National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) held first connect conference with all Rectors/ Vice-Chancellors, Heads of Departments and representatives of 25 public verified universities. Chairman NDMA, Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik presided over the session and outlined follow-up strategies for NIDM. 

The session was mandated to develop collaborative framework for NIDM to invest into the country's disaster management the country's disaster management capabilities and strengthen connections with local responders, industry, academia as well as global partners. 

Chairman NDMA recognized academia's role in mitigating and reducing disaster risk and emphasized the need for localized preparedness regimes, gap analysis, and assessing relief and recovery needs during emergencies and disasters. He urged academia to develop policy recommendations and solutions for PDMAs and DDMAs to enhance effective disaster management in their respective regions and suggested clustering the universities by regions to promote DM research and data management nationwide.

University representatives commended NDMA's involvement of academia as a constructive measure for enhancing disaster management in the country. They presented their own initiatives for community awareness, disaster management research, and training, and urged NDMA/NIDM to lead the development of a curriculum for the discipline that addresses current requirements. 

Chairman NDMA acknowledged the feedback and committed to incorporating the session's recommendations into the scoping of NIDM. He also suggested organizing symposiums and expos to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experiences related to disaster management.