On 18-20 November 2014, thirty government officials from 24 departments and agencies successfully completed a training course on Post-Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery. The training was organized by the Relief and Resettlement Department (Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement), facilitated by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), and supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme.

With an objective to create a pool of experts on post-disaster needs assessment from a range of Government sectors, the training equipped participants with an understanding of key concepts and respective roles and responsibilities. Participants also learned practical skills to implement assessments and conduct recovery activities after a potential large disaster.

The training was based upon a series of technical guidelines on post-disaster needs assessment. The guidelines were prepared after research and stakeholder consultations in 2014, and marry the agreed international assessment methodology with the specific context in Myanmar. This has resulted in fifteen guidelines which are specific to sectors such as Agriculture, Education, and Transport; the 7 common steps for each sector promote better assessment coordination across the Government ministries.

U Aung Khine, Deputy Director-General, Relief and Resettlement Department, reminded participants that without a post-disaster needs assessment, it is difficult for the Government to access post-disaster support from international organizations. With a post-disaster needs assessment, donor agencies know the details of the needs and priority activities for recovery and reconstruction.

After the training, the Relief and Resettlement Department led a consultation with training participants, in order to finalize the technical guidelines and identify the steps required to fully-institutionalize the post-disaster needs assessment across the Myanmar government.

The activities in Myanmar are part of a two-year project called “Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity in Selected ASEAN Countries”, implemented by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and supported through the New Zealand Aid Programme. The multi-country project aims to increase the resilience of the selected ASEAN countries through strengthened disaster risk reduction systems and decision-support tools at national and sub-national levels.