The Fifth Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference (GAREC) -- hosted by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) -- will be held in conjunction with the JARL Ham Fair at Tokyo Big Sight on August 24-25, 2009. Registration for GAREC-2009 will begin in early May.

According to GAREC 2009 Organizing Committee Member Seppo Sisatto, OH1VR, this year's theme is "Emergency Communications across Borders." The program will include presentations about operations during disasters that have occurred since GAREC-2008 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, as well as discussions about new developments in technology and their application in emergency communications. The detailed program will be published in late April.

All Amateur Radio operators interested in Emergency Communications are invited to participate in GAREC. The fifth GAREC continues the work of its four forerunners: After the first and the second GAREC in Tampere, Finland, the third GAREC in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, and the fourth GAREC in 2008, this year's event will be the first GAREC conference in IARU Region 3. The proceedings and the statements of the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 conferences can be found at the GAREC Web site. Sisatto pointed out that the theme of GAREC-2009 mirrors the theme chosen by the IARU for World Amateur Radio Day on April 18, "Amateur Radio: Your Resource in Disaster and Emergency Communication."