Second Consultative Meeting on Total Disaster Risk Management in Asia

ADPC co-organized the Second Consultative Meeting on Total Disaster Risk Management in Asia with the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) and Asian Disaster Response Unit of UN/OCHA in Bangkok from 13-14 June 2002. The meeting was attended by representatives from regional and international agencies such as ADB, ADPC, ADRC, ASEAN, DIPECHO, EMA, ESCAP, ICIMOD, IDRM, IFRC and its Regional Disaster Management team, ISDR, JICA, MRC, OFDA-USAID, UNDMTP, UNDP-Nepal, UNICEF-Bangkok, UN/OCHA, WFP-Bangkok and WHO. This meeting followed up from the first meeting held from 4-6 July 2001 in Kathmandu, Nepal, which was jointly organized by UN/OCHA and ADRC. 

This second meeting aimed to consolidate collaboration and coordination among regional institutions and offices of UN agencies and international organizations in disaster management. Recommendations made by participants included:

• Promoting TDRM at national and local levels by developing and conducting studies on good practices, and by implementing pilot projects
• Considering existing regional mechanisms for regional cooperation and collaboration
• Considering existing national mechanisms, particularly national disaster management organizations, in promoting TDRM through inter-ministerial coordination with support from internal and external entities
• Addressing disasters holistically, cognizant of constraints and issues such as governance, and maximizing potential protection for vulnerable communities
• Clarifying expectations, areas of overlap in regional cooperation and collaboration, and roles and functions of UN agencies at country level
• Identifying catalysts for following up pilot TDRM activities
• Introducing TDRM, focusing on new elements that promote cooperation, particularly on risk management, in various locations, sectors and disciplines and through bilateral and multilateral cooperation
• Enhancing regional cooperation among participating organizations by continuing the consultative forum and sharing future plans and activities through ADRC and ADPC websites, and
• As mandated and recommended in the first meeting, ADPC, ADRC and UN-OCHA/ADRU, with support from others, will promote and facilitate the adoption of TDRM on a pilot basis in the selected high-risk countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Vietnam.

It was decided that the third consultative meeting, jointly hosted by WHO and ADPC, will be held in the Philippines in May 2003.