Introduction

Background

Nearly every year large segments of population living in urban areas suffer from losses related to natural events due to the concentration of both populations and economic assets within a hazard prone area. The national, provincial and local governments in disaster-affected countries in Asia are forced to divert scarce development resources that are ear-marked for development of new urban settlements and construction of new infrastructure etc for replacement and reconstruction of damaged assets due to repeated occurrences of disaster events. Comparative economic and social losses to urban areas, which are the economic engine of any country, are high.

Detailed analyses of natural hazards in South and Southeast Asia indicate that geologically triggered hazard events such as earthquakes and tsunami are responsible for higher consequences in terms of damages losses, but are comparatively low frequency. Hydro-meteorological events are more frequent and more widespread within South and South East Asia. Major River basins such as Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Indus, Mekong, and Red river are prone to flooding almost every year. Island countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia & Philippines have monsoon seasons, which create devastating flash-floods in small catchments. Drought is a recurring phenomenon in most parts of India, Pakistan, Lao, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. Cyclones threaten coastlines of countries located in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, China Sea, Gulf of Thailand, and Pacific region, particularly Vietnam, India and Bangladesh. Landslides are frequently triggered by heavy rainfall and frequent events during prolonged monsoon periods especially in the mountain areas of India, Indonesia, Bhutan, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka.  Therefore, hydro-meteorological events and associated secondary events are common and frequent occurrences throughout the sub-regions of South and South East Asia. Other problems associated with hydro-meteorological events such as water shortage also create and make worse severe problems in urban areas due to poor urban services.

ADPC, with funding support from USAID / OFDA, will implement PROMISE for urban disaster risk reduction with the aim to promote Hydro-meteorological disaster preparedness and mitigation activities in selected highly vulnerable secondary cities in South and Southeast Asia.

PROGRAM GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The proposed Program will contribute to furthering the goal of, sharing lessons from and utilizing technical resources (both human and material) developed during the course of the Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme (AUDMP).

Program Goal
Reduced vulnerability of urban communities through enhanced preparedness and mitigation of hydro-meteorological disasters in South and South East Asia.

Program Strategy
ADPC proposes the following strategy for the proposed program: “Increased adoption of private and public sector mechanisms for community preparedness and mitigation of hydro-meteorological disaster risk in urban areas of South and South East Asia which will measurably alleviate human suffering, prevent loss of life, and reduce the potential for physical and economic damage”.

Program Objectives
The proposed project will build on the activities undertaken and strategies developed under the AUDMP for achieving the above goal through:

1. Adoption of specific hydro-meteorological disaster preparedness and mitigation measures to manage hydro-meteorological disaster risk by stakeholders in targeted cities
2. Increased stakeholder involvement and further enhancement of strategies, tools and methodologies related to community preparedness and mitigation of hydro-meteorological disasters in urban communities.
3. Enhanced coordination with USAID Missions to promote sustainability and ensure program activities accord with USAID country and regional strategies.

Strengthen networks and regional links among relevant risk management institutions/organizations for improving potential and capacity for application and dissemination of lessons learned.

Geographic areas of activity

Five highly vulnerable secondary cities in Asia have been chosen for implementation of PROMISE demonstration project activities, namely Chittagong in Bangladesh, Hyderabad in Pakistan, Dagupan city in the Philippines, Kalutara in Sri Lanka and Da Nang in Vietnam. The five target secondary cities proposed, are rapidly growing urban areas in their respective countries, which have had significant impacts from hydro-meteorological disaster events during the past 5 years.

Expected results

Each component of the Program will contribute through a holistic framework for institutionalization of improved private and public sector mechanisms for community preparedness and mitigation of hydro-meteorological disaster risk in urban areas of the target countries.