Field Library for Disaster Reduction
Knowledge investment is a vital element for disaster reduction
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International Workshop on Disaster Risk Mitigation:
Potential of Micro Finance for Tsunami Recovery
October 2005, New Delhi, India |
The Field Library for Disaster Reduction is part of
the UN Library on disaster reduction based in Geneva
under the coordination of the ISDR secretariat.
The objectives of the Field Library are twofold. One
is to enhance a larger access to the information and knowledge on
disaster reduction among to various target group in hazard-prone
countries through active partnership with disaster reduction practitioners,
researchers, educators, national and local leaders, regional institutions,
local communities, libraries, NGOs, UN and other international development
agencies and the other is to support the on-going effort in creating
a culture of disaster prevention that ultimately will result in a
more resilient communities to the effects of natural, technological,
environmental and biological hazards.
This Field Library initiative initially focused on
addressing the needs of countries most affected by the Indian Ocean
tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004, driven by the desires to equip
the local communities affected by disasters with the necessary information
and knowledge on disaster risk reduction. As this initiative is a
concrete action to facilitate the national government to make disaster
risk reduction a national and a local priority underlined in the
Hyogo Framework for Action, UN/ISDR secretariat has worked hard to
foster the development of this initiative together with
WHO, UNDP, IFRC, Prevention Consortium, the World Bank, and UNEP.
| The Field Library contains around one hundred books
and journals on disaster-related subjects, and is packed
in a blue metal trunk on wheels. To make it user-friendly,
a catalogue is developed, together with guidelines. The
Field Library initiative was piloted in Indonesia and India,
in collaboration with UNDP country offices and national governments.
The pilot field library initiative has been well received
and appreciated. |
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on the initial success and increased demands for the Field Library, UN/ISDR secretariat has, with the
financial support received from the Indian Ocean Earthquake-Tsunami
2005 Flash Appeal (UN/OCHA), distributed, in 2006, 40 Libraries to countries
most affected by the tsunami and UN/ISDR Units in Bangkok and Nairobi. |
A national exhibition to commemorate 1-year tsunami is being
held from 26 to 27 December 2005 at National Museum, Jakarta.
Hosted by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) the expo opens
for public from 8 am to 7 pm. Among the participating partners
is Red Cross, Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika, National Coordinating
Body for Disaster Management and Refugee (Bakornas PBP), State
Ministry for Research and Technology, NGOs, and the United Nations.
UN Disaster Reduction Library (DRL) is also exhibited to become
a reference point in the field of natural hazards. |
| Contact: darricau@un.org |
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