Vol. 5, No. 1  February 1999

Editor's Corner...

book review...

Earthquake Safety Day in Nepal...

Obituary


Theme


Insight


duryog nivaran


AUDMP - making cities safer


Upcoming ADPC training programs


IDNDR news


Bookmarks


WWW Sites

 IDNDR news...

IDNDR-ESCAP Regional Meeting for Asia

The IDNDR Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) with the participation of the World Bank, is organizing a Regional Meeting for Asia entitled, "Risk & Society in the 21st Century", which will be convened in Bangkok, Thailand from 23-26 February, 1999. During this meeting, the IDNDR International Framework will evaluate the 10 years of achievement in disaster reduction and map a comprehensive disaster reduction strategy for the 21st century. This meeting will be the major event in Asia to formulate regional views for the IDNDR closing process. The objectives of the Action Plan are three fold. First, it will evaluate the progress in disaster reduction during the past ten years. Second it will identify trends in natural hazards in order to assess project related risks into the 21st Century. Finally, it will shape future directions for sustained international and inter-disciplinary commitment to disaster prevention, by identifying crucial programme functions and essential institutional responsibilities.

The event will bring together National IDNDR Committees and other national or regional collaborators in the Asian region that are part of the IDNDR International Framework for a critical assessment and discussion of accomplishments and remaining requirements in the field of disaster reduction in Asia since the inception of IDNDR 1990-2000. The outcome of the meeting will proceed to outline their priority agendas for the 21st century and will be presented at the IDNDR Program Forum that will be held in Geneva, July 1999. This Forum will result in a platform and provide recommendations for further institutional support to disaster reduction beyond the year 2000.

IDNDR's Promotion and Public Awareness

The IDNDR Secretariat issued the first announcement for the UN 1999 World Disaster Reduction Campaign, which is based on the slogan "Prevention Pays." In this context, various activities are being planned, together with support materials. The campaign is expected to be actively implemented in about 100 countries. To celebrate the theme of the campaign and create synergies, the IDNDR Secretariat is inviting all its partners to share effective examples of successful disaster prevention practices and cases experienced at the international, national and local level. The campaign will culminate on 13 October 1999 with the celebration of UN World Disaster Reduction Day, during which the 1999 UN Sasakawa Disaster Prevention Award and the 1999 IDNDR International Photo Contest Award will be presented.

Public-Private Partnerships

The Eleventh Forum of PPP 2000, a United States initiative on public-private partnership for disaster reduction, convened in Washington D.C. on 27 January to discuss, among other matters, the change of the global disaster management culture. High level experts from the White House and other US Agencies met with representatives from the private sector, the World Bank, the Organization of American States and the IDNDR to discuss advancements of disaster reduction and the emerging trends for the future. The meeting reached important conclusions on the need to achieve vast scale risk assessment, decrease vulnerability to disasters and finally bring about a culture of prevention at all levels.

Natural Disaster Management: The IDNDR Commemorative Volume

The IDNDR commemorative volume, Natural Disaster Management (NDM), to be produced by a commercial publisher, Natural Disaster Management Limited, in cooperation with IDNDR, has received extensive support from the broadly-described disaster management community. It is set to become a comprehensive guide to the latest developments that are being made in disaster prevention, mitigation and management of natural hazards. For more information please visit the NDM website (http://www.ndm.co.uk/)or contact Stuart Fairbrother at NDM's UK offices at: Tel: (44-116)-251-5123; Fax: (44-116)-251-7123; E-Mail: ndm_uk@msn.com

Forthcoming Meetings

In preparation for the IDNDR International Programme Forum 1999 taking place in July in Geneva, the following meetings are coming up this month:

IDNDR Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) Meeting, Canberra, Australia, 15-20 February 1999.

International Meeting Evaluation of Preparedness and Response to Hurricanes Georges and Mitch, co-sponsored by IDNDR, Dominican Republic 16-19 February 1999.

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Information, Research & Network Support
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center
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Tel: (66-2) 524-5378; Fax: (66-2) 524-5360; Email: kamal@ait.ac.th