Eleventh
Session of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction
The Eleventh Session of the Inter
Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction (IATF/DR-11), and
the first since the World Conference on Disaster Reduction
(WCDR), took place at Geneva from 24 to 26 May 2005. The
Session was co-Chaired on the first day by Margareta Wahlstrom,
Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Humanitarian Affairs
and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (DERC) and Kathleen
Cravero, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Director,
Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, UNDP. Jan Egeland,
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs chaired
the second day.
The Task
Force welcomed three new members, Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), International Labor Organization
(ILO) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV), while UNICEF
and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
have recently expressed interest in joining. Amongst other
things, the session agreed on strategic directions for
the ISDR system to assist in the implementation of the
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. The session also
discussed a number of suggestions for strengthening the
modus operandi of the Task Force. For a full list of decisions
and related documents, please consult: http://www.unisdr.org
The Third Early Warning
Conference due in Bonn next March
At the IATF/DR 11th session on 26 May, the Government of Germany announced
that the third Early Warning Conference (EWC-III) would be held in Bonn, in
March 2006 (exact dates to be confirmed). The 3-day international conference
convened by Germany under the auspices of the United Nations will mobilize
efforts to implement the outcome of the Second International Early Warning
Conference (EWC-II) and of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (mainly,
the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015). It will contribute to the development
of the International Early Warning Programme (IEWP), launched at the WCDR in
Kobe, and to discuss on proposals for a global early warning system.
The result-oriented conference will aim at launching comprehensive national
early warning projects, with priority themes for global early warning advancement
initiatives, focused on high-priority countries and issues.
A task force is being established in the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin,
to work in close cooperation with DKKV (German committee for disaster prevention)
in Bonn, while a UN conference secretariat is being put in place at ISDR in
Geneva, to work in close cooperation with the ISDR/PPEW (Platform for the Promotion
of Early Warning) in Bonn.
Disaster Risk Reduction
in Cuba
The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) together with UNDP/BCPR, OCHA, the
Civil Defence of Cuba and the ISDR secretariat have organized a seminar “on
risk management policies” in Cuba on 1-3 June. The three days meeting
called “Seminar Workshop for National Authorities: Risk Management Policies,
Systems and Successful Experiences in the Caribbean” had three main objectives:
First, to rationalise policies, systems and positive experiences of the Caribbean
regarding risk and disaster management. Second, to evaluate progress made in
technologies and building materials Third, to encourage exchange and co-operation
in the area of risk management among the countries of the Caribbean, with support
from the United Nations and Co-operation Agencies.
First Meeting of the Advisory
Panel of the ADPC Regional Consultative Committee (RCC)
Programme for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management
into Development Policy, Planning and Implementation
in Asia
The
Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) Regional Consultative
Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management has developed
a Programme on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management
into Development Policy, Planning and Implementation
in Asia (MDRD) that aims to integrate disaster risk management
into national development plans of RCC member countries
as well as focusing on specific priority sectors such
as agriculture, infrastructure, housing, financial services,
education and health. Through the support of the Government
of Australia (AusAID), requests for submission of priority
implementation projects have been initiated and are already
at an advanced stage of finalization.
In order to guide the implementation of the programme, an MDRD Advisory Panel
was formed and a First Meeting of the Advisory Panel of the Regional Consultative
Committee (RCC) Programme for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management into Development
Policy, Planning and Implementation in Asia was convened by ADPC on 23-24 March
2005 in Bangkok, with the support of the Australian Government (AusAID). A
review of successful national experiences of integration of disaster reduction
into development planning highlighted the importance to articulate national
strategies around the priority areas identified by the Hyogo Framework for
Action.
The Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management (RCC) was established
by ADPC in 2000 and comprises heads of national disaster management offices
(NDMOs) of 25 Asian countries.
5th Meeting of the ADPC
Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management,
Hanoi, Vietnam
The 5th Annual RCC Meeting of the ADPC (Asian Disaster Preparedness Center)
took place in Hanoi, 18-20 May 2005. The meeting was attended by a total of
64 participants comprising of representatives from NDMOs of 18 RCC Member Countries
and observers from local and regional organizations, UN Agencies, and bilateral
and multilateral funding agencies. The meeting gave opportunity to participants
to exchange information on the challenges of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, response,
recovery and improving Early Warning and to share lessons learned from regional
and national programs on preparedness and mitigation. The special session on
the progress of the RCC Initiative on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction
into Development (MDRD) Policy, Planning and Implementation in Asia, discussed
in detail ways to mainstream DR management into development and included the
showcasing of MDRD in RCC Member Countries A Special Consultative Session for
the Asian Region on the Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, provided
an overview of current actions and initiatives related to the WCDR follow-up;
allowed a good exchange on practices and lessons learnt from the Asian region
and recognized the ISDR secretariat as a main partner for the implementation
of the Hyogo Framework in the Asian region.
ISDR starts a new collaboration
with ABU on the role of media in education and disaster
prevention
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), a professional association of 102
radio and television broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region, is partnering
with the ISDR secretariat for developing radio and television broadcast information
flows in reducing the impact of natural disasters in Asia-Pacific Countries.
The ABU, the ISDR secretariat and other specialists will organize two media
workshops in Bangkok between the 13 and the 16 June with 30 broadcasters coming
from the tsunami affected countries including Tanzania and Somalia. The first
workshop starting the 13 to 14 will be more technical in nature and will involve
Technical, News and Programming Directors from broadcast companies and Operational
Directors from meteorological, oceanographic and geographic organizations to
review the rate and accuracy in getting information from meteorological, oceanographic
and geographic organizations to broadcasters. The second workshop will address
education and public awareness issues and stimulate broadcasters to produce
more programmes on disaster reduction with educational contents. Four UN ISDR
video case studies on education, traditional knowledge and preparedness will
be shown to participants as examples of educational stories. The last tsunami
tragedy will be also an opportunity to see how disaster reduction is including
in the recovery. Broadcasters will be invited, six months after the tsunami
tragedy, to go to the affected areas and produce reports on the issue.
United Nations System and
the Private Sector:
Focal Points Meeting co-hosted by UN Global Compact
and UN System College, Geneva, 26-27 May 2005
Looking toward the future and the growing interest of the impact of disaster
risk reduction, the ISDR secretariat was invited to participate to the Focal
points meeting held in Geneva, the 26-27 May along with external officers from
31 other UN organizations dealing with developing a comprehensive and more
coherent approach to adopt partnerships specially with the private sector.
The Director of the ISDR secretariat took the opportunity to encourage more
deliberate process to build relationship with the commercial sector to address
risk issues and community engagement with hazards, before they become disasters.
Discussions at this workshop jointly organized by the UN Global Compact and
UN System College emphasized the importance of building relationships over
a period of time, which relates to developing capacities rather than looking
at from only a philanthropic or resources driven prospective.
International Recovery
Platform in Kobe, Japan
The International Recovery Seminar, in support of the IRP, was held at the
JICA center in Kobe, Japan, 10-14 May 2005. The seminar was organized by UNDP/BCPR,
the ISDR Secretariat, OCHA, ILO, Cabinet Office (Government of Japan), Asian
Disaster Reduction Center, Hyogo Prefecture and the World Bank.
The seminar was very well attended by international organizations (all the
above as well as UNEP, UNV, UN/HABITAT, UNOSAT and IFRC), donors (Australia,
Italy, Japan, UAE, and USA) disaster prone programme countries (Algeria, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Iran, Maldives), World Bank as well as NGOs and academics. Other
participants from India, Turkey, Philippines joined the meeting through the
World Bank video-conference facility.
It was agreed by all parties that the IRP would be the inter-agency mechanism
for taking forward the agenda of the Hyogo Framework of relating to post-disaster
recovery. The IRP will thus be a major thematic pillar of the ISDR system.
The IRP will be organized around three components: Knowledge Management and
Advocacy; Training and Capacity Building and Enhancing Recovery Operations.
The 12the Regional Disaster
Management Meeting in Madang, Papua New Guinea
The 12th Regional Disaster Management Meeting was held 6-8 June 2005. The theme
was “Investment for Sustainable Development: Building the Resilience
of Nation’s and Communities to Disaster”, which focused on the
Draft Pacific Framework for Action 2005-2015, modeled closely on the Hyogo
Framework and designed to reflect the special needs of the Pacific Small Islands
Development State (SIDS). For more information, please consult with: http://www.sopac.org/community+risk
Asia Pacific All Hazards
Workshop, Honolulu Hawaii, USA
United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (US/NOAA) held the Asia Pacific All Hazards
Workshop 6-10 June 2005, in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum. The theme of the workshop was “Realizing Tsunami and Disaster
Resilience through New Partnerships and Technologies”. This workshop
brought together experts from US/NOAA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
the U.S. Geological Survey, other U.S. government agencies and U.S. companies
with disaster/emergency management officials from APEC and Indian Ocean tsunami-affected
economies, and provided an in-depth overview of the elements of an “All
Hazards” early warning system.
Dr. Laura Kong, Director, UNESCO/IOC International Tsunami Information Centre
informed on the ISDR activities and also made a presentation on behalf of the
ISDR secretariat.
For more
information, please consult with: http://www.trademeetings.com/ssMeetingDetails.asp?meetingId=139
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