March 2006 Issue No 18

 ADPC joins the first Emergency Crew with Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) South-East Base in Leyte, Philippines (16 February-5 March)

A massive landslide in Leyte, Philippines followed by heavy rains destroyed hundreds of houses and several hundred lives. ADPC in partnership with TSF established an emergency telecommunications response mission in St. Bernard Operations Center to give efficient communication service mainly the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, local and international NGOs, and government officials. The mission helped to coordinate, offer support and assist the affected people providing them a link with the outside world. The mission also assisted to coordinate and strengthen emergency communication requirements in the worst affected zones through its satellite facilities.

Capacity Building Activities in Dhaka (28 February-2 March) 

Experts from ADPC carried out  capacity building activities under the project “Climate Forecast Applications and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry Sectors of the Hawr Region and the Coastal Belt” in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 28 February–2 March. The project was conducted with the funding support from FAO.

Community Evacuation Drill in Phang Nga (10 March)

Baan Nam Khem Community, Phang Nga  conducted the Community Evacuation Drill facilitated by ADPC and DDPM under the UNDP-EWSP programme on 10 March  2006 in Phang Nga in collaboration with the Community Committee, TAO of Bang Muang and the local government organisations. The main objectives of this activity was to reinforce the community participation on Community Based Disaster Risk Management by activating the function of community in planning; conducting evacuation drill and to evaluate community's disaster preparedness plan through implementation. This is part of the ADPC End-to-End TEWS for five countries of Southeast Asia.

Mekong River Commission - ECHO II Project Evaluation, Cambodia and Loa PDR, (10-30 March)

ADPC in consultation with MRC's will be conducting the “End of Project Evaluation” in the selected target countries (Cambodia and Lao PDR).  The evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the activities carried out under the project as well as advise strategies to ensure the continuation of the flood preparedness planning process at the provincial and district levels in the lower Mekong Basin Countries. An external evaluator is being hired in agreement with the Donor. The ADPC and MRC's project team will participate in the process and the evaluation will be carried out under the guidance of the Team Leader, ADPC.

2nd Meeting with Business Groups in Vietnam, Hanoi (15 March )

The 2nd Meeting with Business Groups in Vietnam is a follow-up to the 1st Meeting with Business Groups in Vietnam held on 1 December 2005.   The 1st Meeting orientated the business firms on the hazards and risks that are present in the contexts where they operate. The meeting discussed the potential disaster risks that might be caused by the business activities and the importance of identifying risk and action planning for managing those risks; and identified the potential activities that business could undertake in order to ensure safety of the business, employees and the communities where such businesses are located. The 2nd Meeting is tentatively scheduled for the 15 March , 2006 and discussions are being held with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on further collaboration on this initiative. The 2nd Meeting will aim to draft a plan and identify resources and mechanisms to facilitate the undertaking of the activities identified during the 1st Meeting. http://www.pdrsea.3-a.net/

Public Health in Emergencies Management in Asia and the Pacific (PHEMAP) Curriculum Review, Bangkok (20-24March)

PHEMAP is the inter-regional training course jointly organised by the ADPC, WHO-SEARO and WPRO in Asia and the Pacific. The objective of this activity is to review and develop a set of PHEMAP course manuals for use in the inter-regional PHEMAP course, and for adaptation in PHEMAP national courses. The course aims at helping countries of the region to develop more effective policy, procedures, plans, guidelines and standards of best practice for health sector emergency management.

EVENTS

Welcome for Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (16 February)

ADPC welcomed Hon. Minister Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe - Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to ADPC on 16 February 2006. Hon. Minister was accompanied by H.E. Mr. J.D.A. Wijewardena, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand, Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi, Director General of Disaster Management Centre, and Mr. G. H. P. Dharmaratna, Director General of Meteorology, Sri Lanka. The meeting provided an opportunity to brief Hon. Minister on ADPC’s activities and involvement in the region, particularly in Sri Lanka. The meeting further enhanced the on-going partnership and collaboration between Government of Sri Lanka and ADPC. Sri Lanka is one of nine founding members of ADPC as an International Intergovernmental Organisation being one of the first countries to ratify the charter of ADPC. 

Welcome for the Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bangkok, (21 February)

ADPC welcomed H.E. Mr. Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji - Secretary General of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on 21 February 2006. The meeting provided an opportunity to brief H.E Mr. Dorji on ADPC’s activities and involvement in the region and to further enhance the on-going partnership and collaboration between SAARC and ADPC.

Presentation on “Creating a Community Medical Emergency Program”, Bangkok (22 February) 

ADPC in partnership with Thammasat University’s School of Public Heath and DDPM organised a half-day event on “Creating a Community Medical Emergency Program” at Thammasat University on February 21, 2006. The event featured a presentation on the issue by Mr. Phillip Walker, Emergency Management Coordinator & Federal Coordinating Center Veterans Affairs Medical System in the Texas Medical Center, Houston. The focus was on establishment of Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and Supplemental Emergency Response Plan (SERP) as parts of disaster mitigation. The presentation discussed lessons learned from two major disasters that affected Houston, Texas, USA - the great flood caused by Tropical Storm Allison (June 2001) and the disasters caused by Hurricanes Katrina & Rita (September 2005).

International Women’s Day, Bangkok (8 March)

ADPC in partnership with United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) organised an event to celebrate “Emergencies and the Strength of Women,” to mark the International Women’s Day on 8^th March 2006 at The Royal Princess Hotel, Larn Luang, Bangkok.  The event acknowledged and honoured outstanding Women and Organisations.  The forum through its talks and presentations highlighted women’s unique role in disaster and post-disaster rebuilding. Mrs. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Secretary General of Duang Prateep Foundation and World Vision Foundation of Thailand, gave an insight into the grass root activities of their organizations. The event was well represented by several UN agencies, NGO’s, International organizations, members of the community and the Press. The one day event was opened by H .E. Mrs. Merete Fjeld Brattested, Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand, and Honourable Thanpuying Sumalee Chartikavanij, Founder & President of Thai Women Watch.

WORKSHOP & TRAININGS

UNDP/AIT/ADPC Training Activity under the USAID/AIT/ADPC Livelihood Program, Ranong                    (1-5 March)

The Livelihood Programme is an initiative by USAID, AIT and ADPC, in partnership with the Tambon Kam Phuan, Suk Samran District, Ranong Province, Thailand. As part of the initiative, ADPC agreed to conduct a series of training activities in Ranong Province aimed at building the capacities related to Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) of local villages within the Tsunami impacted areas of Ranong Province.  The first activity was conducted in December 2005 and the second CBDRM for communities in Ranong was conducted during 1-5 March 2006 in Ranong, Thailand.  The second activity is designed to build on and to re-enforce lessons from the first activity.

Curriculum Development Workshop on Governance and Risk Management, Bangkok (2-3 March)                 ADPC, under the Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation for Secondary Cities in Asia (PROMISE)  organised a two-day Curriculum Development Workshop on Governance and Risk Management with the funding support from USAID/OFDA. Participants for the workshop were representatives of the local partners in five targeted countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, of the PROMISE project. The workshop was held on 2-3 March 2006 at AIT Center Bangkok, Thailand.

Climate Change, Seasonality and Environmental Hazard workshop, Bangkok (6-9 March)                        ADPC experts participated in the “Climate Change, Seasonality and Environmental Hazard” workshop in Bangkok on 6-9 March 2006. The workshop was organised by the Center for Capacity Building, National Center for Atmospheric Research  (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Training Course on Community Based Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation, Sri Lanka (13-17 March)            ADPC under the PROMISE project is organising a training course on “Community Based Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation” on 13-17 March 2006 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. This training course will be organised primarily for the staff members of SARVODAYA, the local partner institution for PROMISE Sri Lanka, and other stakeholders by ADPC with the funding support from USAID/OFDA.

 Workshop on Earthquake Vulnerability and Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment: Geospatial Tools for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Efforts, Pakistan (13-31 March)ADPC is organising a three-week workshop on “Earthquake Vulnerability and Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment: Geospatial Tools for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Efforts” from 13–31 March in Peshawar, Pakistan. The workshop will be jointly organised by National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar Pakistan, International Institute for Geo-information Sciences and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands, UN University Japan, Integrated Center for Information on Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Kathmandu, and ADPC. Participants for the workshop include officials from variety of NGOs and Local and Government Agencies in Pakistan.

Training Course on Community Based Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation, Indonesia (14-16 March)                     Training Course on “Community Based Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation” will be organised for the M.Sc students of Geoinformation for Disaster Management at University of Gadjah Madah, Jogjakarta, Indonesia. This training would be held from 14-16 March 2006 under the CASITA Phase II project being implemented by ADPC in Collaboration with ITC, Netherlands and Bonn University, Germany with the funding support from EU’s Asia IT&C Programme.

Workshop on Emergency Telecommunications for Disaster Management, Dhaka, Bangladesh                 (15-20 March)

ADPC experts will be in Bangladesh to conduct the ITU Workshop on “Emergency Telecommunications for Disaster Management” from 15-20 March 2006.  The project, in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), aims to prepare a general telecommunication plan for an early warning system for Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. 

Workshop on Kratie District Flood Preparedness Planning (FPP), Cambodia (21-22 March)                     ADPC in consultation with the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), Cambodia and Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC) will organise a one and half day workshop on 21-22 March in Kratie, Cambodia. The focus of the workshop would be to arrive at consensus on the flood preparedness planning process and in particular to review and reach agreement on roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders. Participants for the workshop will include all members of the DCDM, members of PCDM, District Red Cross and NGOs.

 Workshop in Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA), Pakistan (21-29 March)                         ADPC is organising three two-day workshops on “Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA)” funded by UNISDR/UNOCHA on 21-29 March in the three cities of Pakistan namely Abbottabad, Mansehra and Muzaffarabad. The DANA course aims to train and create a cadre of disaster managers with a standard methodology and protocols for assessing and reporting post disaster damage and needs so as to facilitate response to disasters by optimising the mobilisation and utilisation of resources for relief and recovery. These trained disaster managers would then also provide damage assessment and needs analysis training to others at the national, provincial and local levels.

 National CBDRM Standards Workshop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, (28-29 March)                                     ADPC is organising a three-day national workshop in Phnom Penh for developing criteria on CBDRM good practice and impact indicators for CBDRM projects with the funding support from DIPECHO. Criteria and indicators for assessment of vulnerability at family and community levels will also be developed in the workshop. The outputs of this activity should lead towards improvements in the practice of Community Based Disaster Risk Management in Cambodia. The earlier announced National CBDRM Standards workshop in the month of February has been rescheduled for 28-29 March which was initially planned on 27-28 February 2006.

Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Course (EVRC), Bangladesh, (27-31 March)

ADPC in collaboration with CARE-Bangladesh is organising a training course on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Course (EVRC) from 27-31 2006 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The course is designed to provide greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes and tsunami and how to mitigate such impacts in order to reduce damage and loss of lives from these destructive events. About 30 participants from CARE, Chittagong City Corporation, USAID, World Vision, SCF/USA, SHOUHARDO partner NGOs, Bangladesh Earthquake Society etc. will attend the training course.

Follow up visit to Lao PDR and Consultation with National Agencies involved in Flood Preparedness Planning (FPP), Lao PDR (28-30 March)

 The ADPC and MRCS project team will visit the selected target provinces in Lao PDR and meet the officials of the Provincial Disaster Management Committee (PDMC) to discuss the outcomes of the training programme conducted in these provinces and continuation of the Flood Preparedness Planning process in their provinces. In addition, one day consultation with the National Agencies such as Lao National Mekong Committee (LNMC), National Disaster Management Organisation (NDMO) Lao, relevant line agencies and NGOs will be organised in Vientiane to discuss the training outcomes and strategies for future flood preparedness activities in Lao PDR.

Disaster Management Course (DMC), Pakistan, (3-7 April)

The Disaster Management Course (DMC) funded by UNISDR/UNOCHA will be conducted in Karachi, Pakistan from 3-7 April 2006. The course aims to provide comprehensive disaster management knowledge and skills to enhance the capabilities of executive managers who have key disaster management responsibilities. Participants for the training course include officials from variety of NGOs and Local and Government Agencies in Pakistan.