ADPC enters Laos-Australia NGO Cooperation Agreement (LANGOCA), Laos PDR, 2007-2008

The Laos-Australia NGO Cooperation Agreement (LANGOCA) Programme aims to build on and maximize the unique strengths of NGOs; particularly in relation to their long-term experience, capacity and linkages with partner organisations and communities in Lao. The Programme will include a range of activities that aim to directly address Laos-Australia Development Cooperation Strategy 2004-2010 (LADCS) Strategic Objectives to reduce the vulnerability of the poor, with specific focus on reducing the impact of natural disasters, and to reduce the impact of unexploded ordinance (UXOs). In Lao PDR, the LANGOCA Programme approach is based on Cooperation Agreements with four Australian NGOs (Oxfam, CARE, World Vision and SCA). The Programme goal is “to reduce the vulnerability of the poor by integrating poverty reduction and crosscutting issues with DM and UXO approaches in Laos”. Under the LANGOCA Programme, AusAID is supporting the implementation of the following three projects by Save the Children Australia (SCA) and ADPC.

1. Sayaboury Integrated Hazard Mitigation Project (SIHMP)

2. Disaster Risk Education for Children (DREC)

3. Tools for Disaster Risk Assessment (TDRA)

Three MoUs will be signed between SCA and ADPC with the mutual goal of reducing the negative impacts of natural hazards on the communities living in the rural areas of Lao PDR, particularly in Sayaboury district of Sayaboury province, through application of practical and replicable community based disaster risk reduction approaches.  More details on the project are as follows:

SIHMP: The project aims to build Institutional Capacity by improving Provincial, District and Village level capacity in disaster risk reduction planning, improving sectoral coordination on disaster risk reduction across all line agencies and increasing technical capacity in selected line agencies (e.g. agriculture, education) to support local communities in sustainable livelihood initiatives.

Furthermore, the project aims to improve Community Resilience by ensuring vulnerabilities are reduced and coping mechanisms strengthened through enhanced capacity for sustainable livelihood security, resilience to the impact of chronic hazards and greater protection for particularly vulnerable members of the community. Strengthened community resilience is intended to contribute to a reduction in both vulnerability and poverty levels in Sayaboury.

During Oct to Nov 2007, the project management team (PMT) will be established in the Sayaboury district to oversee the implementation. The Provincial Project Steering committee (PSC) and District Project Implementation Committee (PIC) will be established to provide technical guidance and overall policy decisions. Initial DRM Orientation Workshop will be held in Sayaboury District for the officials of the Provincial Disaster Management Committee (PDMC) and District Disaster Management Committee (DMC) and other project partners.

DREC: The project will strengthen local community knowledge and skills in disaster risk reduction by working with school children and teachers as agents of change. This initiative will support informed community level planning and engagement of disaster risk reduction initiatives. The baseline survey will commence in the four target schools (the Sayaboury Ethnic Secondary School and Patthana Secondary School and the primary schools in Na Xam and Houay Keng). Initial discussions will be held between provincial department of Education and project implementation partners to develop project implementation plan at the district level.

TDRA: The project aims to improve information management to increase the effectiveness of both district and provincial administrations in disaster risk reduction planning as well as facilitating community responsive planning. Outcomes will support localised mapping of hazards, their impact, location and degree of risk to communities. Collection of baseline date (secondary historical disaster data and socio economic data) available with line agencies at national and district level will be initiated. An Initial discussion will be held with the district authorities and project partners to orient the project within the target areas and to develop implementation plan.

Detailed work plans to integrate CBDRM, 12 Sep, Philippines

The local authorities in Bicol, the Philippines who are the focal points in implementing the work plan for the integration of CBDRM in local plans and programmes will oversee the day to day execution of the work plan. They will organize periodic information sharing sessions with the community to report the progress of the pilot project and capture and share the project outcomes with provincial and district Disaster Management (DM) authorities as well as the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and Partnerships for Disaster Reduction-South East Asia (PDR-SEA) team.

7th IIASA-DPRI Forum on Integrated Disaster Risk Management,
19-21 Sept, Stresa, Italy

ADPC participated in the 7th IIASA-DPRI Forum on Integrated Disaster Risk Management. This year’s theme was, “Coping with disasters: Global Challenges for the 21st Century and Beyond”, motivated by the urgent need to think beyond the short-term disaster management goals to the challenges that lay ahead in an ever increasingly populated, urbanized and complex world.

In a panel session, ADPC discussed disaster preparedness and mitigation in urban secondary cities and showcased good practices in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) governance in Asia. The panel session aimed to discuss various initiatives in disaster risk reduction at the city level, as well as exchange experiences on the use of technological tools for urban DRR.  

The Forum was co-organized by the Institute for Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate-General of the European Commission, the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) of Kyoto University, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). 

For more information, please refer to http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/RAV/conf/IDRiM07/index.html

http://www.emi-megacities.org/?page=news&div_id=282

2007 ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM)
seminar: Challenges ahead and the way forward,
24-25 Sep, Bangkok, Thailand

ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM) is one of the annual regional events of ASEAN. This Programme is part of the ASEAN Regional Programme on Disaster Management (ARPDM) of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM). The ADDM serves as a strategy to increase public awareness on disaster prevention and mitigation in the region. Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, ADPC’s Executive Director, a.i. was one of the panelists on challenges ahead and the way forward for ASEAN in achieving a disaster resilient community by 2015.

Climate Risk Management: Climate Field School Graduation Ceremony, 3 Oct,  Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines

 

The Climate Field School in Dumangas, Iloilo Province-the first in the Philippines- has graduated its first batch of 73 farmers. 27 out of 73 farmers were recognized for perfect attendance over the 12 sessions. The first batch of Climate Field School in Dumangas consisted of three classes comprising of farmers from four different barangays (villages). The Climate Field School sessions was facilitated by agricultural extension technicians from Iloilo Office of Provincial Agriculture (OPA) and Dumangas Office of Municipal Agriculture (OMA).

The Climate Field School is one of the flagship Programmes under the Climate Forecast Applications (CFA) for Disaster Mitigation Programme in the Philippines and Indonesia. It aims to enhance the capacity of agricultural extension technicians and farmers to understand and apply climate information in order to mitigate flood and drought risks in agriculture.  The CFA Programme is facilitated by ADPC in partnership with the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Iloilo OPA and Dumangas OMA, with support from the United States Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.           

Regional Meeting on Revisiting Community-based health workers
and community health volunteers, 3-5 Oct, Chiang Mai, Thailand

ADPC, through the Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Luis Jorge Perez-Calderon was invited to participate in the Regional Meeting on revisiting community-based health workers and community health volunteers, organized by the World Health Organization, Regional office for South-east Asia, together with the National Health Foundation of Thailand and the Ministry of Public Health, Royal Government of Thailand. The meeting provided the forum of over 100 participants from 10 countries from Asia and Southeast Asia to learn about overall activities being carried out by all ADPC teams, besides discussing future cooperation with Maldives and Sri Lanka. 

Early Warning System (EWS): Early warning system design,
Mahe, 9-16 Oct,  Seychelles

ADPC is on mission to Mahe, Seychelles to undertake a consultancy assignment for the Department of Risk and Disaster Management and UNDP Seychelles. ADPC will design Seychelles’s early warning system (EWS) and command center, develop EWS procedures and test these procedures through simulation exercises.

CBDRM Recognition Scheme Nomination for Cambodia, 15 Oct

National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) of Cambodia will organize a consultative meeting with the practitioner’s forums in order to strengthen the CBDRM partnership and to initiate the national CBDRM recognition scheme for Cambodia. The workshop aims to encourage multiple stakeholders to support the expansion of the CBDRM practices in the vulnerable parts of the country. NDCM would be able to mobilize support from top level authorities to enhance the importance of recognition scheme after these two meetings: first meeting is to screen and shortlist the good practices. The second meeting will be held to deliver awards and certificates to the selected stakeholders.

ADPC will participate in the 10th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM), 24-25 Oct, Bangkok, Thailand  

Capacity Building for Planning and Implementation of Flood Preparedness Programmes at Provincial and District levels in the Lower Mekong Basin (Phase III) supported by DIPECHO in partnership with MRC

Lao PDR
31 Oct: One day trans-boundary flood preparedness and cooperation meeting between Khammouane province, Lao PDR and Nakorn Phanom province, Thailand in Khammouane province, Lao PDR.

2 Nov: Meeting to launch and disseminate Flood Preparedness Manual (Lao language) in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

Vietnam
25-30 Oct: Orientation Sessions of School Flood Safety Programme (SFSP) for school children in the selected schools in Cai Be, Cai Lay and Chau Thanh districts in Tieen Giang province.
29-31 Oct: Conduct one Training of Trainers (ToT) in Tien Giang Province, Vietnam.
10-15 Nov: Two Emergency Kindergarten Management (EKM) Training courses in Cai Be and Cai Lay districts, Tein Giang Province, Vietnam.

Cambodia
6 Nov: District level Flood Preparedness Programme (FPP) completion workshop in Sambour district, Cambodia.
7 Nov: District level Flood Preparedness Programme (FPP) completion workshop in Chullong district, Cambodia.

Training of Local Authorities, 24-26 Oct, Philippines

Local authorities in Bicol, the Philippines, will be provided with a three days training on the role of local authorities and other stakeholders in CBDRM. The curriculum will be based on the publication produced under Partnerships for Disaster Reduction- South East Asia (PDR-SEA) project 3: CBDRM and Local Authorities, the Critical Guidelines of CBDRM, CBDRM Field Practitioners Handbook. The training is to give the participant an orientation on the role of different stakeholders like the public and civil societies in promoting CBDRM under the leadership of local authorities.

Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on School Education and Disaster Risk Reduction, 8-10 Oct, Bangkok Thailand

ADPC was a co-organizer of the Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on School Education and Disaster Risk Reduction.  Other partners were UNESCO, UNCRD, UNICEF, UN/ISDR Asia and Pacific with support from IFRC. ADPC organized a session on mainstreaming education in disaster risk reduction and a joint session on safe schools. Other themes for the workshop were as follows:

Integrating disaster risk reduction into school curricula
Discussions on the content of educational material as well as possible curriculum subjects to “accommodate” and integrate DRR related issues. Also refer to assistance, tools and guidelines existing (or to be developed) to provide to teachers with effective support in teaching process (RCC guideline will be presented and reviewed)

Non-formal and extra-curricular approach
Reference to indigenous/traditional knowledge, the role of local organizations in education, training and other non formal educational activities (drills, evacuation exercise, poems etc)

Safer School constructions
Presentation of key examples of good practices in this area – Highlight the need to have this issue integrated into school curricula and guidelines (Ahmdabad Declaration and UNCRD guidelines will be presented)DRR in Education Sector Programmemes/ Plans
Reference to integrating DRR into education sector Programmemes of Ministry of Education funded by the development banks (e.g. ADB and World Bank)

Educational materials on disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness
Collection of existing material from the region supporting the formal and non formal education process on disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness for recognition and possible replication

Children event “Let our Children Teach Us” involving school children from disaster affected countries to exchange their experiences of living through disasters lessons learned and recommendations

Regional Training on Flood Disaster Risk Management (FDRM-8),
8-19 Oct, Bangkok, Thailand

ADPC is conducting the 8^th FDRM course with 34 participants from 14 different countries.  The opening ceremony was held on the 8 October and was presided by Dr. Suvit Yodmani, special advisor to ADPC and Dr. Luis Jorge Perez-Calderon, Deputy Executive Director, ADPC. The participants will also attend the Regional Workshop on Innovative Approaches to Flood Risk Reduction in the Mekong Basin at Khon Kaen, Thailand on 18-19 Oct. The course will train participants to:

• Examine hydro-meteorological hazards and disaster risk management;

• Design and conduct flood risk assessment;

• Identify measures for flood disaster risk management through structural and non-structural measures;

• Develop an understanding about flood preparedness framework, flood forecasting, early warning system, planning for emergency response and management;

• Analyze and assess the concept of recovery and rehabilitation within the framework of sustainability;

• Describe the economics of flood risk management and analyzing the existing flood risk Programme while incorporating the cross cutting issues like trans-boundary, governance and gender to become a good FDRM practitioner.

National Public Health and Emergency Management in Asia and the Pacific Course (PHEMAP Vietnam), 15-19 Oct, Vietnam

ADPC will participate in Vietnam’s national PHEMAP course in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The national PHEMAP course is being organised by the Ministry of Health, Vietnam and the Hanoi School of Public Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). Other partners are Ministry of Health Vietnam, Hanoi School of Public Health and WHO.

Hospital Emergency Preparedness and Response Course (HEPR-5), 15-19 Oct, Bangkok, Thailand

The HEPR is a five-day course which is designed to assist health personnel, both administrative and medical, to prepare health care facilities and personnel to respond effectively to internal or community emergencies that involve large numbers of casualties. The course will enable participants to develop well designed facility-specific plans to respond to emergencies.

Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to:

• Describe the role of health care facilities in disaster management

• Apply a method of assessing components of a health care facility.

• Simulate a mass casualty incident addressing the roles and responsibilities of each component of Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS).

• Discuss the basic medical requirements of managing mass casualty incidents.

• Apply on-site medical care concepts to specific emergency situations.

• Prepare an outline of a health care facility disaster preparedness plan including response and recovery.

Regional Workshop on Innovative Approaches to Flood Risk Reduction in the Mekong Basin, 17-19 Oct, Khon Kaen, Thailand

ADPC and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) is jointly organizing the Regional Workshop on Innovative Approaches to Flood Risk Reduction in the Mekong Basin, as one of the key activities under Component 4 of the Flood Management and Mitigation Programme (FMMP), with funding support for Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and the European Commission Humanitarian Office. The workshop provides an opportunity for the disaster risk reduction practitioners in the Mekong countries and the wider region to share experiences and lessons learned, identify emerging trends, issues and strategies and develop partnerships to promote flood risk reduction. The workshop will have participants from the national and local level planning and development agencies to enhance opportunities to integrate flood risk reduction approaches into the development process at different levels of the Mekong Basin countries. The workshop at Khon Kaen, Thailand intends to:

• Share local and regional knowledge, experiences and innovations in flood risk reduction approaches;

• Provide a platform to foster new regional partnerships as well as strengthen the existing ones to promote flood risk reduction in the region.

For further inquiries on the Workshop, please visit: http://www.adpc.net/regionalworkshop.asp and
contact: E-mail: regionalworkshop@gmail.com

National Training Course on Landslide Risk Management, 17-19 Oct, Baguio City, Philippines

ADPC developed the course under the Regional Capacity Enhancement for Landslide Impact Mitigation (RECLAIM) Phase II of the Urban Disaster Risk Management team of ADPC. The course aims to develop the capability and resilience of communities at risk from landslides by promoting local awareness and training, and by introducing low-cost and indigenous alternative measures for monitoring and mitigating landslides. This capacity building activity is being organized by the University of the Philippines Diliman in collaboration with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), ADPC and St. Louis University (SLU) with funding support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Norwegian Embassy Bangkok.

Please see link for further course information: http://www.adpc.net/v2007/Programmes/UDRM/PROGRAMMES%20&%20PROJECTS/RECLAIM/Phase%20II/Downloads/RECLAIM%20Workshop%20Flyer-Baguio.pdf

National Training Course on Disaster Management, 28-31 Oct, China organized by Oxfam HK

ADPC will be facilitating a four-day Disaster Management Course in Kunming, China.  The course is funded and organized by Oxfam Hong Kong to develop the capacities of their staff involved in disaster management activities.  

Early Warning System (EWS): UN-SPIDER Workshop, Bonn, 29-31 Oct, Germany

ADPC with support from the United Nations will deliver a presentation on “Incident Command System (ICS) for faster disaster responses in the Indian Ocean countries” at the UN International UN-SPIDER Workshop in Bonn, Germany. ADPC will share lessons learned from building the capacity of Indian Ocean countries in adopting ICS, a standardized emergency management system that allows governments to respond quickly to emergency situations-under the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Programme, in which ADPC served as Programme Integrator. Under the ADPC-facilitated Early Warning System for tsunami and other hazards, ADPC is currently assisting Maldives and Myanmar as well as countries in the southwest Indian Ocean, such as Kenya and Seychelles in adopting the ICS. 

ADPC Regional Training schedule for 2008

ADPC Resources

• CBDRM E-zine more>
• eNews: Disaster Mitigation in Asia (Issue No. 51) more>>
• ADPC Newsletter: May-August 2007, Emerging Risks and Approaches for Reducing Vulnerability of the Urban Built Environment, May-August 2007