ADPC to conduct community assessments in
Cambodia:
Under the Enhancing Community Resilience to
Natural Disasters in Southeast Asia project,
ADPC will be on mission to Sihanoukville,
Cambodia from 9-15 March in order to assess
the climate information requirements of the
Polder User Community, conduct user needs
assessments for early warning information,
and to assess training and capacity-building
needs for Community-Based Disaster Risk
Management and Coastal Community Resilience.
These activities will be carried out with
the Groupe De Recherche et D'Echanges
Technologiques (GRET) and the Cambodian Red
Cross. The project is supported by the
Danish Agency for International Development
(DANIDA).
Coastal Community Resilience activities in
Tamil Nadu, India:
ADPC will be on mission to Tamil Nadu, India
from 11-18 March 2006 in order to carry out
activities under the Coastal Community
Resilience (CCR) initiative of the US Indian
Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS)
project. Together with project partners,
ADPC will finalize the work plan and
implementation arrangement for the pilot
project implementation. Site profiling and
benchmarking for CCR activities will also be
carried out in Chandrapadi Village,
Nagapattinam District. The Government of
Tamil Nadu is the key partner in this
project.
ADPC to meet with the Department of
Meteorology, Colombo, Sri Lanka:
ADPC will be on mission to Colombo, Sri Lanka from
19-25 March 2007 in order to conduct
meetings with the Director-General of Sri
Lanka’s Department of Meteorology and to
discuss the availability of
hydro-meteorological data for disaster
events in Sri Lanka. ADPC will convert and
store these hydro-meteorological data in
digital format. The long term data will be
used to estimate the threshold value of
critical parameters (e.g. flood, heavy
rainfall) at different locations in Sri
Lanka to identify hydro-meteorological
hazards and to validate outputs of numerical
weather prediction model.
ADPC and partners to discuss potential
technical assistance to BAKORNAS:
ADPC will meet with Indonesia’s National Disaster
Coordinating Board (BAKORNAS), on 20 March
2007 in order to discuss potential technical
assistance that may be extended to Indonesia
under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning
System (IOTWS) Program. The United Nations
Development Program, US Department of
Agriculture, US Forest Service, and US
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration will participate in this
meeting. ADPC provides disaster risk
management expertise to the US IOTWS
program.
ADPC to share disaster management policy and
institutional assessment findings to
national stakeholders in Jakarta:
ADPC will conduct a national consultation meeting in
Jakarta, Indonesia on 03 April 2007 in order
to share the findings of the disaster risk
management policy and institutional
assessment report with national
stakeholders, which was conducted in
Indonesia last October 2006. The meeting
aims to 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.
Assessment reports will be finalized after
the national consultation meetings.
ADPC to carry out project activities in
Vietnam:
ADPC will be on mission to Quang Tri and
Thanh Hoa provinces in Vietnam from April
5-14 in order to 1) undertake user needs
assessment of various departments and
agencies at national and provincial level;
2) identify and recommend appropriate feed
back mechanisms for end-to-end early warning
systems; 3) conduct capacity building needs
assessment for local hydro-meteorological
and intermediary agencies involved in early
warning and forecast information; 4) conduct
site profiling. These activities are part of
the Enhancing Community Resilience to
Natural Disaster in Southeast Asia project,
which is supported by the Danish Agency for
International Development (DANIDA).
ADPC and Sri Lankan officials to participate
in advance ICS training in California:
ADPC and Sri Lankan officials will
participate in an advance Incident Command
System (ICS) training in California, USA
from 6-22 April 2007. The training aims to
build the capacity of a core group who will
serve as trainers and champions of ICS
implementation in Sri Lanka. A series of
basic and intermediate ICS training
activities were already conducted in Sri
Lanka in 2006. Sri Lankan officials also
went on a disaster management study tour to
several cities in the US in order to learn
more about disaster management practices in
the US with a focus on ICS.
ADPC to participate in the national
preparatory meeting for Monsoon Forum in
Myanmar:
ADPC will participate in the national
preparatory meeting of focal points for the
Monsoon Forum in Myanmar. The Monsoon Forum
is intended to enhance the uptake of
seasonal climate forecasts in disaster
mitigation activities by encouraging a
constant dialogue between the Department of
Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) and forecast
users. The preparatory meeting is conducted
in order to introduce the Monsoon Forum and
how it relates to other forecast
communications initiatives in the Southeast
Asian region. It will be convened by the DMH
on 21 March 2007 in Nay Pyi Taw, Central
Myanmar. ADPC’s support to the Preparatory
Meeting and to the Monsoon Forum dovetails
with its broader goal of building the
capacity of countries to mitigate disaster
risks by linking national
hydro-meteorological agencies to sectors
that are vulnerable to climate risks,
notably agriculture, water resources,
health, and disaster management.
ADPC to organize training workshop entitled
“Technology Transfer to Improve Climate and
Flood Forecast Capacity in Bangladesh”:
ADPC will organize a training
workshop entitled “Technology Transfer to
Improve Climate and Flood Forecast Capacity
in Bangladesh” jointly with Climate Forecast
Application Network (CFAN), Atlanta, USA
from 26 March-3 April 2007 in Bangkok. The
workshop is an activity under the technology
transfer component of the project on “Flood
Forecast Technology for Disaster
Preparedness in Bangladesh” (also known as
CFAB-II project). This is a major activity
following the project-wide workshop in
December 2006 and a data base management and
spatial analysis training programme
conducted in Dhaka in January–February
2006. The aim of the workshop is to
introduce advanced three-tier forecast
models, statistical tools and automated
flood forecasting schemes to the operational
forecasters from Bangladesh Water
Development Board (BWDB) and Bangladesh
Meteorological Department (BMD). The
program is supported by USAID-Dhaka under
the Strengthening Household Ability to
Respond to Development Opportunities (SHOUHARDO)
program of CARE Bangladesh.
ADPC to participate in orientation workshop
on managing climate risks in agriculture in
Antique, Philippines:
The Provincial Government of Antique in the
Philippines requested ADPC and the
Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)
to provide technical assistance to Antique
province in its efforts to adopt the Climate
Forecast Applications (CFA) for Disaster
Mitigation Program that ADPC is implementing
in Indonesia and the Philippines in
collaboration with national and local
partners. As a start-up activity, ADPC will
participate in the “Orientation Workshop on
Climate Forecast Applications for Managing
Climate Risks in Agriculture” from 27-28
March 2007 in San Jose, Antique. The
adoption of CFA in Antique is one of the
concrete outcomes of the workshop on
managing climate risk in agriculture held in
Dumangas, Iloilo last 11-12 December 2006.
The orientation workshop in Antique will
bring together 50 participants consisting of
provincial and municipal agriculturists,
municipal disaster coordinating council
coordinators, and representatives from
PAGASA and ADPC. The workshop aims to 1)
familiarize participants with climate
forecast applications concepts, experiences,
and lessons learned in select locations; 2)
develop an action plan for implementing
climate risk management initiatives in
agriculture; and 3) develop an action plan
for establishing a weather and climate
monitoring and information network in
Antique province.
Mr. A. R. Subbiah will attend an
international seminar entitled “Earthquake
and Tsunami Hazards Management for Resilient
Community” on 2-3 April 2007 in Jakarta,
Indonesia. The seminar is organized by
Coordinating Committee for Geoscience
Programs in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP)
Technical Secretariat and Geological Agency,
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR)
Indonesia. The objectives of the seminar are
to review the interim mitigation measures,
both inter-governmental and national,
sharing lessons learnt and tsunami risk
reduction efforts by countries in the
region, and the possible need to strengthen
communication. For more information about
the seminar, visit the CCOP website at
http://www.ccop.or.th.
Disaster Management Systems Team
9th Meeting of ACDM and the 2nd Regional
Workshop on the Establishment of ASEAN
Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian
Assistance on disaster management, 12-14
March:
Mr. Loy Rego, Director and Team Leader,
Disaster Management Systems Team will be
participating at the 9th Meeting of ASEAN
Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and
the 2nd Regional Workshop on
the Establishment of ASEAN Coordinating
Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on
disaster management (AHA Centre) on 12-14
March 2007 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Cambodia Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (CBDRR) Meeting, 27th March,
2007:
ADPC in collaboration with NCDM will be
hosting the next CDRR forum meeting in Phnom
Penh on 28th March. 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. One of the objectives
of this forum would be to discuss and
finalize the CBDRR Strategy being developed
by ADPC in partnership with MOWRAM and NCDM
under the ADB funded Technical Assistance on
Community Self Reliance and Flood Risk
Reduction. The Disaster Management Systems
Team will take the lead in hosting this
forum.
National Workshop, Community Self -Reliance
and Flood Risk Reduction, Cambodia (ADB TA),
5-6 April, 2007
: The ADB funded Technical Assistance on Community Self Reliance and
Flood Risk Reduction is being 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 (MOWRAM), Cambodia. The
primary purpose of the TA is to provide
MOWRAM and its Provincial DWRAMs
(Departments of Water Resources and
Meteorology) opportunities to adopt
participatory risk reduction strategy as
standard approach when undertaking flood
mitigation programs. It is also expected
that the outcomes of as well as the
processes followed for this TA would be
directly applicable to future ADB and MoWRAM
flood management programs at community level
in Cambodia, including ADB's 2007 flood
management project to be identified under
the ongoing TA in support of MRC’s flood
management and mitigation program.. The TA
was implemented in two phases over a total
duration of 14 months:
(i) Phase I - Strategy development, to
formulate a methodology for mobilizing
communities to plan, design, and Implement
preparedness, prevention, and mitigation
measures; and
(ii) Phase II – Pilot projects’
implementation by NGOs, to implement the
community based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR)
strategy; and technical capacity development
activities undertaken by ADPC.
This National Workshop would present the
final findings and outcome of the TA to ADB,
MOWRAM, NCDM and other concerned line
agencies and partners in Cambodia.
Consultation Meeting, MRC-ADPC ECHO III
Project, 12 March:
Under 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) a one day
consultation meeting on the FPP development
for the two new districts will take place
on 12 March 2006 in Kratie, Cambodia.
Project Planning mission under the Priority
Implementation Project under the RCC MDRD
Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk
Reduction into Education Sector in Cambodia,
Lao PDR and Philippines: Under this project implemented by the DMS team of
ADPC in partnership with UNDP, the project
team would undertake missions to the project
country to conduct planning exercises with
the respective Ministry of Education and
NDMOs to detail out the implementation of
individual activities under the project.
Flood Emergency Management Strengthening (FEMS)
Project:
Under the Flood Emergency Management
Strengthening project implemented by
Disaster Management Systems (DMS) team of
ADPC in collaboration with Mekong River
Commission and GTZ, the project team will
start up the follow up activities in
Cambodia and Vietnam in which activities at
the commune level will be undertaken by the
local authorities. Final preparation for
the printing of the Drought booklet would
also take place in this month.
Public Health in Emergencies Team
The Public Health in Emergencies Team will
host the 19th PHEMAP Steering Committee
Meeting on 9 March 2007 in Bangkok. This
meeting, hosted and supported by WHO, the
Norwegian Government and ADPC will review
outcomes of the 18th Steering Committee
Meeting, undertake a review of the PHEMAP
curriculum and provide updates on National
PHEMAP developments in order to prepare a
three year PHEMAP proposal.
On March 7-8 the PHE team will host a
workshop on the ‘Management of the Dead and
the Missing’ in Bangkok. This workshop,
hosted by WHO and ADPC, will define the
strategic directions for developing national
and international MDM capabilities for the
Asia Pacific region and develop strategies
for the implementation and sustainability of
priority capacity building activities in
this regard. This meeting will provide 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, establish a practical
committee/working party structure of
stakeholders to develop and implement the
strategic plan and associated activities and
provide the basis for an agreement to
develop a proposal for MDM capacity building
in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting
will be attended by international and
national organizations and institutions
including UN agencies, IFRC, ICRC, law
enforcement representatives, national
disaster management officials, technical
experts, development agencies and consular
officials.
