Pacific prepares a Disaster Risk Reduction Framework for
Action 2005-2015
The South Pacific Applied Geosciences Commission (SOPAC)
will host a Pacific Regional Stakeholders Consultation Meeting
in Suva on Wednesday 4 May 2005 as part of the preparations
for the 12th Pacific Regional Disaster Management Meeting
to be held in Madang, Papua New Guinea, 6-8 June 2005. The
consultation meeting will consider a draft regional Disaster
Risk Reduction Framework for Action 2005-2015 that was prepared
to reflect the outcomes of the World Conference on Disaster
Reduction (Kobe, Japan 18-22 January 2005). For further details
please contact Alan Mearns, Manager, Community Risk Programme,
SOPAC Secretariat. Email: alan@sopac.org, Web site: <http://www.sopac.org/>
First Consultative Meeting on National Platforms for Disaster
Risk Reduction in Africa, Nairobi 21-23 April 2005
The consultative meeting was attended by representatives
of existing national platforms (NPs) for disaster reduction
in Africa (Comoros, Republic of Congo Gabon, Ghana,
Kenya, Madagascar; Ugand, Zambia) and candidate countries (Chad,
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal) and two regional consultants
from South Africa and Ghana. UNDP/BCPR supported the organization
of this meeting and was represented by its regional advisor,
Dr. Kenneth Westgate. The meeting provided a fine opportunity
for exchanging experiences and lessons learned among NPs,
as well as plans and activities for the future establishment
of NPs by candidate countries. In overall terms, the experiences
and initiatives undertaken by NPs were very illustrative
of the added value of these mechanisms for advancing Disaster
Risk Reduction at national and regional levels. One of the
main outcomes of these discussions is a concrete Plan
of Action of African National Platforms for disaster reduction
for 2005, agreed by all representatives. Information will
be soon available on the ISDR Africa website. (http://www.unisdrafrica.org/)
Meeting in Mauritius for a tsunami early warning system in
the Indian Ocean
Representatives from Indian Ocean countries affected by the
26 December 2004
tsunami gathered in Grande Baie, Mauritius 14-16 April with
other countries and experts in early warning systems on the
occasion of the Second International Coordination Meeting
for the Development of a Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System
for the Indian Ocean. Co-organized by the UNESCO’s
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC) and
UN/ISDR, the meeting elaborated plans for a tsunami early
warning system in the Indian Ocean and made progress on the
implementation of the system in the region. The meeting adopted
the "Mauritius Declaration" that complements the
Paris Communiqué and further outlines the way forward
towards the development of the IOTEWS . For further details
refer to:http://ioc.unesco.org/indotsunami/mauritius05/mauritius05_outcome.htm
To know more about early warning activities, do not forget
also to consult ISDR’s new section on tsunami. http://www.unisdr.org/ppew/
SIDA seminar on Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction
The Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA) and
the Swedish international Development Aid (SIDA) Regional
Advisor for Humanitarian Assistance in Bangkok jointly organized
a one-day seminar in order to strengthen the environment-disaster
risk reduction agenda within SIDA. The seminar was held on
27 April 2005, and was attended by SIDA professionals from
headquarters and embassies in South and Southeast Asian countries
where SIDA has development cooperation programmes. The workshop
provided an opportunity to identify challenges and possibilities
for capitalizing on the synergies between disaster risk reduction
and sustainable development and natural resource management.
For more information please contact Eva Mellgren (eva.magdalena.mellgren@sida.se)
and/or Glenn Dolcemascolo (glennd@pdc.org)
DIPECHO Regional Consultative Meeting for South East Asia,
Bangkok, 22 April 2005
The DIPECHO consultative meeting provided an opportunity
to discuss DIPECHO initiative in South East Asia. The meeting
also provided for exchanges of views amongst partners in
the region on difficulties encountered in developing a disaster
risk reduction agenda and how to enhance collaboration to
respond to the priorities identified in the Hyogo Framework
for Action.
The meeting brought together over 20 organizations and bilateral
agencies, active in this field in the region. The participants
acknowledged the need for continued interaction and referred
to the ISDR Asia Partnership, initiated by ADPC, ADRC, UNDP,
UNESCAP, OCHA and the ISDR secretariat as a useful mechanism
to facilitate such dialogues.
For more information please contact Marc Gordon (ta02@echo-bangkok.org)
and/or Joe Chung and Christel Rose (joemchung@un.org, rosec@un.org)
WHO Conference on the Tsunami
Conference on Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia
Phuket, Thailand 4-6 May 2005
Participants looked at the impact of the tsunami in the health
sector and at lessons learned on ways to integrate disaster
reduction in the health sector. Salvano Briceño recalled
that the Hyogo Framework for Action provides a clear focus
on Risk Reduction in the Health Sector. He explained how
disaster risk reduction could be introduced into future health
sector policies and shared good practices such as theCADHI
(Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information)
which has been implemented by a partnership including PAHO/WHO,
ISDR, the US National Library of Medicine and ECHO. (http://www.crid.or.cr/crid/ing/index_ing.html).
OCHA
and ISDR participated in the 10th International Scientific
and Practical Conference: "Vital Problems of Natural
and Technological Safety Regulations in the XXI century" held
in Moscow from 19-21 April 2005.
The conference gathered experts from EMERCOM of Russia,
the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the Russian
Academy
of Sciences and the Russian Scientific Society for Risk Analysis
to discuss risk identification, risk management, organisational
mechanisms and safety regulations. ISDR made a presentation
on "natural" disaster data and trends, including
information on the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
The results of the WCDR were presented as well its implementation
and follow-up process. The presentation was translated into
English and Russian by OCHA-Moscow and is available on the
following OCHA website. : http://www.ocha.ru.
REMINDER: 2005 nomination process for the UN Sasakawa Award
for Disaster Reduction
Join us in rewarding individuals and institutions from around
the world that contributed, through innovative practices
and outstanding initiatives, to reducing the risk and vulnerabilities
of communities to natural hazards. Nomination forms are available
in English, French and Spanish at http://www.unisdr.org and
must be submitted to the ISDR Secretariat by 29 July 2005.
For further information on the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster
Reduction, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/eng/sasakawa/sk-about-eng.htm or contact rosec@un.org
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