel Foundation.

Experts dealing with Early Warning Systems converged at the Goethe Institut for the two-day seminar titled “Early Warning Systems: Potential for Crisis Management and Regional Cooperation.”

KU Vice Chancellor Prof. Pirzada Qasim, in his inaugural address, urged South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries to cooperate with each other to counter natural and man-made crises. “Frequency and abundance of naturally and artificially caused crises and challenges have made it necessary for developing states to have reliable means to counter them,” Prof. Qasim concluded.

Dr Kumar Rupesinghe, the Chief Executive Officer of The Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE), Colombo, Sri Lanka was the key note speaker at the event and reminded the audience that South Asia has faced 32 conflicts while Europe has been free from this ailment. “EWS are fast becoming necessary ingredients in regional and global issues concerning humanity at large,” he said.

Dr Kumar Rupesinghe presented a paper on “Early Warning and Capacity Building” in which he highlighted the prospects for broadening the scope and functional usefulness of the concept.

He specifically cited the achievements of the FCE, and said that the associational networks and inter-ethnic social and cultural cooperation could play an immense role in tracing and controlling socially and politically induced violence.

KU Department of International Relations Chairman (and Chief Coordinator of the workshop) Dr Moonis Ahmar presented a paper on “The Concept of Early Warning and its Mechanisms,” and explained professional expertise is urgently needed as lack of expertise will not yield results that EWS are aimed at.

Prof. Joe Bock, Director of External Relations, Heber Centre, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, US, said that there was essentially a law-like relationship between outbreak of violence and a precipitating event. He said that human minds have been endowed with great capabilities for judgment and intuition. Dr Bock also spoke of human courage, will and determination to deal with man-made and natural disasters.

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