In Memoriam

Col. Brian Ward: a man of great wisdom and insight, dedication to the cause of disaster risk reduction, deep love for the (Asian Disaster Preparedness) Center he founded and nurtured up until his death, and an inspirational mentor to a generation of disaster management practitioners. In recognition of his outstanding personal contribution to disaster reduction, Col. Brian Ward was awarded the United Nations Sasakawa Certificate of Distinction in 2001.

With a heavy heart, we inform the disaster management community of the death of Col Brian Ward last Saturday, 12 June 2004, in the UK.

Col. Brian Ward's distinguished professional career spanned over five decades in several related fields. He served the Royal Engineers Corps of the British Army for over 20 years in the UK, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand . He then worked for over 10 years with the League of Red Cross Societies (LRCS, now the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - IFRC) as delegate and Chief delegate in several countries of Africa and Asia . During this period, he also undertook missions as Technical Advisor to the United Nations Disaster Relief Office (UNDRO, now the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - UNOCHA) on disaster management capacity building in countries in Asia and the Pacific.

In 1985, Col. Ward was commissioned by UNDRO, with funding support from the United Nations Development Programme, to assess the needs of Asian and Pacific countries in disaster management. Seeing the need for substantial capacity building of national disaster management systems, he recommended the establishment of a regional Center. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center was thus established at the Asian Institute of Technology in 1986, and Col. Brian Ward was invited to serve as its first Director, which he did with distinction for over 7 years.

In 1992, he retired after shepherding the Center to be recognized as a key technical resource in disaster management. By that time, ADPC had trained over 1,000 people from nearly 60 countries in various workshops and seminars, conducted more than 100 technical advisory or liaison missions, written two seminal books for the Asian Development Bank (Disaster Mitigation in Asia and the Pacific and Disaster Management: A Disaster Manager's Handbook), and expanded from a staff of 6 to 20 people.

From 1998 onwards, he returned to guide the transition of ADPC to the status of an independent foundation. From 1999 till his demise, he served as Director Emeritus and Special Advisor, as well as member of the ADPC Board of Trustees. During his long career for ADPC, LRCS and UNDRO, he undertook numerous senior-level disaster-related technical advisory missions in Asia, the Pacific and Africa including Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, China, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, Vietnam, Western Samoa and Yemen.

Col. Ward provided visionary leadership to the Center, insightful wisdom and exemplary professional commitment, and was a source of inspiration and mentor to a generation of disaster management professionals and institutions throughout Asia and the Pacific. To the man whom we have great affection for, a man of candour, conviction, high values and great sense of humor, whose love for his work was evident in his personal sacrifice, a man from whom we have drawn ideas and wisdom, as well as inspiration and determination to actualize these ideals, we are forever grateful and shall remain committed to the course he charted.

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center