Monash Disaster Resilience Initiative

Last week I attended a great forum on "Managing internally displaced people" organised by MDRI, which is part of the Monash University Injury Research Institute. There were a number of local and international speakers as well as some panel (and general discussions). When I walked in (slightly late) I could hear the voice of the legendary Professor Skip Burkle, a US academic and doctor who is part of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and lectured to us as part of the Master of Emergency Health course on a number of occasions. However, Skip was nowhere to be seen! After quickly considering a number of hypotheses I realised that Skip was talking to us via Skype and the slides were being advanced locally. Later during the Forum Peter Cameron from NZ also spoke to us via Skype. This worked brilliantly and was a fantastic way of hearing from an international expert with an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. Monash is to be congratulated on this innovative approach!

The program was divided into four sessions:
1. Setting the scene: managing internally displaced persons in the setting of disasters and emergencies;

2. A case study from our region - interactive session; 

3. Strengths of the international standards and guidelines that could be implemented domestically to augment 

current practices; and
4. If we wish to augment current practices, what are the barriers and solutions to implementation? 

MDRI runs several meetings each year, with the next one planned for late July.

For more information about MDRI see:
http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/research-areas/disaster-resilience/monash-disaster-resilience.html
For further information about MIRI:
www.monash.edu.au/miri