Dear Readers,

It is my pleasure to present to you this year’s first edition of Asian Disaster Management News, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center’s quarterly newsletter.

By showcasing the voices from around our region, our newsletter will present interviews, interest stories and case studies on work in disaster risk management from around our region.

As ADPC prepares for the upcoming Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Risk Reduction from March 25-27 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, this issue focuses specifically on safer development planning topics in Asia-Pacific. Since 2005, the RCC has been implementing its Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Deduction Program throughout the region. Today, the Program works hand-in-hand with governments in Asia-Pacific through Priority Implementation Partnerships to integrate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into the development planning process.

will find that one theme authors’ consistently address throughout this edition is that mainstreaming is not a ‘one-off’ exercise, but rather a continuous process that extends through long-term planning. It is not an end in itself, but rather a strategic approach. Our Priority Implementation Partnerships work towards ‘institutionalizing’ the mainstreaming process across all sectors to ensure sustainable development in the long-run.

We hope that you enjoy this edition on ‘safer development planning’ and that you keep informed on upcoming news related to the RCC meeting in March.

Sincerely,

N.M.S.I Arambepola
Editor-in-Chief