The first International Conference "Monitoring of Glaciers and Glacial Lakes – Hazard Management" will be held in Tajikistan from August 26 to 31.

It is organized by the Agency for Hydrometeorology of the Committee for Environmental Protection of the Republic together with the Aga Khan Habitat Agency (AKAH) with financial support from the Government of Switzerland.

The conference is being implemented within the framework of the project "Adaptive and Sustainable Communities in their Habitat (ARCH)" and will be held in Dushanbe with a trip to the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).

The event will provide an opportunity for international partners to present their work, research and lessons on mudflows, as well as serve as a platform to promote awareness of the occurrence and mitigation of risks associated with mudflows.

Participants will be informed about critical mudslides and preventive mitigation measures taken, risk awareness policies applied to communities, and risk-based planning in accordance with the intersectoral framework of climate change resilience.

In addition, the conference will create a favorable environment for the exchange of ideas and knowledge transfer between scientists, practitioners and policy makers, and will contribute to scientific progress in the field of mudslide hazards, mitigation measures and response to them.

Along with raising awareness of hazards and their scientific and technological management, it will contribute to the formation and promotion of partnerships and networking within the pool of participating experts.

ARCH is a joint initiative of AKAH and a long-term partner of the Governments of Tajikistan and Switzerland.

The project was designed for rural areas, and therefore the emphasis is on settlement planning, village planning and district-level planning.

ARCH was designed as a 10-year program to build systems and tools to enhance sustainability in GBAO as a demonstration for participation in rural communities across the country.

The aim of the project is to support the sustainability of the habitat and improve living conditions by reducing the vulnerability of rural communities to the effects of natural disasters caused by climate change, as well as by strengthening disaster risk management.