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Promoting Community-based Approaches in Disaster Management

ADPC, in collaboration with the Duryog Nivaran network, offered the fourth regional course on community-based approaches to disaster management from 3-14 July 2000. The response to this course offering has been overwhelming. More than 42 participants from 16 countries from Asia and the Pacific, as well as from outside this region, registered for the course. The total number of participants being much more than the ideal size of a training group, two separate courses were organized. The fifth CBDM course will be conducted from 24 July to 4 August 2000. The participants come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam. These courses are being directed by Zenaida Delica, Director, Training and Education at ADPC. Duryog Nivaran researchers Mihir Bhatt and Madhavi Ariyabandhu, and Annelies Heijmans of the Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation Inc. (CDP), Philippines, are among the key resource persons. The participants hail from national disaster management agencies, as well as from a range of well-known NGOs and international organizations like the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Save the Children Fund, World Concern, UNICEF, CARITAS, Church World Service, OXFAM and CDP, among others.

The CBDM course introduces a range of participatory tools in community-based risk assessment and offers an opportunity to practice them in the field with a disaster prone-community. Using these tools, the course participants learn to identify risk reduction measures that can be undertaken by the community and translate them into community level action plans. Sukeshini Sigamani of UNICEF India feels that the course will help her a great deal in her job. "Although concepts like vulnerability and capacity assessment are much talked about in the development sector, few people have a thorough understanding of these terms. Proper understanding of these concepts will help us in being more effective in our respective organizations," says Sukeshini.

Muftah Etwilab, a participant from the Libyan Red Cross says, "It's a very useful course and we would like to adapt it to the Libyan context and deliver it to a larger number of professionals at the national level in Libya."

Ian Wilderspin, a Disaster Preparedness Delegate of IFRC in Vietnam, points out that a training course such as this faces the challenge of striking a balance between different learning expectations of participants coming from disparate backgrounds. "For us the most important thing is to develop an understanding of practical vulnerability and capacity assessment tools that can be used at the community level and that can lead to long-term risk reduction plans at the community level," says Ian. "This course has helped us in that direction. The course material and vast amounts of reading material will be helpful in our community-based disaster preparedness programs."

The ongoing courses are part of a CBDM training strategy of ADPC and its partners in Asia. In addition to focusing on the regional level, this strategy aims to provide CBDM training to a larger range of practitioners from indigenous and local NGOs, central and local governments and others, who are involved in managing local risk scenarios throughout Asia on a day-to-day basis.

ADPC Training for the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau

ADPC conducted two short courses on disaster management for Beijing disaster response agency officials as requested by the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau. The training was conducted from 16-25 April and 18-22 May 2000 in Bangkok, Thailand. The courses were attended by participants from the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau and its partner agencies including Beijing Donation Receiving Organization, the Disaster and Social Relief Department and the Social Relief Section. The course objectives were to enable participants to:

1. Identify disaster situations in Asia and corresponding activities of ADPC;

2. Identify basic concepts of disaster management;

3. List impacts of the changing environment;

4. Enumerate disasters caused by human and natural forces;

5. Articulate ideas of disaster preparedness and mitigation; and

6. Practice the use of damage assessment and needs analysis for disaster relief.

ADPC Training and Workshop Calendar July - December 2000 A. REGULAR COURSES First Regional Training Course on Urban Flood Mitigation (UFM-1), Bangkok, Thailand, 18-29 September, Fee: US$ 2,000. Twenty-sixth International Course on Disaster Management (DMC-26), Bangkok, Thailand, 6-24 November, Fee: US$ 2,500. B. PROGRAM-BASED TRAINING COURSES AND WORKSHOPS Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program First National Training Course on Urban Disaster Mitigation (UDM-1) in Laos, 18-21 July, in collaboration with the Urban Research Institute (URI), Laos. First National Training Course on Urban Disaster Mitigation (UDM-1) in Nepal, 7-14 August, in collaboration with the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), Nepal. Third National Training Course on Natural Disaster Mitigation (SLIDA NDM-3) in Sri Lanka, 1-7 September, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), Sri Lanka. First National Training Course on Urban Disaster Mitigation (UDM-1) in Indonesia, 1-7 October, in collaboration with the Institute for Community Service, Institute of Technology, Bandung , Indonesia. First National Training Course on Technological Risk Mitigation for Cities in India (TRMC), 1-7 October, in collaboration with the National Safety Council, India. Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) Training for Instructors (TFI) for India, 9-14 October, by invitation only. Regional Course on Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue (CSSR) for India, Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines, Bangkok, 6-10 November, by invitation only. Sub-Regional Medical First Responders (MFR) Course, India, 3-14 December, by invitation only. Extreme Climate Events Program National Consultation Workshop on Extreme Climate Events and their Impacts on Society and the Environment in Indonesia, Jakarta, August 2000, by invitation only. Climate Information Producer and User Workshop in Vietnam, Hanoi, September 2000, by invitation only. Climate Information Producer and User Workshop in Indonesia, Jakarta, September 2000, by invitation only. National Consultation Workshop on Extreme Climate Events and their Impacts on Society and the Environment in the Philippines, Manila, October 2000, by invitation only. Climate Information Producer and User Workshop in the Philippines, Manila, October 2000, by invitation only. Regional Sharing Workshop on Extreme Climate Events and their Impacts on Society and the Environment for South East Asia, Bangkok, October 2000, by invitation only. C. SPECIAL COURSES ON REQUEST As in previous years, ADPC's Training and Education Division will be pleased to organize specialized courses and study tours tailor-made to meet the learning needs of a particular audience. These courses can be organized in your country or in Bangkok. For more information please contact Director, Training and Education, ADPC, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand. Tel: (66-2) 524-5363/524-5362; Fax: (66-2) 524-5350/ 524-5360; E-mail: tedadpc@ait.ac.th

First in a Series on "Changing Concepts" of Disaster Management

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Source: Excerpted from ADPC Training Materials -- contribution of CDRC