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ADPC regional programs . . .
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ADPC Support to the ASEAN Experts Group on Disaster Management (AEGDM)
ASEAN is an important part of ADPC's geographical area of interest and so the Center was delighted with the invitation to participate as an observer in the 11th Meeting of the ASEAN Experts Group on Disaster Management (AEGDM) in Chiang Rai, Thailand, from 21-25 August 2000. All ten ASEAN Member Countries and the ASEAN Secretariat were represented at the meeting.
The delegates were welcomed by the Governor and Vice Governor of Chiang Rai. The Head of the Thai Delegation was elected Chairman and the Head of the Vietnamese Delegation was elected Vice Chairman. The Meeting was held in the traditional spirit of ASEAN solidarity and cordiality. After a full agenda, the Meeting developed a consensus on a wide range of future activities. The delegates were most warmly welcomed by the Thai authorities and treated to a fascinating field trip on the penultimate day of the Meeting. The Deputy Prime Minister (and Minister of Interior) of Thailand delivered his keynote speech at the Closing Ceremony.
ADPC was invited to give a short presentation to the AEGDM on its operations in support of ASEAN Member Countries, which highlighted the wide scope of ADPC's bilateral and regional programs. In one way or another, ADPC has provided support to every ASEAN Member Country and is currently actively involved in six of them. Additionally, ADPC has become an established resource for the wider audience of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) composed of the 10 ASEAN countries and 12 other Participating Countries. Through its participation as an observer in AEGDM and ARF meetings, ADPC is able to obtain an even better picture of the emerging disaster-related needs of ASEAN Member Countries and can develop its programs accordingly. Thus, at the conclusion of their presentation, the ADPC staff made some suggestions as to how the Center could assist in the future work of the AEGDM if so requested.
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Extreme Climate Events Program: Peer Review Meeting
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Extreme Climate Events such as El Nino and La Nina significantly affect the societies and environment in Southeast Asia, where large-scale forest fires and serious droughts in some countries in the region were among the many impacts of El Nino 1997-98. ADPC, with support from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/ OFDA), and in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), runs a program on Extreme Climate Events (ECE) in three Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. On 5-6 October 2000, experts from around the world gathered for a Peer Review Meeting organized in Bangkok by ADPC. The two-day meeting reviewed the work done under the ECE Program over the last two years, discussed strategies for dealing with future extreme climate events and charted directions for the future. The meeting included participants from the study teams in the three target countries, and representatives from regional and international organizations - ADB, ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center (ASMC), International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI), National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), NOAA, OFDA, Southeast Asia START Regional Center (SEA-START), USAID, World Bank, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
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The meeting discussions noted that the ECE Program has enabled participating agencies in the target countries to better understand extreme climate events in terms of their impacts on the agriculture, water resources and health sectors; to appreciate the role of national meteorological services in disaster preparedness, systematic documentation, and addressing forecasting demands and constraints; and to improve inter-institutional communication and collaboration among ENSO data providers and users, within and among countries in the region. Specific areas identified for further work include local-level climate variation and community-level impact, in particular issues of vulnerability, exposure, response and resilience; development of preparedness guidelines for indirect ENSO impacts and also lead-time scenarios; assessment of regional communications systems; and local-language training across user groups.
For more information, please visit http://www.adpc.ait.ac.th/ece/ programevents/prm.html
| This project has changed my view. We've been documenting water resources in the Meteorological Department without any attempt to understand how users and other agencies use the information, or even how they cope with extreme climate events.
Participant Comment |
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Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) Update
Sub-regional Medical First Responders (MFR) Training Course
In collaboration with the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) of the Philippines, PEER conducted the Sub-regional Medical First Responders (MFR) Training Course from 2-15 July 2000 in the Philippines. Twenty-five participants attended the course - 10 from Indonesia, 14 from the Philippines and 1 from Nepal. PEER received technical support from the Miami Dade Fire Rescue Department who provided instructors and training materials.
As one of PEER's objectives is to develop a cadre of regional and national trainers for Training for Instructors (TFI) and other courses developed under PEER, four outstanding MFR graduates from the Philippines and Indonesia were invited as assistant instructors. After the training course, the instructors, assistant instructors and some of the participants met in an adaptation workshop, the result of which will be a significant input to the next MFR training course.
Baseline Data Collection on Medical First Response
The U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) seeks to assess the current situation of emergency response in the PEER participating countries of India, Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines. Specifically, OFDA wants to determine the current status of medical first response and search and rescue capabilities, as well as the state of preparedness of hospitals in high-risk areas to handle mass casualty in the event of a disaster. PEER will conduct baseline data collection on first response in each country, which will also determine PEER's relevance and sustainability in the region. The resulting baseline condition would also be used as a benchmark for monitoring and evaluating PEER's impacts. In August, PEER staff visited the countries to prepare for the baseline data collection and collect preliminary information.
The data collection will involve one-on-one interviews with key hospital staff, observation of emergency room situations and training activities, and questionnaires to be completed by respondent agencies. A two-person data collection team will be fielded to conduct the interviews for Nepal, with three-person teams for Indonesia and the Philippines.
National Training for Instructors
The Training for Instructors course for India is scheduled from 9-20 October 2000. The course will be held at the National Fire Service College, Nagpur, India.
before
Victims are passive recipients of external aid |
now
People's capacities are used and built on through their participation |
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