Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) conducted a series of consultation meetings with national and provincial level representatives in Cambodia on 21 - 28 August 2013. Meetings were held with line ministries from the national level and several departments from the provincial level.

In addition, ADPC’s representatives visited two communes at Prey Veng and Kampong Thom provinces to carry out a gap assessment on the existing early warning system and to conduct a social mapping. The team also paid a visit to Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat to perform a gap assessment and to hear about the secretariat’s flood monitoring mechanisms. In the several meetings during the week, the gaps of the early warning system were discussed in terms of on-time dissemination, monitoring, response, and evacuation.

“Responses at the national, provincial and commune levels were overwhelming with an active participation from the local people including women”, says technical officer Dr. Rishiraj Dutta from ADPC.

Senior Minister and First Vice President of National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) of Royal Government of Cambodia HE Dr. Nhim Vanda stressed the need to strengthen the early warning system in the country which is not only affected by floods but also by lightning and frequent storms resulting in significant losses of life and property.

According to Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM), a major concern in the country is coastal area vulnerability as the coastal areas are affected by tropical cyclones, thunderstorm, floods, and flash floods.

During the week, ADPC also had discussions with UNDP’s team for Disaster Management Information System on the establishment of a Disaster Management Information Center (DMIC) at Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management, and the ways of future collaboration between ADPC and UNDP. UNDP showcased their work on setting up Cambodia’s National Disaster Loss and Damage Database CamDi while ADPC presented its proposed Disaster Management Information Center setup.

ADPC’s team for the consultation was led by Department Head Dr. Senaka Basnayake from the Bangkok headquarters and team leader Mr. Kenneth Norman Westgate from the project office in Cambodia.