Government Officials in Iran Trained in Disaster Risk Management
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the International Blue Crescent (IBC) jointly organized a training course on disaster risk management for Iranian Government Officials from 4 - 9 October 2004. The training, held in Istanbul, Turkey was developed specifically for senior officials involved in recovery and reconstruction work after the devastating earthquake in Bam. A total of 20 officials participated in the training, including the Deputy Governor of the province.

The main objective was to enhance knowledge and understanding necessary for dealing with disasters and to build capacity in disaster risk management. The participants found the sharing of cases and experiences from different countries greatly enhanced their understanding of the issues involved in disaster risk management. Workshops were also organized to identify problems and issues with the existing disaster risk management system in Iran and to identify strategies for improvement.

IBC is an international NGO and is currently implementing projects on disaster recovery in Bam, Iran. The training was conducted with simultaneous translation from English to Persian.

Post Disaster Assessment Conducted for DART Team in Pakistan
Focus Humanitarian Assistance, an international NGO with headquarters in Washington, has been implementing a Village and Urban Readiness Project in the northern and southern parts of Pakistan. In addition to other activities, three Disaster Assessment and Response Teams (DARTs) have been set up in the districts of Chitral, Gilget and Karachi. These multi-disciplinary teams are comprised of medical doctors, engineers, business people, agriculturists and educators. These professionals work as volunteers for DARTs in addition to their routine jobs in government departments, NGOs, Red Cross chapters, universities and the private sector.

ADPC, at the request of FOCUS Pakistan, organized three Disaster Assessment Training courses in Chitral, Gilget and Karachi for the DART teams. The courses were organized from 17 - 29 October 2004. The purpose of this DART training activity was to build up the professional capacity of learners to respond to disaster emergencies in Pakistan. It also aimed at enabling the DART teams to provide assistance to countries across the region in times of emergency. The training focused on three key areas:

- Team organization and management,
- Post disaster assessment, and
- Disaster preparedness, particularly with reference to post-disaster assessment.

The training was based on a hands-on approach. Simulations and workshops were organized to develop and strengthen the skills of learners and build their problem solving capacity for post-disaster assessment. About 75 DART members were trained.

31ST Disaster Management Course held in Thailand
The Disaster Management Course (DMC) was held for the thirty-first time in Bangkok, Thailand from 8 - 26 November 2004. DMC is one of ADPC’s flagship courses and aims to provide comprehensive disaster management knowledge and skills to enhance the capabilities of executive managers who have key disaster management responsibilities. Participants learned how to develop effective strategies and systems for disaster prevention, mitigation, response and recovery; how to apply risk management processes to identify, assess and deal with disaster risks; how to use an emergency coordination center to manage disaster events; and how to assess key implementation issues and requirements in disaster management. This year 25 participants from different managerial levels from 15 countries took part in the course.

The above courses were conducted under ADPC's Strategic Disaster Risk Management (SDRM) Team. For more information on the training activities, contact Mr Merrick Chatfield, Team Leader at merrick@adpc.net 

First International Training Course on Disasters and Development (D&D-1): Focus on Health
The First International Training Course on Disasters and Development (D&D) with a focus on health was organized in Bangkok from 1 - 12 November 2004. This pilot project is being conducted in collaboration with the South East Asia Regional Office of WHO and UNDP's Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Reduction. Twenty-four participants from nine countries included senior and middle level policy managers, health sector decision-makers, advisors and staff of WHO and UNDP at the country and regional offices.

The overall goal of the D&D course is to promote more effective public health risk/emergency management through a comprehensive and integrated approach. The course addresses the challenges of dealing with disasters and development from the perspective of identifying interrelations with health issues. The concept of ‘risk management’ is at the core of the D&D course.

The above course was conducted under ADPC's Public Health in Emergencies (PHE) Team. For more information on the training activities, contact Dr Marcel Dubouloz, Team Leader at marcel@adpc.net 

Click here for viewing ADPC 2005 Training Calendar