Editorial Dear Readers, ADPC achieved another milestone by successfully conducting the first ever Regional training course on End-to-End Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems for Disaster Risk Reduction from 15 - 26 September 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. The course was attended by 26 participants from the region and beyond. The course, under the able leadership of Mr. A.R. Subbiah, Director of ADPC’s Climate Risk Management Team and the ADPC-facilitated Regional Multi-hazard Early Warning System builds the capacity of professionals to design, manage, evaluate and undertake improvements in people cantered end-to-end early warning systems for hydro-meteorological & geological hazards and extreme events associated with climate change and variability. It builds upon ADPC's two decades of experience in disaster management, facilitating regional cooperation and building capacities of disaster management institutions at all government levels, disaster management practitioners and communities. It extends to institutionalizing weather and climate information applications for disaster mitigation and recently, in the implementation of Indian Ocean and South East Asia end-to-end early warning system for tsunami and hydro-meteorological hazards. International practitioners and experts from different organizations all over the world complemented ADPC's in-house expertise in conducting and delivering the course. ADPC’s diverse and dedicated EWS technical professionals with expertise in early warning systems ranged from meteorology to social sciences.  ADPC will undertake a project to capture regional DRR initiatives by various regional organizations, intra-governmental agencies and United Nations organizations on past, ongoing and planned activities for 2005-2009. It will build on earlier and existing stocktaking efforts, and learn from their strengths and shortcomings.  This project is an ISDR Asia Partnership initiative with funding support from the Asian Development Bank. The purpose of the regional stock taking and mapping of disaster risk reduction interventions is to present an overview of DRR interventions within the broader context of the regional disaster risk profile. The collated information will not only contribute to improved regional planning and programming and highlight the areas for cooperation among regional/sub- regional organizations, it will also add to periodic progress reviews and reporting processes at the regional/sub-regional levels. In addition, it will assist donor agencies and decision-makers to channel resources and efforts that can meet their own policy and programmatic imperatives while implementing DRR. I am further pleased to invite you to browse through our website www.adpc.net for more ADPC news updates, publications, events and training calendar for 2008. On that note, I now inform you about our activities for the month of September 2008.   Dr. Bhichit Rattakul Executive Director Asian Disaster Preparedness Center  ADPC in action ADPC under its Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP), conducted the following activities in Bangladesh: Contingency planning project Agency Level Meetings were held with first responder organizations such as Disaster Management Bureau (DMB), DG-Health Services, Armed Forces Division (AFD), Fire Services & Civil Defense city Corporations for follow up agency level contingency plan. ADPC has submitted the development, validation and execution of Interim Contingency Plan among organizations. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting was held on 18th September to review the deliverable IV submitted by ADPC Seismic hazard and vulnerability project ADPC submitted the interim report on Time Predictive Fault modeling to CDMP Special TAG meetings were held on 7-8 September to discuss management issues related to execution of ADPC managed projects under CDMP and also to discuss technical issues. These meetings were participated by APDC Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Loy Rego & Earthquake & Tsunami Preparedness Program Team Leader, Mr. N.M.S.I. Arambepola. Training, advocacy and awareness project Field based training has been conducted for the field staff of ADPC and BDPC (local Partner) on seismic vulnerability assessment and evacuation plan of school buildings. The main purpose of the training was to develop the skills for conducting the vulnerability assessment of the selected schools in three cities. ADPC under its Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia (PROMISE) project carried out the following activities, Philippines   2nd National Community Conference on Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) –Held on 12 – 13 September in Quezon City, attended by around 130 participants including representatives from eight pilot barangays of PROMISE. The community conference provided an effective venue for various people’s organizations from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to discuss priority issues related to DRM. They collectively thought of feasible solutions to address the identified concerns such as Strategic National Action Plan, DRM Bill and Climate Change. Education Cluster Meeting – Held on 29 Sept. 2008. PROMISE in Dagupan was able to update on the received educational books of Dagupan City. Furthermore, Promise partner was asked help in mainstreaming DRR in the Educational System in Dagupan City Third MGDRR course – Jointly organized with ADPC and provided resource inputs sharing Dagupan experience on PROMISE CBDRM Training Learning Circle Write shop - CBDRM TLC write shop was on September 10-11, 2008 aimed to address gaps in CBDRM – related training materials in the Philippines. Issues discussed were: Gender and DRR; Accountability and Ethics; Community Resilience Indicators, Monitoring and Evaluation; Climate Change and CBDRM; Cases on Integrating DRM in Academic Curriculum and Programs; and Armed Conflict and Peace Building. 52 participants had attended including two from Dagupan City TWG- The write shop created venues for networking and helped in addressing gaps in CBDRM training materials. Groups were formed to address the identified gaps based on the topics discussed. CDP was the main secretariat for the event. Indonesia Final Action Planning facilitated by alumni TOT supervised by Institute of Technology Bandung, Research Assistants with the case for Rukun waga 1, and 2 of Kelurahan Kebon Baru of sub district Tebet under Selatan Municipality of Jakarta Finalizing action planning for  RW 9 and 10 and to be accommodated for Kelurahan Kebon Baru Participation in MDRRG-3 held in Manila, Philippines from 1 – 5 September 2008 Meetings and discussions on Emergency Management & Response Planning at City Level Coordination among PROMISE team and Jakarta Provincial Govt. for handling Jakarta flood. Coordination with school principal for developing and Implementation of School Action Plan in SMAN 8 as a pilot project ADPC under its Strengthening Household Abilities for Responding to Development Opportunities (SHOUHARDO) project carried out the following activities, Preparation for Disaster Risk Reduction Rally- To celebrate the International Disaster Risk Reduction Day 2008, preliminary discussions were made with the municipalities, CARE and partner NGOs in Jamalpur and Cox's Bazaar. Disaster Risk Reduction Rally in Jamalpur and Cox's Bazaar- Rallies will be held on 15th and 20th October in Jamalpur and Cox's Bazaar respectively. This rally will complement to International Disaster Risk Reduction Day 2008 and Municipality is taking the lead role in the event by providing all kind and cash support. The rally will be concluded with the drawing competition among school children on DRR. Inauguration of Disaster Management Unit: Cox's Bazaar Municipality has inaugurated the Disaster Management Unit officially and requested all the stakeholders to prepare the CITIZEN CHARTER for DRR and put collective effort to activate the unit. Training and Learning Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Local Governance Course No. 3, 1 – 5 Sep, Manila, Philippines The course enhanced knowledge and capacity of local urban authorities, associated NGOs and other stakeholders in streamlining disaster risk reduction in urban development. It created opportunities for mainstreaming risk reduction as a component of urban governance. The secondary objective of the training was to build the capacity of national training partner institutions, which will make an attempt to institutionalize the capacity building program on this theme at national level. This would also help communities at risk and NGOs to support the governance and participate in creating safer urban communities and sustainable development through DRR.  Training on knowledge network and facilitation, 3 – 5 Sep, Teheran, Iran The training was participated by knowledge network facilitators, project volunteers and representatives from National Task force.  Contingency plans for MENA, 8-12 Sep, Ankara, Turkey Training cum workshop for Red Cross and Red Crescent societies of MENA region was conducted for participants from Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Turkey. Twenty-two (22) officers participated in the workshop.   Pilot training workshop for Community-Based AHI Management Practitioners, under the ADB funded project on “Strengthening Community-Based Management of AHI in Asia”, 27-31 Oct, Bangkok, Thailand The pilot training workshop for community-based management of AHI in collaboration with IFRC, IRC, CARE International was conducted with funding support from the Canadian Government via ADB. The project contributes to the development of a training package for community-level AHI management practitioners. The training package builds on the experience, case studies, and tools that have been brought together through the resource kit, as well as the technical contributions from facilitators and resource persons with key objectives to,  sensitise community-level practitioners to tools and processes that are currently available to strengthen their work at the community level in managing different aspects of AHI. give an overview of 'good practices' and useful tools – based on past experience of community-based management of AHI in Asia – and taught to think critically about these and how they can be applied in their own context Practitioners will contribute to the evaluation of the training materials and, through this evaluation, to the finalisation of a training package for community-based management of AHI ADPC Website Resources New Publications:  Simulation exercises on influenza pandemic responses in the Asia-Pacic region Regional experiences on institutionalization of CBDRM in South-East Asia Regional Experiences on the Integration of CBDRM into the Local Development Planning in Southeast Asia CBDRM and Poverty Reduction ADPC Newsletter: Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction, May-Aug 08 Forthcoming Activities Second National Public Health and Emergency Management in Asia and the Pacific (PHEMAP) Course Coordinators Workshop, 10-14 Nov, Bangkok, Thailand ADPC’s Public Health and Emergency Management in Asia and the Pacific (PHEMAP) program is designed to strengthen the national capacities for managing health risk of emergencies in Asia and the Pacific region in collaboration with WHO-WPRO, WHO-SEARO and the Royal Government of Norway and ADPC. As one of the activities of PHEMAP program, the second National PHEMAP Course Coordinators Workshop will be organized in Bangkok to familiarize PHEMAP Course Coordinators with the concept of the PHEMAP course curriculum and provide guidance on conducting National PHEMAP Courses including administrative procedures and teaching methodologies. Representatives of seven (7) member states of WHO-SEARO and eight (8) member states of WHO-WPRO will participate in the Course Coordinators Workshop. The workshop will enable participants to conduct a national PHEMAP course, Based on the framework provided by the Inter-regional PHEMAP curriculum Based on the principles of adult learning Adapted to their national context Administered effectively and efficiently 38th  Regional  Training  on Disaster  Management  Course  (DMC‐38), 10–28 Nov, Bangkok, Thailand The  purpose  of  the  course  is  to  provide  comprehensive  disaster  management  knowledge  and  skills  to  enhance  the  capabilities  of  mnagers  who  have  key  disaster  management  responsibilities.   It  is  designed  to  enable  professionals  working  in  disaster  management,  development  and  donor  agencies  to  effectively  integrate  disaster  management  into  their  programs  and  policies.  Participants  will  be  encouraged  to  develop  key  skills  and  adopt  proactive  attitudes  through  participation  in  interactive  lectues  and  reflection  on  a  range  of  key  issues  raised  during  discussions  and  practical  activities.   By  completing  the  DMC  participants  will  learn  how  to: *  develop  effective  strategies  and  systems  for  disaster  prevention,  mitigation,  response  and  recovery *  apply  risk  management  processes  in  order  to  identify,  assess  and  deal  with disaster  risks *  utilise  an  emergency  coordination  center  to  manage  disaster  events *  assess  key  implementation  issues  and  requirements  in  disaster  management   2nd Regional Training Course on Climate Risk Management: Science, Institutions and Society, 17-28 Nov, Bangkok, Thailand ADPC will be conducting the Second Regional Training Course on Climate Risk Management: Science, Institutions, and Society, which aims to build the capacity of professionals to manage risks associated with climate variability, change, and extremes. It builds upon the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center’s (ADPC) two decades of experience in disaster management, facilitating regional cooperation and building capacities of disaster management institutions at all government levels, disaster management practitioners and communities, and a decade of experience in institutionalizing climate information applications for disaster mitigation. It incorporates case studies and sectoral examples from ADPC’s climate risk management programs and projects all over Asia. Upon completing the course, participants will be able to: 1) design early warning systems for climate-related risks; 2) design climate risk management, climate forecast applications, and climate change adaptation projects, and 3) develop tools to integrate climate risk management practices into development programs and policies. The first CRM course offering was completed in May 2008 with 27 participants from 14 countries. Postponement of International Training Course on Hospital Emergency Preparedness and Response” (HEPR-6), 16-20 Feb 2009, Bangkok, Thailand ADPC is announcing the postponement of the training course on "Hospital Emergency Preparedness and Response (HEPR-6) scheduled on 20-24 October 2008. The course has been rescheduled for 16-20 February 2009. We expect the postponement would allow more health care facilities to participate in this course.   The HEPR,  fee based course (USD 1,500 per person) is a five-day course is designed to assist health personnel, both administrative and medical, to prepare health care facilities and personnel to respond effectively to internal or community emergencies that involve large numbers of casualties. The course will enable course participants to develop well designed facility-specific plans to respond to emergencies. Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to: Describe the role of health care facilities in disaster management Apply a method of assessing components of a health care facility. Simulate a mass casualty incident addressing the roles and responsibilities of each component of Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS). Discuss the basic medical requirements of managing mass casualty incidents. Apply on-site medical care concepts to specific emergency situations. Prepare an outline of a health care facility disaster preparedness plan including response and recovery. Kindly visit www.adpc.net for more information on training courses.