1.
Forum for East Asia – Latin
America Cooperation (FEALAC)
held its First Symposium on Pan
– Oceanic Cooperation for
Disaster Risk Reduction in
Bangkok, Thailand during 9 – 12
November 2009. The Meeting was
attended by delegates from
Argentina, China, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala,
Indonesia, Laos PRD, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Paraguay, Peru,
Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, as
well as scientists, experts and
specialists on disaster risk
reduction (DRR) from Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center
(ADPC), World Health
Organization (WHO/SEARO), Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO),
International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC), Emergency and Disaster
Management and Administration -
Bogota, International Research
Center on El Niño (CIIFEN),
Center for the Cooperation of
National Disasters Prevention in
Central America (CEPREDENAC),
Andean Committee for Disaster
Prevention and Assistance (CAPRADE)
and Royal Thai Governments’
specialists.
2. The
Meeting provided an opportunity
for FEALAC member countries to
discuss ways and means to
strengthen the cooperation on
sharing adaptation strategies
and methodologies among the
countries, discussing adaptation
challenges, and creating a
network of technical support and
information sharing from the
FEALAC member countries from
both sides of the Pacific
Ocean.
3.
During the inaugural session,
H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
addressed the participants and
made welcome remarks by
elaborating on the importance of
DRR issue as the regions of East
Asia and Latin America faced a
common concern of natural
disasters and expected
significant global economic loss
over the next few years. He
welcomed the Symposium’s
initiative to follow-up on the 3rd
FEALAC Foreign Ministers Meeting
which adopted the Brasilia
Ministerial Declaration and
Programme of Action highlighting
Natural Disaster Management as
one of the priority areas for
FEALAC. He also recommended the
Symposium attach great
importance to the Copenhagen
Meeting on Climate Change. He
expressed hope that the
Symposium would pave the way for
the bi-regional cooperation in
disaster risk reduction and
enhance the network of technical
support and cooperation and the
sharing of information and
expertise among FEALAC member
countries and regional
institutions concerned.
4. On
the first day, a presentation on
the topic of “Community-Based
Approaches to Management of
Avian and Human Influenza (AHI)
in Asia” was made by Mr.
Bradford Philips from ADPC and
moderated by Dr. Jai P Narain,
Director of Communicable
Diseases, WHO/SEARO. Through his
presentation, Mr. Bradford
highlighted community-based
approaches in managing Avian and
Human Influenza in Asia. As
there had been a lack of
cooperation among different
entities working on AHI in
particular countries in Asia, he
explained that the programme was
intended to strengthen the
capacities of international,
regional, national and local
non-governmental and
community-based organizations in
Asia, and to have better
communication and response to
pandemic emergencies.
5.
A presentation was made by Ms.
Patricia Bittner, Program
Management Officer of the Area
on Emergency Preparedness and
Disaster Relief of PAHO on
“Disaster Risk Reduction and
Safe Hospitals.” She made an
introduction on the health
impacts of disasters, placing
special emphasis on the fact
that the greatest impact on
health was caused by the loss of
access to health services caused
by the loss of hospitals. Ms.
Bittner highlighted some of the
work underway to correct this ,
including the application of the
Hospital Safety Index, a low
cost tool to help health
authorities access the
vulnerability of health
institutions.
Through the
discussion session after Ms.
Bittner’s presentation, it was
noted that today the knowledge
exists to protect health
facilities from the impact of
disasters. However this requires
commitment, from the highest
political level and a multi-sectoral
support mechanism.
6.
A panel discussion was held in
the afternoon on the current
Type A H1N1 outbreak situation.
The panel members comprised five
distinguished professionals in
the health sector including Dr.
Jai P Narain, Director of
Communicable Diseases, WHO/SEARO,
Mr. Jim Catampongan, the Avian
and Human Influenza Coordinator
of the Asia Pacific Zone Office
of the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement, Ms. Patricia Bittner,
Program Management Officer of
the Area on Emergency
Preparedness and Disaster
Relief, PAHO, Dr. Luis Jorge
Perez-Calderon, Consultant for
Emergency & Disaster Management
Administration. The session was
moderated by Dr. Pasakorn
Akarasewi, Director of Bureau of
Epidemiology, Department of
Disease Control, Ministry of
Public Health of Thailand who
also chaired the panel. Brief
statements on the current
situation of the Type A H1N1
outbreak in their respective
regions and countries were given
by each panelist. The lessons
learnt and best practices from
the experiences of handling the
outbreak were also shared during
the session. The importance of
involving the mass media in
curbing the spread of the
outbreak and also the need to
focus on the community level was
also brought up during the
discussion.
Meeting
highlighted the need to
strengthen the capacities of
international, regional,
national and local governmental
and non-governmental
organization active in FEALAC
member countries in managing AHI
at the community-based level, in
particular AHI practitioners
working with communities to
manage the risks of AHI. It was
noted that the functional health
facilities were crucial to meet
the health needs of populations
especially in times of crisis.
7.
A presentation on “Climate
Information Services in Western
South America” was made by Dr.
Affonso Da Silveira Mascarenhas
from CIIFEN and moderated by Mr.
Atiq Kainan Ahmed, from ADPC.
The session focused on the past
work and current research areas
of CIIFEN and how it
communicates with decision
makers through its climate and
environmental publications. The
major question brought about
from this session is “how to
communicate well with all
stakeholders?” as dealing with
climate change requires the
involvement of different
communities of science, civil
society, health sector,
environmental sector and people
working at the crisis management
making it inter-disciplinary.
Comments were made on the need
for close cooperation and
sharing of experiences between
East Asia and Latin America
countries on disaster.
8.
The first day of the Symposium
ended with ADPC’s presentation
on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk
Reduction into Development
Policy, Planning and
Implementation made by its
Deputy Executive Director Mr.
Loy Rego. The presentation
focused on the mainstreaming
activities carried out under the
Regional Consultative Committee
(RCC) on Disaster Management
which is a regional mechanism.
RCC is comprised of 30 members
from 26 Asian countries working
on the national disaster
management systems and now
implementing programmes on
Mainstreaming Disaster Risk
Reduction into Development (MDRD)
since 2004 in various sectors in
member countries. The programmes
has 5 components of
Mainstreaming DRR into National
Development Process,
Mainstreaming DRR into Sectoral
development such as agriculture
, education, health, housing and
infrastructure, Advocacy for
building awareness and political
support, setting up and
maintaining a knowledge
management platform and capacity
building for mainstreaming under
which activities are being
carried out.
9.
The second day of the Symposium
began with a presentation by Mr.
Ivan Perez, Coordination
Manager, National Disaster
Reduction Coordination Centre of
Guatemala on behalf of the
Center for the Cooperation of
National Disasters Prevention in
Central America (CEPREDENAC), on
Central America’s
Policy for
Integrated Disaster Risk
Management
(proyecto PCGIR).
The session was moderated by Mr.
Loy Rego of the ADPC. The
presentation presented the
proceses, instruments and
implementation mechanisms of the
policy as well as its
stakeholders and their roles in
implementing the policy.
10.
Mr. S.H.M. Fakhruddin from ADPC
introduced the types of extreme
weather and climate events
linked to natural hazards and
disasters and their impacts on
societal systems. Mr. Fakhruddin
showed the role of climate
change as additional factor in
influencing the occurrence of
extreme weather events and
highlighted the need for
building institutional linkages
for creating an enabling
environment for better usage of
climate risk information for
disaster risk reduction. He
showed examples of Bangladesh,
Indonesia, and Philippines for
their Climate Forecast
Application (CFA) for disaster
mitigation initiated and
implemented by ADPC.
11.
Mr. S.H.M Fakhruddin then
conducted a workshop style
session on integrating climate
change adaptation with disaster
risk reduction. The session
covered segments on the current
status of climate and society’s
interaction, climate as a
resource and hazard, rational
for climate risk management and
emphasized three components
through which communities can
benefit. They are: generation of
skill-full, reliable and
location specific seasonal
climate forecasts through
statistical and dynamical
schemes, development of
real-time monitoring systems to
track the nature of causes and
impacts (eg. Satellite
meteorology and remote sensing
techniques), development of
climate change scenarios through
Global Circulation Models (GCMs).
Challenges of climate risk
management were also mentioned,
such as how to communicate with
each user and how to overcome
uncertainty. Mr. Atiq Kainan
Ahmed moderated the session and
stated that is an ongoing debate
over mitigation and adaptation
and most adaptation strategies
has its limitations which we
should recognize since for some
countries it is unavoidable.
This session was followed by
discussion on the climate risk
each country faces and the
approach countries are taking to
climate risk management.
12.
The days sessions concluded with
a group discussion on future
Pan-Oceanic Cooperation among
FEALAC member countries. It is
in the interest of FEALAC Member
States to maintain and
strengthen their collaboration
in the field of disaster risk
reduction and reaffirmed the
objectives, purposes and goals
of FEALAC and acknowledged its
role in playing a valuable part
in bringing together countries
from two regions for dialogue
and cooperation with a view to
the sharing of mutual knowledge
between the two regions, bearing
tangible fruits for populations
of FEALAC Member States and
building bridges between
societies to promote dialogue
and cooperation.
13.
Country statements were made by
Mr. Rodolfo Alberto Cervino
of Argentina,
Mrs. Mercy Julia Borbor Cordova
of Ecuador and Mrs. Ivonne
Andrea Ramos Hendez
of Colombia. Comments were made
by Mr.
Diao Mingsheng on behalf of
China.
Presentations were made by
Mr. Amnal Rachman
for Indonesia,
Mr. U Myint Htun
for Myanmar and
Major General Luis F. Palomino
for Peru, and a video
presentation was made by Mr.
Ivan Perez for Guatemala.
14.
The Meeting appreciated the
effort by the Royal Thai
Government and Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC) in
organizing the first FEALAC
Symposium on Pan-Oceanic
Cooperation for Disaster Risk
Reduction, and noted the desire
and need of FEALAC Member
Countries to facilitate free
flow of information and
cooperation on disaster risk
reduction.
15. A
cultural tour was arranged for
participants on the 11th
of November in around the City
of Bangkok prior to their
departure to Phuket.
16.
The final day of the Symposium
commenced with a welcome address
by the representative of the
Governor of Phuket, Mr. San
Chantawong. Mr. Loy Rego of the
ADPC followed with a
presentation of the Social and
Economic Impact of the December
2004 Tsunami. The presentation
looked in to the vulnerabilities
and risks of the affected
countries in terms of economic,
financial, infrastructure,
social and environmental aspects
and corresponding losses to the
corresponding sectors.
17.
Mr. Loy Rego also made a
presentation to clarify what
CBDRR is and how it’s
implementation can be supported
at the national level and look
at experience of national CBDRR
programs and lessons learned in
RCC member countries, along with
challenges in implementing CBDRR
programs and recommendations for
the ways forward.
18.
Ms. Nid Varachaporn Pethsuwan
from the Department of Disaster
Mitigation and Prevention of the
Ministry of Interior of the
Royal Thai Government made a
presentation providing
background information to the
field visit which was organized
in Ban Nam Kem Village in Phang
Nga, Phuket. In Ban Nam Kem
Village, Mr. Maitree
Kongkraichak, a Board member of
the Ban Nam Kem Community made a
presentation on community
activities
19.
The participants appreciated the
efforts made by the Royal Thai
Government in reconstruction and
development of tsunami affected
communities and the opportunity
to experience Thai culture as
well as organizing the field
visit in Phuket.
20.
The Meeting reached an
understanding as follows:
-
Disaster risk
reduction is an
international, national and
community priority;
-
As
signatories to the Hyogo
Framework for Action,
reaffirmed their commitment
to its implementation in
their respective countries;
-
Both regions
had and shared the
approaches to disaster risk
reduction and therefore
could benefit from exchange
of experience and expertise;
-
There was a
need to enhance and enabling
institutional arrangements
for political and financial
commitment in reducing
human, social, economic and
environmental vulnerability
to disasters;
-
Proactive and
preventive strategies are
needed to decrease human
vulnerability to disaster
and climate change,
especially that of the poor
and with particular
attention to women and
children, to safeguard human
security, promote
sustainable development and
alleviate poverty;
-
Recognized
the need of future
collaborative effort by
FEALAC Member States to
increase the capacity of
disaster risk reduction
practitioners at all levels
of government;
-
Recognized
that climate change
adaptation and disaster risk
reduction were closely
linked, and an effective
disaster risk reduction
mechanism would enhance
adaptive capacity; and
therefore immediate action
was needed to proactively
mainstream, integrate and
create synergy between
disaster risk reduction and
climate change adaptation
and make investments to do
so;
-
Develop a
user friendly information
platform to collect and
allow access to member
countries. The platform
would contain best
practices, specifically on
early warning on pandemic
preparedness, information
such as lists of safe
hospitals in member
countries as well as
national strategies and
focal points for each
country, and have a listing
of the different activities
carried out at the national
level in FEALAC Member
countries;
-
Create
opportunities to exchange
between organizations such
as CEPREDENAC, CAPRADE,
ASEAN, SAARC in the
different regions;
-
Build the
capacities of people living
in the areas affected by
risks by exposing them to
training programmes,
seminars and workshops;
-
Proposed that
the second Symposium on Pan
– Oceanic Cooperation for
Disaster Risk Reduction be
held in the Latin American
Region to further promote
cross cultural learning;
-
Recognized
the experience and skills
possessed by organizations
such as Center for the
Cooperation of National
Disasters Prevention in
Central America (CEPREDENAC),
Andean Committee for
Disaster Prevention and
Assistance (CAPRADE)
Association for South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and
Asian Disaster Preparedness
Center (ADPC) as well as
other regional institutions
and mechanisms, in order to
concretize the bi-regional
cooperation on disaster risk
reduction, the Meeting
recommends that such an
organization or mechanism
collaborate closely with
relevant regional
institutions for
coordinating the specific
aspects of Pan-Oceanic
cooperation and explore
future collaboration
opportunities among FEALAC
Member countries in the
field of disaster risk
reduction.
21.
The Meeting recommended that the
Minutes of the Symposium should
be submitted to the forthcoming
FEALAC Ministers’ Meeting to be
held in Tokyo in January 2010
for further consideration and
recommendations.
