Two faculty members of the School of Architecture Design (SoAD) of BRAC University recently visited Turkey on invitation from AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Ministry of Interior) to discuss possible collaborations involving the SoAD’s Postgraduate Programs in Disaster Management (PPDM) of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM).
The faculty members also delivered lectures and shared experiences over Rohingya refugee crisis management in Bangladesh and information regarding a Certificate Program on Humanitarian Crisis Management which has been recently developed and is being jointly offered by the PPDM and BRAC.
Of the faculty members, Dr. Imon Chowdhooree is the Assistant Director of the PPDM and Executive Director of the Cell for Adaptation, Resilience, Security, and Humanitarian Assistance (CARSHA) under the PPDM while Muhammad Ferdaus Coordinator and Lecturer of the PPDM and Director of the Human Security and Humanitarian Assistance Wing of the CARSHA.
During the visit from 17 November to 27 November, the duo met Abdullah Ozcelik, Head of the Disaster Management Center Department of the AFAD in Ankara and visited the Turkish Red Crescent offices in Ankara and Izmir.
As a part of a collaborative research with the AFAD and Turkish Red Crescent, the faculty members visited, studied and documented a mobile disaster survey center, emergency assistance programs and shelters for earthquake-affected people and social inclusion and livelihood opportunity programs for earthquake victims and refugees.