The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System would be launched during the 23rd session of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Assembly in Paris June 21-30.

The Assembly will approve the Plan of Action for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning system and establish an Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) to govern it, said a UNESCO press release. 

Since the Dec 26 tsunami that killed around 280,000 people across Asian shorelines, the IOC and its partners have set up an interim system for the Indian Ocean basin, with tsunami advisory information provided by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the Japanese Meteorological Agency.

The system would be in place by July 2006. It will consist of enhanced seismographic networks in the region, networks of real-time sea-level gauges and deep-sea ocean pressure sensors.

In a fast-track effort to detect the presence of a tsunami after a strong earthquake, the IOC has overseen the installation or upgrading of tide gauges. This equipment records information about climate and sea-level change and also transmits real-time information that allows the detection of tsunami in 10-minute intervals.

"Disaster prevention also requires preparing people at local level," UNESCO director-general Koichiro Matsuura was quoted as saying in the release.

"They must be educated and informed so as to be alert to tsunamis and other major hazards and to know what to do in the event of a warning being issued."

Matsuura has also said that the December tsunami spoke volumes about the vulnerability of coastal populations. "We must maintain the momentum of the past six months to ensure that we are ready when the next ones strikes - not just in the Indian Ocean, but in many other regions vulnerable to tsunamis such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the South West Pacific."

Since the devastation, the IOC and its partners have set up an interim system for the Indian Ocean basin, with tsunami advisory information provided by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the Japanese Meteorological Agency.

The ICG will include representatives from the 27 Indian Ocean countries supported by a secretariat provided by UNESCO-IOC. It is expected to hold its first meeting shortly after the IOC Assembly.