DHL, the world's leading logistics company, conducted a one-day advanced training course at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, building on its prime program "Get Airports Ready For Disaster" (GARD). The so-called GARD plus training looked into the findings of the initial 4-day assessment in July in order to sustainably integrate all aspects of GARD into the national Lebanese disaster risk reduction program. Lebanon is the first country to receive a GARD plus training.
"The GARD plus program enables all parties involved to align and strategize their action plan", said John Chedid, Country Manager DHL Express, Lebanon. "I would like to commend the dedication of the DHL GARD trainers and the facilitators from UNDP as well as those of the 10 participants of the GARD training who have been meeting and interacting regularly to put what they have learnt into practice," Chedid adds.
The participants of the GARD plus program consist out of ten trainees from the previous training, two trainers from DHL and two representatives from UNDP. On the basis of the July findings, the Lebanese participants had formed a working committee that regularly met and worked towards increasing disaster preparedness at the airport.
The GARD program grew out of first-hand experience that showed just how important it is for disaster-prone regions and airports to be disaster-ready and be able to respond quickly and effectively to the challenges of disaster relief logistics. The Training focuses on training the airport staff as well as local and government officials to assess local requirements and develop a detailed contingency plan for their airport. The GARD Program was developed together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2009 to train airport personnel, local security officials and representatives of national disaster agencies in airport logistics management. Since 2009 GARD has been implemented in five countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Indonesia and Turkey.
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