TIEMS, The International Emergency Management Society, is seeking to
expand the participation of disaster and emergency management
professionals involved in Africa in the Society's activities. To this
end, TIEMS is conducting an assessment to identify what are the unmet
needs of emergency management professionals in Africa and how the
Society can help to address these needs.

TIEMS' annual conference will be held in Provence France from June 3 to
6 2003. The conference organizers have set aside a session period for
discussions on disaster management and research in Africa. The intent of
this session is to identify key areas where further efforts are needed
to support and expand disaster management and research in Africa. The
format of the session will based on short presentations followed by
discussions.

The session will result in a report on actions needed to support and
improve disaster management and research in Africa. This report will be
circulated to interested parties via electronic and hard copy and
provided to the TIEMS Board of Directors as input into how TIEMS can
support disaster management and research in Africa.

Individuals interested in participating in the session, or wanting to
express opinions on disaster management and research in Africa, are
encouraged to attend the conference. Registration and other information
about the conference can be found at the TIEMS web site (www.tiems.org).

Note that TIEMS membership and conferences fees have been adjusted to
reflect resource constraints in "developing" or "transitional"
economies.

Recognizing the short lead time before the conference and often long
lead times needed to secure travel funds and documents, an option for
"virtual participation" in the session is available.

Individuals who are not able to attend the conference can provide inputs
on the topic of "What is needed to support and expand disaster
management and research in Africa?" buy emailing comments for
consideration at the session. Comments, preferably not more than 2
pages, should be forwarded to [email protected]. Persons submitting
email comments should provide name and contact information so that they
can receive a copy of the session report.

For further information, please contact Charles Kelly at
[email protected].

Please feel free to forward this announcement to interested parties.