Community Basic Emergency Response Course (C-BERC), 29 Jan-2 Feb, Thailand

ADPC with collaborating partner UNDP provided the knowledge and skills needed to render first aid on-site to sick or injured persons, to stabilize their condition and prepare them for transportation to a medical facility at the DPM Academy, Phuket.
Specific outcomes of the course were as follows:
-Listing of steps for preparing the first responder's equipment;
-Describing the method for receiving and documenting a request for assistance, reporting on the situation and requesting resources;
-Listing the steps for securing the scene and gaining access to the victim;
-Describing patient assessment and selecting the correct equipment to provide care;
-Describing the procedures for stabilizing, preparing and transporting a patient.

Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) project, 4-15 Feb, India

ADPC, under its Early Warning System Program is in a mission to Tamil Nadu, India to discuss with the State Relief Commissioners office on proposed Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) project activities and its implementation; to develop a local level implementation strategy with local level authorities; and to network and develop partnerships with local agencies for the implementation of the project activities.

MRC-ADPC ECHO III Project, 5-15 Feb, Cambodia

The ADPC-MRC-ECHO Project on support to Implementation of Flood Preparedness Programs at provincial, district and commune levels in the Lower Mekong Basin (Phase III), has been initiated since 15 January 2007. As part of project initiation, the team is visiting Cambodia (Phnom Penh and the target province) to discuss the project activities and to finalize the country specific implementation plan. The ECHO III project covers Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia focusing on Flood Preparedness at Province, District and Commune level. The project initiation visit to Lao PDR and Vietnam was made in December 2006.

The Climate Field Schools, 5-15 Feb, Philippines

ADPC, under its Climate Risk Management Unit, together with the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), is on mission to the Philippines to finalize arrangements for the implementation of the Climate Field School in Dumangas, Iloilo Province under the USAID-supported Climate Forecast Applications (CFA) for Disaster Mitigation program. Responding to the invitation of the Antique Provincial Agriculture Office, ADPC and PAGASA will also visit San Jose, Antique in order to start discussions about the potential replication of CFA program in the said province. In Manila, ADPC will conduct research about the PAGASA-led Climate Forum-an institutional mechanism that allows PAGASA to dialogue with and get feedback from the forecast user community.

Climate Forecast Applications in Bangladesh II, 7-16 Feb, Bangladesh

Under the Flood Forecast Technology for Disaster Preparedness Project in Bangladesh (also known as Climate Forecast Applications in Bangladesh II), ADPC is on mission to Dhaka to meet with the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre and Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) and discuss follow-up activities after the December 2006 project-wide workshop and Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) training program; to collect data in all five pilot sites for the site profiling report to be submitted to CARE-Bangladesh; to initiate discussion on potential participants for the training program, which will be organized by the Climate Forecast Applications Network (CFAN) in March 2007; and to finalize expenditure statement and third quarter activities report to CARE-Bangladesh. The project is supported by USAID Bangladesh through CARE Bangladesh.

Project initiation mission to initiate the Priority Implementation Project under the RCC MDRD Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Education Sector in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Philippines, starting January 2007, 12-16 Feb, Cambodia

The Disaster Management Systems of ADPC in partnership with UNDP and ECHO has initiated since 15 January the implementation of the Priority Implementation Project under the RCC MDRD Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Education Sector. The project is funded by ECHO under the DIPECHO 5th Action Plan for South East Asia and would be implemented over a period of 15 months in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Philippines. In February, the project team would be making project initiation mission to Cambodia, to meet the project partners, namely the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) and the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sports.

Community Self-Reliance and Flood Risk Reduction, Cambodia (ADB TA), 12-16 Feb

The ADB funded Technical Assistance on Community Self Reliance and Flood Risk Reduction, implemented by the Disaster Management System (DMS) team of ADPC along with the Department of Hydrology and River Work, Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, Cambodia, is currently in its second phase, where two selected NGOs in Cambodia namely, Church World Service (CWS) and Chamroen Chiet Khmer (CCK) are implementing a pilot project on community based flood preparedness and mitigation works, of 9 months duration starting from July 2006. In the month of February, field visits to the project sites would be conducted by the ADPC project team for monitoring the progress of the pilot projects.

ProVention Consortium Forum, 13-15 Feb, Tanzania

ADPC's Disaster Management Systems Team would be participating at the ProVention Consortium Forum to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The forum will be focusing on the central theme of 'Making Disaster Risk Reduction Work' and highlighting the practical experiences and challenges faced by ProVention partners in reducing vulnerability and enhancing resilience of the communities they work with. With broad participation from ProVention partners around the world, the forum will examine key issues from both, a global perspective and a special focus on Africa.

Cambodia Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (CDRR) Meeting, 14 Feb, Cambodia

ADPC's Disaster Management Systems team will be participating in the CDRR forum meeting, being organized by the National Committee of Disaster Management (NCDM). The CDRR Forum is a network of national and international NGOs, Red Cross societies working in Cambodia to facilitate exchange of disaster risk reduction experiences. The CDRR forum would be attended by donors such as DIPECHO, WHO etc besides the forum members. One of the objectives of the forum will be to discuss integration of disaster preparedness to the local (commune) development plan. ADPC has played a major role in this through its past and ongoing projects in Cambodia.

DIPECHO SEA to visit ADPC office, 19 Feb

The DIPECHO South East Asia officials will be visiting the ADPC office to acquaint the newly joined team members of DIPECHO SEA on ADPC, its activities, its ongoing and future collaborations with ECHO. ADPC in collaboration with MRC, UNESCAP, UNISDR, and UNDP has been an active partner of ECHO led programs in this region.

Preparatory meeting for the Project Progress Review (PPR) of MRC-ADPC-GTZ funded FEMS project, 21-22 Feb

The DMS team will participate in the pre PPR meeting with MRC and GTZ. This will lead to the PPR mission by GTZ scheduled to take place during 5-23 March 2007 in Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR. ADPC is implementing the Flood Emergency Management Strengthening (FEMS), Component 4 of the MRC's Flood Mitigation and Management Program since 2004. The PPR mission will recommend the possible extension of FEMS project until 2010.

ADPC to participate in the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, 28 Feb-2 Mar, Kenya

ADPC will be participating in the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWS-IV), to be held in Mombasa, Kenya. Official from ADPC will be attending with the Director-General of Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology and Chairperson of the Regional Steering Committee of the ADPC-facilitated Regional Multi-hazard Early Warning System.

ADPC to share disaster management policy and institutional assessment findings to national stakeholders in Sri Lanka, 6 Mar

ADPC, under its EWS Program will conduct a consultation meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka to share the findings of the disaster risk management policy and institutional assessment report with national stakeholders. The meeting will address the gaps in the assessment, in consultation with the stakeholders. Assessments of disaster risk management policy and institutional frameworks in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were conducted from July to October 2006.

Workshop on Innovative Initiatives in Disaster Reduction, 6- 8 Dec, Bangkok
ProVention Consortium-ADPC Workshop on "Innovative Initiatives in Disaster Reduction"-Applied Research by Young Professionals in South, South East & East Asia and Grantee Dialogue was held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Provention Consortium initiated the Applied Research Grants Program for Disaster Reduction to support innovative action research
by young professionals from developing countries. The program was in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin - Disaster Management Center (UW-DMC), the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DiMP), University of Cape Town, South Africa. ADPC was responsible for the grants awarded to grantees from East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) and South Asia. After the first successful round of the grant in 2003-2004, the second round with a period of 9 months has started in September, 2005. Applications with proposals were invited from researchers under the age of 35, and were reviewed by an independent review panel which made the selection on a competitive basis.

Community Based Disaster Risk Management Workshop, 5-9 Feb, Bangladesh

ADPC in collaboration with CARE Bangladesh organized a training of trainers (TOT) workshop on Community Based Disaster Risk Management. This is under the Strengthening Household Abilities to Responding to Development Opportunities (SHOUHARDO) project of CARE Bangladesh, wherein ADPC is giving technical assistance.

Workshop on Facilitation, Communication and Networking, 12-14 Feb, Iran

ADPC in collaborating with UNDP Iran is developing and implementing a workshop on Facilitation, Communication and Networking Skills. The purpose is to develop advanced facilitation skills with a focus on internal meetings and public meetings. The participants will learn how to plan and prepare for meetings to achieve strong consensus, support, better outcomes and clear agreements for action. The activity is organized under a joint 5-year program between the Government of Iran and UNDP-Iran.

ADPC to participate in US IOTWS program coordination workshop, 13-16 Feb, Washington, DC

ADPC's Climate Risk Management (CRM) Team will attend the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (US IOTWS) Program Coordination Workshop. The meeting will discuss key program achievements and progress of the international community in developing the overall IOTWS, plan for the last eight months of program implementation, and identify opportunities and activities that may be undertaken to sustain initiatives under the Program. ADPC provides disaster risk management expertise to the program.

Protecting Staff Capacity: Effective Management of Staff Stress in Humanitarian Organizations, 20 Feb, Thailand

ADPC organized a seminar and workshop on Protecting Staff Capacity: Effective Management of Staff Stress in Humanitarian Organizations, by Ms. Amanda Allan, Operational Director of Antares Foundation (Australia) with the following specific objectives:
" Protecting Staff Capacity - What agencies need and can do to mitigate the impact of stress and trauma on staff capacity.
" Organizational Policy & Practice - Mitigating stress and building resilience: a systemic approach to supporting managers and their staff.
" Organizational Support - Psychosocial support services, practical guidelines and a screening tool for organizations to apply to their own systems of psychosocial support for staff.
The workshop was organized in close partnerships with Antares Foundation (Australia), UNICEF and Thammasat University Faculty of Public Health.

ADPC to conduct Incident Command System training, 20-23 Feb, Sri Lanka

ADPC, under its Early Warning Systems Program will be conducting national, basic and intermediate Incident Command System (ICS) Training in Colombo and train 40 district-level government officials on ICS for emergency response management. This training is conducted in partnership with the Disaster Management Center in Sri Lanka under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) project.

Urban Earthquake Risk Management Workshops, 25 Feb-1 Mar & 4-8 Mar, Iran

ADPC's Urban Disaster Risk Management Team in collaboration with UNDP Iran will be organizing two back-to-back workshops on Urban Earthquake Risk Management. The first workshop is from 25 Feb to 1 March in Kerman, and the second is from March 4 to 8 in Gourgan. The workshops will provide training and guidance on several earthquake risk management concepts including urban earthquake risk management assessment and mitigation, risk analysis, and developing earthquake scenarios. The activity is organized under a joint 5-year program between the Government of Iran and UNDP-Iran. ADPC is providing specific consulting services for this workshop.

National workshop on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Infrastructure sector, 26-27 Feb, Philippines

Under the Regional Consultative Committee Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development (RCC MDRD), ADPC's Disaster Management Systems Team has been implementing the Priority Implementation Project (PIP) in Philippines on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Infrastructure in Philippines. The PIP is under implementation since June 2006, in partnership with National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The final national workshop of the PIP would be conducted in February 2007, to present the findings of the PIP to a larger audience comprising of government departments, national technical institutes, development organization and development banks.

Workshop on Earthquake Vulnerability and Multi-hazard Risk Assessment, 5-16 Mar, Nepal

ADPC's Urban Disaster Risk Management Team will be making technical presentations and facilitating the workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal. The workshop is organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), supported by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department in collaboration with International Institute for Geo-Information and Earth Sciences (ITC)-The Netherlands, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)-Bangkok, National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET-N), and Nepal Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM).

Strategic Planning Workshop on Management of the Dead and the Missing (MDM) in Disasters, 6-7 Mar, Thailand

ADPC in partnerships with World Health Organization (WHO) will hold a strategic planning meeting with the objectives to define strategic directions for developing national and international MDM capabilities for the Asia Pacific region and to develop strategies for the implementation and sustainability of priority capacity building activities
Expected outcomes are as follows:
" A draft regional strategic plan identifying priority capacity building activities for MDM, such as training packages and activities, guideline development and MDM coordination mechanisms for international and national response.
" Agreement to develop a proposal for MDM capacity building in the Asia Pacific region
" Establishment of a practical committee/working party structure of stakeholders to develop and implement the strategic plan and associated activities