Disaster Mitigation
in Asia

31 December  2009
Issue No. 75

This newsletter is published through the Program for Hydro-meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia (PROMISE), funded by USAID/OFDA, commenced from October 2005.  The objective of the program is to contribute towards reduction of vulnerability of urban communities through enhanced preparedness and mitigation of hydro-meteorological disasters in South and Southeast Asia. Six cities highly vulnerable to hydro-meteorological disasters were selected for implementing demonstration projects on disaster mitigation by urban communities from 2006 to 2009 – Chittagong (Bangladesh), Hyderabad (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), Dagupan (Philippines), Kalutara (Sri Lanka), and Da Nang (Viet Nam).  The program is now being implemented in Jamalpur (Bangladesh), Pasig (the Philippines), and Matara (Sri Lanka).

PROMISE Activities for December 2009 and January 2010:

• BANGLADESH – PROMISE BD began a series of preliminary meetings with ward commissioners, members, community in Jamalpur’s wards (specifically No. 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7, 8, 10 and 12).  The purpose of the meetings is to present the PROMISE program to the local stakeholders, provide a briefing on the participatory risk assessment methodology, and get local feedback before commencing with the detailed risk assessments in January.

• PHILIPPINES – PROMISE RP had preparatory meetings for the second half of the Training of Trainors on Community Based Disaster Risk Management, which is scheduled for January.  The PROMISE RP Technical Working Group (TWG) organized a gift-giving event for the Christmas season in Ilogin Day Care Center in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, one of Pasig City’s barangays that is most vulnerable to flood disasters.  This was an opportunity from a yearly gift giving event by Trianon Fame Company for God’s Glory Foundation.  Toys and food were given to children of that community day care center, to hopefully ease the pain and trauma from their experience with Typhoon Parma.  Activities in January include: completion of the CBDRM ToT; and meeting with the captains of the project barangays to plan their participatory risk assessment of their flood and typhoon risks.

• SRI LANKA – PROMISE SL began the community-level workshops for participatory risk assessments in Matara.  This activity will cover all wards of Matara, and will be the main activity of the project for the next two months.

A. From the Region

(1) Philippine authorities evacuate thousands away from Mayon volcano

(based on reports from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and IRIN)

Close to 10,000 families or 47,285 people from hundreds of villages in five townships inside an extended 8km danger zone in Albay Province have been evacuated since volcanic activity started on 14 December.  Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) had put Mayon volcano on Alert Level 2 on July 10, then raised it to Level 3 on December 14.  Local officials declared a state of calamity on December 17 and commenced with the evacuations, and requested for troops to be stationed at the perimeter of the danger zone as tourists and residents tried to come close to the volcano.  By December 20, Phivolcs raised the alert to Level 4 and its observatory in Legaspi City near Mayon reported at least nine ash explosions on December 27 that sent ash and lava fragments up to 2,000m into the air, covering villages and towns with a thin layer of fine particles that scientists warn could also cause respiratory and skin problems.  Mayon is the Philippines’ most active volcano.  For updates on this event, go to: http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/volcanomonitor/index.php. 

(2) ADPC Holds Regional Meeting on Pre-Disaster Natural Hazard Loss Estimation

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) organized the “Regional Consultative Meeting on Development of Pre-Disaster Natural Hazard Loss Estimation Strategy” from 14 to 15 December 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. The two-day meeting was an interactive discussion forum for identifying the national needs, challenges and expectations with respect to pre-disaster natural hazard loss estimation. Participants were representatives of economic planning institutions from Bangladesh, China, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.  They made country presentations on: Assessment of Risk Scenarios, Availability of Database, Economic Model incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction. The meeting was organized by ADPC with the financial assistance from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

(3) ADPC-ProVention Consortium Workshop on Innovative Action-Oriented Initiatives in DRR

ADPC, with support by ProVention Consortium, organized a workshop on ‘Innovative Action-Oriented Initiatives in Disaster Risk Reduction' in Bangkok, 11 -12 December 2009.  The workshop is an opportunity for grant recipients of the Provention Consortium initiated the Applied Research Grants Program for Disaster Reduction to present the research results among themselves and interested audiences.  ADPC has partnered with the grants program as a regional center responsible for the grants awarded in East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) and South Asia regions. 

(4) Workshop on University Networks for Education and Research in Disaster Risk Management

ADPC, with the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observations (ITC) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) organized a workshop to evaluate the current state of training and research in Disaster Risk Management in South-East Asia, training and research needs and challenges in the region, and the potential for a University network for meeting the needs and challenges.  Participants came from the Chengdu University (China), Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, National Taiwan University, University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), University of Gadja Madah (Indonesia), University of Pajajaran (Indonesia), University of Peradeniya, and Water Resource University (Vietnam). 

(5) Thammasat University offers masters specialization in global health

Thammasat University in Thailand has an international Master of Public Health (MPH) program that defines global health from a socio-political perspective; emphasizing interregional capacity building, applying a South-to-South focus, and going beyond narrow disciplines, through partnerships that draw on differing perspectives, differing knowledge and experience, and differing priorities.  The program is designed for professionals from public, private and non-profit sectors. The full-time program offers both a thesis and non-thesis track, and involves 16 months of study, including a practicum in a professional global health setting, and commences annually in June 2010.  For enquiries, contact: Dr. Marc Van der Putten, Asst. Dean International Affairs, Faculty of Public Health; Office: (+662) 986 9213-9 (ext. 7405); Fax: (+662) 516 2708.

B. Calls for Submission

(6) Call for Entries: My View: The Asia-Pacific Climate Change Video Contest

Organizer: Asian Development Bank.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a new video competition – My View: The Asia-Pacific Climate Change Video Contest – to promote awareness of climate change, stimulate debate, and encourage climate change solutions in the lead-up to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  There are no age restrictions for the contest. Citizens of any one of ADB's 67 member countries are eligible to participate.  Over $10,000 worth of prizes are being offered in three categories for the best videos about climate change in Asia and the Pacific.  All entries must be submitted by 31 January 2010.  Learn more from  the contest webpage: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2009/Climate-Change-Video-Contest/. 

(7) Call for Papers: ISCRAM 2010

Organizer: International Systems for Crisis Response and Management.  Papers are now being accepted for the 2010 ISCRAM conference May 2-5 in Seattle. Full research papers, works-in-progress, and practitioner reports will be accepted. Papers focusing on the conference theme of how rapidly changing technology affects crisis response are preferred, although any work on crisis response and management systems is welcome.  Submission of work-in-progress, discussions, and practitioner papers remain open until January 18th 2010. More information is available here:  http://www.iscram.org/ISCRAM2010/ISCRAM2010_
full_call_for_papers.pdf.

C. Conferences and Courses 

(8) ADPC-IPCC  Seminar  on  Special Report: "Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disaster to Advance Climate Change Adaptation" (SREX) – Bangkok, Thailand: 7 - 8 January 2010

Organizer: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC).  ADPC is holding a seminar on SREX, produced by the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  Resource persons will come from Working Group II and ADPC.  Twenty participants are coming from 13 countries for this event.  A press conference will be held on January 7 at 11 AM.  For more information, contact Ms. Hailey Kim, hykim@adpc.net. 

(9) 4^th Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Local Governance – Manila, Philippines: 25 – 29 January 2010

Organizer: ADPC.  The overall objective is to develop a cadre of local government professionals sensitive to issues presented by the recurrent hazards.  The course intends to increase their knowledge, as well as of other stakeholders, on urban governance and disaster risk management to be responsive to the needs of vulnerability reduction, and to create opportunities for mainstreaming risk reduction as a component of urban governance.  For inquiries, contact Ms. Padma Karunaratne, padma@adpc.net. 

(10) 16th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-16) – Phuket, Thailand: 26-29 January 2010

Organizer: APRSAF.  Registration is open for APRSAF-16, an active forum to promote activities to address common issues regarding space technology development and utilization for sustainable development of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.  The meeting is jointly organized and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of Thailand, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).  For more information and registration go to: http://www.aprsaf.org/text/ap16_info.html. 

(11) 39^th Disaster Management Course Bangkok, Thailand: 1-19 February 2010

Organizer: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). The purpose of this course is to provide comprehensive disaster management knowledge and skills to effectively integrate disaster management into development programs and policies.  To learn more, download the brochure at: http://www.adpc.net/v2007/Downloads/2009/Sep/DMC39/DMC-39_Brochure.pdf. 

(12) Gi4DM 2010 Conference – Torino, Italy: 2-4 February 2010

Organizers: ASITA (Federazione Italiana delle Associazioni Scientifiche per le Informazioni Territoriali e Ambientali) and ISPRS (International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing).  The International Symposium on Geo-information for Disaster Management (Gi4DM) brings together researchers, developers, data providers and users from all over the world to discuss these challenges. The conference theme is: “Remote Sensing And Geo-Information For Environmental Emergencies.”  Papers that deal with any aspect of geomatics technologies suitable for crisis management in any phase are invited. Authors should focus on the methodologies, tools, functionality, and/or interfaces that are being or should be provided to national and/or international organizations involved with crisis response and management.  For more information, go to: http://www.gi4dm-2010.org. 

(13) 9^th Regional Training Course on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for Cities – Bangkok, Thailand: 1–12 March 2010

Organizer: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC).  The course is designed to impart greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquake and collateral hazards, primarily focusing on mitigating such impacts in order to reduce damage and loss of lives with sustained development.  The designed course is a blend of principles, concepts, case studies, and hands-on experience of seismic risk reduction strategies.  Please contact: Mr. Amit Kumar, tedadpc@adpc.net.  The brochure is available at the following link: http://www.adpc.net/v2007/Downloads/2010/Mar/EVRC-9_Brochure%202010.pdf.

D. Useful Resources

(14) Copenhagen, quo vadis?

The world’s attention was on the United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009 last December, but when the event finished it had left many people dissatisfied with the accord, the main output.  Hopefully, “Mexico” (where the next big round of talks will be held) is not the only answer to the question, but that the talks are a work in progress towards climate risk resilience.  Here are more links to resources generated during or after the talks:

• Draft report of COP15 (English): http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/cop15/eng/l01.pdf

• “Not quite Hopenhagen” (IRIN article): http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87460

• “Climate accord offers some grounds for hope” (SciDev.Net analysis): http://www.scidev.net/en/news/climate-accord-offers-some-grounds-for-hope-say-analysts.html

• Greenpeace’s assessment: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/cop15-assessment.pdf

• International Alert’s analysis of the politics behind the policy-making: http://www.international-alert.org/press/Climate_change_conflict_and_fragility_Nov09.pdf

• “Lessons about science from Climategate” (editorial): http://www.scidev.net/en/editorials/lessons-about-science-from-climategate--1.html

• “Protecting the World’s Oceans” (ADB report, reference material for COP15): http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Protecting-Worlds-Oceans/default.asp

• Climate change index (film): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLViKhITbrA

• AlertNet’s compilation of key climate change reports: http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/125898444547.htm

(15) Tsunamis: Know What to Do!

Do tsunamis make you crabby? Then join this class of colorful crustaceans as they learn what causes tsunamis, how waves form, and what to do if one comes their way—and sum it all up with a song. Created for children by the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services, this five-minute film could teach adults a thing or two about the giant waves and how we watch for them: http://colorado.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b72140489b80a4574373938a1&id=06331af881&e=8dfea3b246 

(16) This month in Asia’s disaster history

Indian Ocean 2004 Tsunami that struck on the 26^th of December is the deadliest on record.  The tsunami was generated by a 9.15-magnitude earthquake.  Over 170,000 people were killed and over 50,000 are still missing.  The tsunami underscored the lack of preparedness in the region, and disaster mitigation efforts since then have included the development of an early warning system, drills, and other preparedness measures along the affected coasts.  Learn more about it at:

• Multi-media documentary of survivors: http://tsunami.trust.org/

• Housing reconstruction report by Habitat for Humanity: http://www.hfhap.org/Tsunami_Report_2009.pdf

• Tsunami Trust site: http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/SA_TID.htm

• AlertNet site: http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/SA_TID.htm

• Socio-economic impacts analysis: http://www.adpc.net/maininforesource/dms/reganalysistsunamieconimpact%282.16mb%29.pdf

• Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Program website: http://apps.develebridge.net/usiotws/pageaahome.html