TEMPO.CO, Sleman – The University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Gadjah Mada University (UGM), the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), and the Indonesian Embassy to the United States held a symposium to discuss academic programs about disaster risk mitigation in Yogyakarta since yesterday.
The symposium entitled the 'Indonesia Symposium on Disaster Risk Mitigation and Resilience' invited academicians, government officials, business officials, and non-profit organizations located in Indonesia from Japan, Indonesia, and the United States.
Hawaii University President M.R.C Greenwood believed that Indonesia is the most strategic partner because it has the experience in designing a disaster mitigation system after the 2006 earthquake and Mount Merapi eruption in 2010 occurred in Yogyakarta, which will also be used as a reference for the symposium's discussions.
Meanwhile, President Obama's stepsister Maya Soetoro, who is also an academician at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, asserted that there is a lot of potential that can be developed after visiting Mount Merapi and having discussions with academicians from UII and UGM.
"Schools in Hawaii have a lot of experience educating their students to understand the risks of disasters and preparing them to be potential researchers of disasters," she said.
ADDI MAWAHIBUN IDHOM
