UNESCO IOC is organising a regional training workshop on the development of Standard Operating Procedures for tsunami warning and emergency response for East African and Western Indian Ocean countries in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 15-19 November 2010, hosted by the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA). The goal of the workshop is to assist countries in the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as part of their Tsunami Warning Centre and Tsunami Emergency Response Plans. The main topics to be covered will include: • Earthquake and tsunami science for tsunami warning • Tsunami hazards in the Indian Ocean • Fundamental Tsunami Warning Centre SOPs for a timely warning • Tsunami Emergency Response and Preparedness • Information flow SOPs – media and public information • Developing SOPs, including data analysis, processes, flowcharts and checklists, timelines • Tsunami warning decision support tools • Tsunami table-top exercise to test SOPs The key outcomes of the workshop will be a set of guidelines to be used to create SOPs at the national level and draft set of SOPs created at the workshop. Further important outcomes will be the fostering of closer communications between the National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWC) and National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMO) of the region and the development of a strategy for maintaining and sustaining regional linkages.