Programme for Hydro-Meteorological Risk Mitigation in Asian Cities (PROMISE)
ADPC with the funding support from USAID/OFDA has launched a three year Programme for Hydro-Meteorological Risk Mitigation in Asian Cities (PROMISE). PROMISE aims to promote Hydro-meteorological disaster preparedness and mitigation activities in selected highly vulnerable secondary cities in South and Southeast Asia through building upon successful elements of the AUDMP past experience. This programme will contribute to furthering the goal of sharing lessons from and utilising technical resources developed during the course of the AUDMP. A programme kick-off meeting cum planning meeting for the PROMISE is scheduled to be held from 17-18 October in Bangkok.

Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC): The International Community’s Funding of the Tsunami Emergency and Relief – Local Response Study
After the occurrence of December 2004 Tsunami, billions of dollars have been pledged for humanitarian emergency relief and reconstruction assistance to the affected areas in reducing or mitigating the consequences of the disaster and in boosting the current recovery and reconstruction efforts. A study has been launched with the funding support from DANIDA to evaluate and to understand the nature of the funding flows from and at the level of the affected countries.

MOU between Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand and UNESCAP, Bangkok (September 26),
On 26 September 2005, H.E. Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Foreign Minister and H.E. Dr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP signed a trust fund agreement to support tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. This regional trust fund was launched with a US$ 10 million contribution by the Government of Thailand. It will add to a comprehensive and coordinated approach to mobilise resources to protect people. The fund will be managed by UNESCAP. ADPC will serve as a regional centre in the early warning system initially for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam with the collaboration of China, the Philippines and Singapore. ADPC will also serve as a clearing house to take care of requests for assistance from the various national centres in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

Media Orientation on CBDRM in East Timor jointly with NDMO (October 7)
ADPC in partnership with the National Disaster Emergency Office (NDMO) in East Timor organised a one-day orientation meeting for the mass media in East Timor to enhance the understanding of media professionals from print and electronic media on their role in community based disaster risk management, and encourage them to promote community based approaches through their work.

Study tour for the delegation from Colombo Municipal Council to visit the municipalities of the Philippines and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Thailand (October 9-14)
ADPC organised a study tour for key government officials from Colombo Municipal Council who will visit the municipalities of the Philippines and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration during the period of 9-14 October 2005. The purpose of the study tour was to learn about community participation in urban management; performance budgeting; and to observe how city planning and management work in the areas of flood risk management, emergency services, solid waste management, city transportation and capacity building and training.

Damage and Loss Assessment Methodology, and Compendium of Agriculture Risk Management Initiatives (October 10-12)
ADPC in partnership with UN-FAO, initiated - Damage and Loss Assessment Methodology, and Compendium of Agriculture Risk Management Initiatives project which aims to document efforts that have been undertaken in support of disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation some have a direct bearing on activities directed specifically toward similar efforts for “agricultural disasters”. This comprehensive documentation of these efforts can result in reducing overlap and in developing a complete and effective national disaster plan that produces more efficiency and better planning, covering the disaster-prone countries of the region: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. ADPC expert will be in Malaysia to gather substantive information on disaster management initiatives in the agriculture sector of Malaysia, as inputs for the said compendium.

Livelihood Adaptation to Climate Change (LACC) (October 10-25)
UN-FAO mission on LACC in partnership with ADPC aims to design climate Forecast Applications and Adaptation Strategies to climate change in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sector of the Hawr region and the costal belt in Bangladesh. ADPC experts will be in Bangladesh to establish climate information exchange with key stakeholders outside Bangladesh; compile information on livelihood adaptation to climate change in agriculture, livestock forestry and fisheries in Asia; analysis relevant climate data and climate change forecast information available about the target region and outline potential impact outlooks and implications for the agricultural sector and required adaptation.

Meeting of the Four Regional Committees, Bangkok (October 11)
ACDP in partnership with the UNESCAP organised a meeting of the ASEAN Committee for Disaster Management (ACDM), Haze Technical Task Force (HTTF), Typhoon Committee, and Mekong River Commission (MRC) to facilitate dialogue amongst the committees for mutual cooperation on disaster risk management, including community based approaches.

Crisis Management Course in Phuket (October 12-14), Phang Nga, (October 17-19)
This month, ADPC is organising two training courses on Crisis Management with the funding support from UNDP in Phuket and Phang Nga province of Thailand. The aim of the training course is to reduce the likelihood of crisis, minimise the harm caused by a crisis event and continuously improve its crisis management ability. These are the series of training courses being offered to government officials from DDPM in different provinces affected by Tsunami. There will be a total number of 8 training courses - 6 courses on Crisis Management and 2 on Damage and Need Assessment to be conducted during October 2005 to February 2006.

National Consultation Workshop on Community Based Disaster Risk Management Indonesia (October 17-18)
APDC is implementing national workshops on community based disaster risk management in Indonesia This workshop will focus on sharing of CBDRM experiences and identification of issues and challenges, and development of strategies for future strengthening of CBDRM practices in the countries.

Lao National Workshop on Standards for CBDRM good practice Lao PDR (October 13-14) and Vietnam (October 19-21)
The two workshops in Lao PDR and Vietnam will focus on development of national standards on community based disaster risk management. The workshops will be attended by CBDRM Practitioners from NGOs and National Disaster Management Organisations(NDMO’s). It is expected that the formulation of these standards will help to improve the practice of CBDRM in the 2 countries.

1^st International Workshop on Management of Dead and Missing in Disasters (October 24-28)
The first international workshop on the Management of the Dead and the Missing in Disasters (MDM Programme) will be organised by ADPC and the three regional offices of the World Health Organisation namely, the South East Asia, Western Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO-SEARO/WPRO/EMRO). The earlier announced workshop in the month of September has been rescheduled for 24-28 October which was initially planned on 26-30 September 2005.

7th Regional Training Course on Flood Disaster Risk Management (FDRM-7), Bangkok (24 October - 4 November)
The 7th Flood Disaster Risk Management Course is being organised 24 October to 4 November in AITCC, Bangkok. The course is an integrated approach to development of flood risk reduction strategies that involves engineering, settlement, development, public administration, community-based strategies and land use planning. This course is designed for the disaster managers working on flood hazards and would benefit the private land and settlement developers, officials and personnel of relief and rehabilitation agencies, the United Nations and similar international bodies, and NGOs involved in disaster mitigation.

UPCOMING IN NOVEMBER

• Visit to Thailand for the delegation of Shanghai Municipal Civil Defence Office, Shanghai, China, November 6-10
  
• 32nd Regional Training Course on Disaster Management, Bangkok, November 7-25
  
• Multi-hazard Risk Assessment Proposal for a distance education course and CASITA Development workshop in Hanoi, November 14-25