Last updated: 15 September, 2008    

Disaster Mitigation in Asia
Issue No. 5 
30 June 2003

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

FROM THE REGION

Launch of Publication "Facing Up to the Storms: How Communities Can Cope with Disasters - Lessons from Orissa and Gujarat" on 7 July 2003

Facing Up to the Storms will be published on 7 July 2003. It illustrates how communities can stop a crisis from becoming a catastrophe. This new disaster management book identifies how people even in the poorest part of the world can survive disasters if they are involved in all aspects of managing disasters from response to prevention. Case studies based on first-hand experiences of local agencies funded by Christian Aid prove that this works. This publication will be downloadable online. Review copies can be requested at the e-mail
address below.

To promote community-based approaches to disaster management, Christian Aid is hosting an online discussion from publication day, 7 July until 7 August.

For more information visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk/storm or e-mail Ms. Mary Todd <mary.todd@virgin.net>

Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership (NDM-P) in Vietnam

Natural disasters that devastated Central Vietnam in 1999 led to the development of an institutionalized arrangement for coordinated efforts for disaster mitigation in Vietnam. The Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership (NDM-P) is an association made up of voluntary members of government, donors and NGOs. A Secretariat of the NDM-P was set up in May 2002 in Hanoi. A quarterly newsletter of the Partnership is being published since September 2002 for information-sharing. A website was recently launched to provide not only updates on NDM-P activities but also information on the priority areas for disaster mitigation and preparedness in Central Vietnam, current disaster-related projects, conferences, training courses and publications.

For more information visit http://www.undp.org.vn/ndm-partnership or e-mail <ndm-partnership@undp.org.vn>

The Provention Consortium Awards 65 Grants to Young Professionals

65 young professionals from 27 countries were selected to receive a maximum grant of USD5,000 from the Provention Consortium based on their potential for making a significant contribution to the field of disaster management. The winning proposals cover a number of unique topics. They include the spread of forest fires due to honey-hunters in South Africa; coastal erosion vulnerability mapping in the Philippines; training youths in emergency preparedness and first aid techniques in Bulgaria; and a proposal to study the awareness of earthquake risk among the population of Mendoza, Argentina. The projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2003 and the collective results of these projects will be disseminated widely in 2004 after they have been completed.

The Disaster Management Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with the World Bank, is administering the program and hosting a virtual space where the young researchers can network and learn from one another. Other partners include the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Thailand and the Cranfield Disaster Management Center in the United Kingdom.

For more information visit http://www.proventionconsortium.org/projects/appliedres_press.htm or e-mail Don Schramm <schramm@engr.wisc.edu>

School Earthquake Safety in Uzbekistan

In last issue's request for readers to share information on school earthquake safety, Friedemann Wenzel writes:

In a small earthquake with magnitude of only 5.4 in Uzbekistan on 20 April, 2000 in the Kashkardarya region many schools were damaged or destroyed as the were built using adobe and were not seismic-resistant. According to data from Dr. Khakimov, 30 per cent of all school buildings are of this type, many of them in earthquake prone regions.

In the aftermath, the government of Uzbekistan started a program for the construction of earthquake proof schools. The German Committee for Disaster Reduction contributed some funds for research into the utilization of rural building materials for safe construction and is currently preparing a video that demonstrates the construction of safe schools. Key figures in Uzbekistan are: Dr. Nurtaev and Dr. Khakimov.

For more information e-mail Friedemann Wenzel <friedemann.wenzel@gpi.uni-karlsruhe.de>

This e-newsletter is sent to almost 2,000 subscribers.

Disaster Mitigation in Asia is a moderated electronic newsletter provided by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center for sharing updates on disaster mitigation in Asia that includes latest information sources and analytical accounts of new approaches, methodologies, models, resources and tools for disaster risk reduction. This e-newsletter will also provide updates on projects, conferences, training courses and workshops in the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Asia and worldwide.

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