The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) was founded in Washington in 1993 and is today registered as an international non-profit NGO in Bornem, Belgium. TIEMS is to hold its fourteenth annual international conference in Trogir, Croatia from 5th to 8th June this year, with the main focus on Disaster Recovery And Relief – Current And Future Approaches. TIEMS mission statement reads: ‘TIEMS is dedicated to developing and bringing the benefits of modern Emergency Management (EM) tools and techniques to society for a safer world.’

Background
Over its fourteen-year life-span the society has come to be known as a truly international society, with participants from more than fifty countries attending its conferences at which close to two thousand papers of exceptional quality have been presented. The global organisational infrastructure of TIEMS consists of fundamental elements designated Regional and National TIEMS Chapters, a structure that effectively strengthens and adds value to the central core organisation. The fundament for TIEMS Chapters has been established in all countries where workshops have been held, with the following names and regions covered or planned: Korea, Russia, Australia & South Pacific, Germany, Croatia, Central & Eastern Europe, Holland, Belgium, North America, Romania, Turkey and China. TIEMS International Board of Directors represents the top management of the society and consists of seventeen persons from fifteen countries.

Recruitment
Membership of TIEMS has been offered since 1st January 2003, and the organisation is steadily building up a global membership base. An International Program Committee has been established to be responsible for the professional programme at TIEMS conferences, symposiums and workshops. The recruitment of members to the International Program Committee is an ongoing activity. In terms of TIEMS efforts to become a truly international organisation, it is important to recognise the different social and economic situations in the world and to deal with these in a practical way. This will ensure the active involvement in TIEMS global events of such countries as might otherwise lack the economic ability to travel and participate.

Involving Africa
TIEMS Regional Councillor for Africa took the initiative of instigating a virtual conference prior to TIEMS annual conference 2004, aimed at involving the African countries where the emergency management professional might not have the financial resources to travel to TIEMS annual conferences. The virtual conference was arranged through organising an exchange of emails around four topics addressing disaster management in Africa, and the following conclusions emerged:
- education is the key to the better management of risk, hazards and vulnerabilities associated with disasters in Africa
- considerable attention has been focused on the failure of disaster management in Africa; successes, often involving local efforts and participation, have gone unrecognised and unpublicised
- some disasters occurring in Africa differ from those faced in other parts of the world; Africans express concern about the disastrous impact of singularly African issues such as protracted conflict, HIV/AIDS, child trafficking and other hazards
- preventing or mitigating disasters in Africa is part and parcel of the development process: disaster relief receives the greatest attention in Africa, whereas mitigation, prevention, preparedness, vulnerability and risk reduction and building resilience need to receive equal attention in development processes, programmes and projects.

Programme for Africa
TIEMS believes that preventative measures in emergency management are the most cost-effective way of reducing risk and dealing with potential hazards and threats. TIEMS notes that Africa is under-served with respect to disaster-management capacities. As a result, TIEMS has decided to launch a five-year plan for Improving Emergency Management in Africa, with A Focus on Education and Information Technology. The programme goal is to ‘reduce the impact of disasters in Africa by improving the access to and availability of information needed to effectively prevent, mitigate and manage disasters’. TIEMS is in the process of seeking finances to initiate this programme.

Forum for Europe
TIEMS is also involved in an EU project to build up a Public Safety Communication Forum in Europe (www.publicsafetycommunication.eu/). It carries the following mission statement: ‘Forum for Public Safety Communication Europe is to foster, by consensus building, excellence in the development and use of public safety communications and information management systems to improve the provision of public safety services and the safety of the citizens of Europe and the rest of the world.’ TIEMS is continually building up national/regional chapters and seeking new opportunities in global emergency management to achieve its mission statement.