ADPC signs MOU with SAARC, 19 Dec, Bangkok

H.E. Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, Secretary General of SAARC and Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Executive Director a.i. of ADPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on developing and strengthening mechanisms for sharing experiences, information and resources on disaster preparedness, mitigation and management including emergency response. His Excellency was accompanied by Mr. Sonam Tshong, Director, Environment, Science & Technology, SAARC.

Communicating Disasters, 21-22 Dec, Bangkok

ADPC's Information & Knowledge Management Unit (IKMU) participated in a regional meeting for media professionals, disaster researchers, managers and development communication specialists from the main Tsunami affected countries in Asia, held on the eve of the disaster's second anniversary. The meeting was organized by TVE Asia Pacific and UNDP. The meeting focused on the role of media professionals and their use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) before, during and after a disaster, to share lessons learned among media professionals and key players in disaster risk reduction based on the experience of the Tsunami disaster; and to propose guidelines for engaging the media and employing their expertise and resources before, during and after a disaster. The discussions, findings and conclusions of the meeting will be captured in a book to be published.

Study Visit of Union of Myanmar Ministry of Health Officials at ADPC, 22-26 Jan, Bangkok

ADPC will host a study tour for four senior officials from the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Health. The study tour has been arranged in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Office for Thailand. The officials will receive training to strengthen health emergency preparedness and to enhance health emergency response planning in Myanmar.

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), starting January 2007

The Disaster Management Systems (DMS) Team of ADPC in partnership with the Mekong River Commission will start the third phase of the ADPC-MRC-ECHO Project on Support to Implementation of Flood Preparedness Programs at Provincial, District and Commune Levels in the Lower Mekong Basin. The Phase I project "Capacity building for Preparedness Planning in the Lower Mekong Basin using Flood Information Products" was implemented by MRC and ADPC under the 3rd DIPECHO Action Plan for South East Asia and involved capacity building for flood preparedness planning and response through the use of flood information products by MRC in the countries of Lower Mekong Basin, namely; Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam.

Phase II of the project entitled "Capacity Building for Planning and Implementation of Flood Preparedness Program at provincial and districts levels in the Lower Mekong Basin" was implemented by the MRCS in partnership with ADPC; building on the earlier Phase I project as one of the regional projects under the DIPECHO 4th Action Plan for Southeast Asia and as part of Component 4: Flood Emergency Management Strengthening under MRC's wider Flood Management and Mitigation Program (FMMP). The present project under the DIPECHO 5th Action Plan for South east Asia will be implemented over 15 months in three provinces, namely Kratie in Cambodia, Tien Giang in Vietnam and Khammouane province in Lao PDR and seven districts within these provinces. The broad activities under the project include:
" Publication of a training manual on Flood Preparedness in Lao PDR and to conduct provincial training course in Khammouane Province in Lao PDR;
" Facilitate preparation of Flood Preparedness Program and Implementation of Priority Action Areas in the selected districts of the target provinces of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam;
" Conduct training on "Flood Preparedness for the Commune Disaster Management Committees / Teams" in the 2 target provinces in Vietnam and Cambodia;
" Conduct three national seminars on "Lessons Learnt in Flood Preparedness Planning at Province, District and Commune levels" in Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR.

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

The Disaster Management Systems (DMS) Team of ADPC in partnership with UNDP and ECHO commence the Priority Implementation Project under the RCC MDRD Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into the Education Sector. The project funded by ECHO under the DIPECHO 5th Action Plan for Southeast Asia will be implemented over a period of 15 months in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Philippines. The objective of the project is to provide support to the Hyogo Framework for Action Implementation by initiating the Mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction into Development Planning and Implementation in three South East Asian RCC member countries. The following activities are proposed to be conducted under the project:
" Preparing a module on Disaster Risk Reduction for Secondary School Curriculum and field testing it in selected schools in three project countries;
" Documenting past Impacts of Disasters on Education Sector in the three countries;
" Advocacy workshop on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into the Education Sector in the three project countries.

Climate Risk Management: ADPC to conduct preliminary institutional and policy analysis for climate risk management, 12-14 Jan, Myanmar

ADPC will be on mission to Myanmar to conduct preliminary analysis of institutions involved in and policies related to climate risk management. The results from this analysis will serve as inputs to the development of potential climate risk management projects in Myanmar, such as ADPC's Climate Forecast Applications projects in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

International forum on 'Recovery from the Indian Ocean Tsunami along the Hyogo Framework for Action', 15-16 Jan, Kobe, Japan

On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the WCDR and the Indian Ocean Tsunami together with the 12th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake which accomplished the "Build Back Better Recovery", the Government of Japan with Disaster Reduction Partners (International Recovery Platform (IRP) Kobe, Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), UN/ISDR, UNDP, UN/OCHA, ILO, The World Bank, IFRC, UN-HABITAT, Cabinet Office of Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, Hyogo Prefecture) are organizing an International Forum on Tsunami and Earthquake with the theme "Recovery from the Indian Ocean Tsunami (and other devastating earthquakes) along the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)". The DMS team will participate in the forum.

South-South Cooperation on Training and Learning, 16 Jan, Bangkok

A consultation meeting is being organized by UNDP, Thailand and the Provention Consortium on South-South Cooperation on Training and Learning. ADPC's Deputy Executive Director and the Disaster Management Systems Team have been invited to participate in the discussion of the proposal crafted by CDP and AIDMI, regarding the formation of Training and Learning Circles (TLC) for CBDRM.

Climate Risk Management: ADPC to participate at the Strategic Planning for Mainstreaming Gender in Integrated Water Resource Management, 22-25 Jan, Nepal

ADPC will present concept papers outlining ways of incorporating gender in climate change and disaster management at a South Asian regional workshop. With the theme, "Strategic Planning for Mainstreaming Gender in Integrated Water Resource Management", the workshop will be convened by the Gender and Water Alliance in collaboration with the Nepal Water Partnership.

Partnership with Save the Children in Lao PDR under Lao-Australia NGOs Cooperation Agreement, 22 Jan-9 Feb, Lao

The Disaster Management Systems (DMS) Team of ADPC, in partnership with Save the Children Australia based in Lao PDR, will undertake a mission to Sayaboury province, Lao. The objective of this mission is to gather base line information in Sayaboury in order to design two one-year projects on "Disaster Risk Education for Children Pilot Activity" and "Tools for Disaster Risk Assessment Pilot activity". Both the projects are to be implemented in Sayaboury District of Sayaboury province from Feb 2007 to Jan 2008. They will serve as the start up activities for the longer term (5-year) project on Sayaboury Integrated Hazard Mitigation Project to be undertaken in the middle of 2007. The concept notes for all three projects have been submitted to AusAID in October 2006. The key output of the January mission will be a detailed project design for the two one-year project, specifying individual activity to be undertaken together with a realistic time line and clear roles and responsibilities of the implementing partners as well as the project stakeholders. All the projects are to be funded by AusAID under the Lao-Australia NGOs Cooperation Agreement.

Climate Risk Management: CRM Director to participate in an expert consultation on climate change adaptation, 23-24 Jan, London

ADPC's Climate Risk Management (CRM) staff will participate in an expert consultation on climate change adaptation. Organized by the Stockholm Environment Institute, the consultation will consider how adaptation can be targeted to achieve development goals and manage the risks of climate change. The meeting will result in plans for collaborative projects between the UK Department for International Development and other organizations concerned with development and climate change.

Early Warning System Program: ADPC to conduct site profiling, 15-19 Jan, Than Hoa province, Vietnam

ADPC will be on mission to Than Hoa province, Vietnam to conduct profiling of potential pilot sites for the "Enhancing Community Resilience to Natural Disasters in Southeast Asia Project," funded by the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA). During the visit, ADPC will undertake site profiling after identification of a suitable commune; meet with the Province Hydrometeorological Service, Provincial Committee on Flood and Storm Control; and assess the typhoon/flood preparedness of select communities as well as their demand for climate information. ADPC will also discuss the project implementation strategy with the local authorities.

Study Tour to Nepal, 30 Jan- 4 Feb, Nepal

ADPC's Urban Disaster Risk Management (UDRM) Team is collaborating with the Nepal National Society for Earthquake Technology to organize a study tour in Kathmandu for senior Iranian Government officials. The tour will give the delegates the opportunity to interact with key stakeholders and disaster management professionals. They will also participate in various activities for promoting public awareness on Earthquake Safety. The activity is organized under a joint five-year programme "Strengthening Capacities for Disaster Risk Management in Iran", between the Government of Iran and UNDP-Iran. ADPC is providing specific consulting services, included in this study tour. ADPC Deputy Executive Director and the Urban Disaster Risk Management (UDRM) staff will participate.

Consultative meeting for program development of RCC Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development Planning, Policy and Implementation in Asia, 1-2 Feb, Bangkok

The Disaster Management Systems (DMS) Team of ADPC is holding a two day consultative meeting on program development for the RCC Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development Planning, Policy and Implementation in Asia. The session would give inputs to the detailed program document for the RCC MDRD Program for implementation in 2008-2010. The proposed initiatives under each of the program components as prioritized by the RCC Member countries would be detailed out in terms of scope of activities, location, timeframe, budget etc. The draft program document developed during the two day session would be once again discussed with the RCC member countries and finalized based on their inputs.

Early Warning System Program: ADPC to participate in third Tsunami Alert Rapid Notification System in Thailand, 6-8 Feb

ADPC will participate in the Third Workshop on Tsunami Alert Rapid Notification System (TARNS) in Thailand under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) program in Nakorn Nayok, Thailand. The workshop aims to develop a template for conducting tsunami warning simulation exercises in Thailand and to conduct a tabletop tsunami warning exercises. At the end of the workshop, the participants are expected to 1) gain knowledge on development of disaster simulation exercises and the practice of tsunami simulation exercise development; and 2) develop tabletop tsunami warning simulation exercise for identifying strength and gaps in the warning system. This workshop is conducted under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) program and in partnership with the National Disaster Warning Center of Thailand.

International Conference on Tsunami Preparedness of Persons with Disabilities, 11-12 Jan, Thailand

ADPC's Disaster Management Systems (DMS) and Public Health in Emergencies (PHE) Teams will participate at the International Conference on Tsunami Preparedness of Persons with Disabilities. The conference is organized by the DAISY consortium in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Thailand. The expected outcome is to improve Tsunami Evacuation Plans around the world to meet the special needs of people including persons with disabilities, aged, patients, children, refugees, cultural/linguistic minorities, foreign travelers, etc. ADPC will also make a presentation on its activities under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) program, with focus on the Tsunami Alert Rapid Notification System (TARNS) in Thailand. ADPC serves as the Program Integrator of the US IOTWS program.

Session on Health Emergency Management at Chulalongkorn University, 15 Jan, Bangkok

ADPC's Public Health in Emergencies (PHE) Team will facilitate a session on Health Emergency Management for the Health Systems Development course at the College of Public Health, Chulalongkorn University. The session is delivered to the master's and doctoral students from College of Public Health at Chulalongkorn University.

Early Warning System Program: ADPC to conduct a workshop on 'Enhancing Community Response to Disaster Warnings, 22-23 Jan, Hanoi

ADPC will conduct a workshop entitled 'Enhancing Community Response to Disaster Warnings' in Hanoi, Vietnam to: 1) create awareness on the current status of communicating risks for enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness; 2) identify the institutions involved and their roles, responsibilities, programs and activities; 3) identify constraints in risk communications, needs, and recommend a set of actions, including a risk communication strategy; and 4) plan priority pilot activities. This workshop is part of the "Enhancing Community Resilience to Natural Disasters in Southeast Asia Project" funded by the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA). It will be undertaken in collaboration with the Vietnam National Hydro-meteorological Service.

ADPC conducts Regional Training Course, 29 Jan-2 Feb, Thailand

ADPC's Urban Disaster Risk Management (UDRM) Team will be organizing the Regional Training Course on Asian Program for Regional Capacity Enhancement for Landslide Impact Mitigation (RECLAIM Phase II) in Phuket, Thailand. Participants are decision makers and disaster management professionals involved in landslide risk management. The Regional Training Course is conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI). The course is organized under the project RECLAIM Phase II. It receives funding support from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.