On May 18th, the United Nations’ Ninth Meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters organized by SCU Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction was held at the University. The opening ceremony was attended by leaders such as Han, Seung-soo, Disaster and Water Affairs Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Chairman of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP), and former prime minister of South Korea, Zhang Wenbiao, Deputy Director of Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department, Tang Chuyang, Deputy Director of Chengdu Water Authority, Xie Heping, President of SCU, Yan Shijing and Xu Weilin, Vice President of SCU. Experts and scholars in the field of global water and disasters prevention also attended the meeting. The opening ceremony was jointly hosted by Mr. Yan Shijing and Mr. Gretchen Kalonji, Counselor of SCU’s development strategy and Dean of Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction.

High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) is an international organization established under the proposal of 2007 UN Secretary-general's Advisory Committee, as the top-class independent institution for global water and disasters; it’s aimed at improving the global awareness on the importance of water and disasters at a national level, positively facilitating the disaster prevention and mitigation actions of global water disasters, offering suggestions on climatic change, disaster, urban construction, development and protection of mountainous river, and other aspects. Themed by “Water Promotes Sustainable Development”, the Ninth Meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters gathered senior experts in the field of water disasters from the UN and many countries, who conducted discussions on the water and disaster issues under the “Water Promotes Sustainable Development” International Actions Ten-Years Framework (2018-2028), as well as the water and disaster issues under the framework of global hydraulic construction and disaster risks reduction; by probing into relevant research projects like how to make contribution in the 23th United Nations Climate Change Conference and in the progress of climate change, as well as the financing and investment of water and disaster issues, it explored a path to establish Water and Disasters Scientific Research Alliance, and establish a regular conversation platform for international water and disasters issues.