The forum brought together 96 participants from local councils in Gaafu Alif, Gaafu Dhaalu, Fuvahmulah City, and Addu City, alongside key government agencies, NGOs, academia, and businesses from across the region. The breadth of participation reflected the forum's ambition, to foster a collective, regionally grounded approach to disaster risk reduction that reaches across institutions and sectors.
Discussions emphasized the critical need to integrate DRR into national development plans, with key disaster response agencies including the Maldives National Defense Force Southern Command and the Maldives Police Service sharing insights from recent incidents and highlighting the importance of coordinated response and management. The Addu City Council and other island councils in the southern region shared their own experiences in building resilience through disaster management plans and risk mitigation strategies providing valuable peer learning across the region.
Sessions delivered by the Maldives Meteorological Service and the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment, and Energy underscored the importance of leveraging advanced technology and ecosystem-based solutions for effective early warning systems, reinforcing the link between climate action and disaster preparedness at the regional level.
This collaborative initiative demonstrated the power of bringing diverse stakeholders together around a shared agenda and marked an important step in building a more coordinated, resilient, and prepared southern Maldives.
