|
|
October 2005-Issue 13
Dear Readers,
This month we are happy to inform you that a
joint event has been organised by UNESCAP
and ADPC to commemorate the International
Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on 12
October. This month ADPC is also happy to
announce the implementation of two new
projects on Community Self Reliance and
Flood Reduction in Cambodia with the funding
assistance from ADB and Programme for
Hydro-Meteorological Risk Mitigation in
Asian Cities funded by USAID/OFDA.
Last month on September 30, we had a great
pleasure welcoming the Assistant Deputy
Minister of Earth and Sciences Sector (ESS)
of Natural Resources Canada. On September
19, we were honoured have Ambassador Pieter
Jozef Theofile Marres, of The Royal
Netherlands Embassy for the opening of 5th
Regional Training Course on Tsunami and
Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for
Cities (ECRC-5) in Phuket.
Suvit Yodmani, Executive Director, Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center
ACTIVITIES
ADB Community Self Reliance and Flood
Risk Reduction in Cambodia
With the assistance from ADB, ADPC has
launched a Community Self Reliance and Flood
Risk Reduction programme to assist the
Government of Cambodia, non-government
organizations (NGOs) and local leaders
become better prepared for extreme flood
events, and to build capacity at the
community-level for flood disaster
prevention and mitigation. The outcome of
the 14 months (2 phase) programme will be
the adoption of improved participatory flood
risk management principles by village
development councils and targeted vulnerable
communities in the provinces of Takeo, Svay
Rieng, Prey Veng and Kandal in Cambodia.
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.
EVENTS
Visit of USAID/NOAA, USGS, USTDA, IRG and
Tetra Tech Inc. officials for USAID Indian
Ocean Tsunami Warning System Programme,
Thailand (September 15)
The United States government has launched
the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS)
programme in response to the December 2004
tsunami disaster. This programme will
contribute to the development of integrated
early warning and mitigation systems that
allow countries in the Indian Ocean region
to detect and prepare for tsunamis and
related coastal hazards. ADPC welcomed key
specialised officials in tsunami warning and
disaster management and briefed them on
ADPC’s Climate programme and the regional
early warning system designed by ADPC for
South East Asia.
Visit of the Assistant Deputy Minister of
Earth and Sciences Sector (ESS) of Natural
Resources Canada (September 30)
ADPC welcomed Dr. Irwin Itzkovitch,
Assistant Deputy Minister of Earth and
Sciences Sector (ESS) of Natural Resources
Canada and the delegation and briefed them
on ADPC’s active involvement in the region
with particular focus on ADPC’s Climate
Programmes and on the Regional Early Warning
System designed by ADPC for South East Asia.
The briefing was followed by a very fruitful
discussion on possible collaboration between
Government of Canada and ADPC.
International Day for Natural Disaster
Reduction (IDNDR Day) (October 12)
Since 2000, the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
and ADPC have jointly organised the
UNESCAP-ADPC Annual Forum on Natural
Disaster Reduction to commemorate the
International Day for Natural Disaster
Reduction each year on the 12th
October. During the Annual Forum in 2004,
UNESCAP and ADPC jointly inaugurated the
annual Journalism Award for Outstanding
“Reporting on Emergencies and Disasters”.
This year, the IDNDR day is marked by a
panel discussion on “Reducing Disaster Risk
using Micro-finance and safety nets” and
“Post-tsunami rehabilitation and
Reconstruction” and a poster exhibition. The
opening of this one-day event will be
presided by Thailand’s Vice Minister of
Interior, H.E. Mr. Kosin Kesthong.
WORKSHOPS/TRAINING
Planning Workshop on Public Awareness and
Education Component of Early Warning
Strengthening Project, Bangkok (September
7-8)
ADPC attended the Planning Workshop on
Public Awareness and Education Component of
Early Warning Strengthening Project
organised by the UNECAP and ISDR held at
UNESCAP, Bangkok from 7-8 September. The
main objectives of the workshop were to
review the project and its public awareness
and education objectives; to share
experiences on successful public awareness
and education initiatives; identify main
target audiences and to priorities the
possible activities and products and decide
on the projects to be supported by funds and
partnership. Seven ADPC experts attended the
workshop and also Chaired the working group
session on Community based awareness.
Basic Emergency Response Instructors
Course (October 3-21), Thailand
ADPC in collaboration with United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) and Department of
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) is
organising a three-week, 1st batch of Basic
Emergency Response and Skill of Effective
Training Course in Bangkok. The training
course will provide basic knowledge and
skills to emergency responders to manage
patients’ safely and effectively during
emergency and disasters situations. The
course is designed for individuals who are
most likely to be first on the scene of a
disaster and those who are expected to
perform search and rescue functions as and
when a disaster incident occurs. A total of
about 72 participants from medical first
response personnel from government agencies
and civil society, designated search and
rescue teams, and laypersons in the
community will participate in the 3 training
courses.
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.
1st 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
|
|
