Last updated: 31 October, 2008    

Disaster Mitigation in Asia
Issue No. 8 
30 November 2003

A. From the Region
B. Calls for Submission 
C. Conferences & Courses
D. Useful Resources

USEFUL RESOURCES

Disaster Reduction in Asia and Africa - ISDR Informs

The Issue 0 of the new Disaster Reduction in Asia - ISDR Informs was officially launched at the 8th meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction on 5 November in Geneva, Switzerland. The issue was entitled'Issue 0' to mark the birth of the collaborative effort of UN/ISDR, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), envisaged to be produced on a bi-annual basis.

To receive a hard copy, please contact <rencoret@un.org>.

Issue 2 of Disaster Reduction in Africa - ISDR Informs is now available in both English and French.

To receive a hard copy, please contact
<isdr-africa@unep.org>.

To download these publications, please refer to <http://www.unisdr.org>.

"Echoes" Issue 1, November 2003

The Partnership for Disaster Reduction-Southeast Asia (PDR-SEA) Team of ADPC announced the launching of "Echoes", a monthly posting of the community of disaster management practitioners in Southeast Asia.

Please refer to <http://www.adpc.net/pdr-sea/mp/echoes-nov2003.html>.

Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas

The October 2003 issue of the Newsletter "Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas" is now available on the web in HTML and PDF formats. This month's editorial deals with the management of dead bodies after disasters. It also includes a special supplement on water and disasters.

To view/download the publication, please visit
<http://www.paho.org/English/dd/Ped/newsletter.htm>.

World Disasters Report, Focus on Ethics in Aid

In this eleventh annual edition, the World Disaster Report examines the ethical challenges faced by those working on the front line in post-conflict situation, chronic food crises and natural disasters. It questions the capacity of the humanitarian system to assess the needs of vulnerable people and challenges the aid community to promote and practise the overriding principle of saving life with dignity, wherever it is under threat.

To view/order the publication, please visit
<http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2003/>.

Contingency Planning for Emergencies, a Manual for Local Government Units

This manual is intended to assist disaster management practitioners and organizations to use contingency planning to address the typical issues of time constraint, enormous needs and complex coordination that hamper effective emergency and disaster management. This manual provides recommendations on how to engage in the contingency planning process in order to develop common strategies and approaches to potential emergencies, as well as to translate the deliberations and results of this process in the form of contingency plans.

Available online at <http://www.ndcc.gov.ph/>.

New CD-ROMs for disaster reduction

A CD ROM incorporating UN documents related to disaster reduction (Volume1: 1987-1999 and Volume 2: 2000-2002) are now available from UN/ISDR.

To receive a copy, please contact <isdr@un.org>.

The Regional Disaster Information Center (CRID) has produced 2 CD ROMs comprising information resources on early warning, as well as on water and disasters.

To receive a copy of either/both, please contact <crid@crid.or.cr>.

To access the contents of both CD ROMs, please refer to
<http://www.crid.or.cr/crid/ing/index_ing.html>.