ECHOs from the Field

News and Views of Partners from the Region

CAMBODIA

Training Needs Assessment and Training of Trainers Program for Cambodian Red Cross

IFRC and PACT Cambodia, in cooperation with the PDR-SEA Project and the Training and Education Division of ADPC, recently conducted a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) and Training of Trainers (ToT) program for the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC).

The TNA was conducted in collaboration with a team of trainers from CRC and PACT. On the basis of this TNA, a ToT course was designed to address the training needs of CRC. The course design includes sessions on disaster situations, adult education, participatory rapid appraisal (PRA), and session planning. PRA is emphasized as an effective information-gathering tool at the village level. The course was conducted by the training participants as an actual field exercise at three villages in the Kampo Chang Province, 60 kilometers from Phnom Penh. A total of 18 participants from different departments of CRC participated in the five-day course.

Discussions were also held between the PDR-SEA Program Manager and the IFRC Head of Delegation in Cambodia on future collaborations and partnership arrangements.

Sanitation and Flood Prepared-ness Projects by FRC

The French Red Cross Mission in Cambodia is currently running sanitation and flood preparedness projects aimed at providing information and knowledge to children and remote local villages on proper hygiene and the dangers posed by floods. These projects are being implemented through training and education on first aid and primary health care, school sanitation programs, construction of wells and toilets, and public awareness on flood preparation. FRC has also provided an ambulance service to supplement emergency response.

LAO PDR

CESVI Project on Community-based Forest Fire Prevention

CESVI is currently implementing the Community Based Forest Fire Prevention project in various provinces of Lao PDR. The project aims to decrease the occurrence of uncontrolled forest fires in provincial areas, and to increase awareness of the population regarding forest fires, their causes and their prevention.

The project is being implemented through a training program carried out in local villages. Communities in local villages are encouraged to create inter-village networks by means of formulating a concerted effort in forest fire prevention. Public awareness campaigns are also carried out regularly among these villages through different media, such as theater shows, performed with the children in each community, and printed materials, such as booklets and posters.

The ECHO-funded project is due to be completed in October 2001.

PHILIPPINES

Environment and Disaster: Taking a Stride

An ecological seminar was conducted in Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines on June 24-27, 2001 to build the capability of the Emergency Response Team of Organizing for Rural Development (ORD), a non-government institution based in Lucena City, Quezon, Philippines. The ORD is a partner of Action d'Urgence Internationale (AUI) in implementing the Disaster Management Program funded by ECHO under the DIPECHO program.

The seminar was part of a series of training programs of ORD aimed at strengthening ORD's emergency response capability. The seminar was designed in the context of the institution's sustainable development framework where environmental perspective is integrated. Twenty one staff and volunteers (logisticians, first aiders, information officers, search and rescue personnel) participated.

The seminar started with an ecological tour to various historical and culturally significant spots of Ifugao and Mountain Province. The exposure trip brought the participants in close encounter with the indigenous communities and the environment.

According to Loida Abela, the Executive Director of ORD, this seminar was part of the continuing quest for knowledge on the relationship between environment and disaster. Ms. Abela added that the training seminar will help the participants to understand how human intervention can either be of help or destructive in the realm of environment and the impact of disaster in the locality. The volunteers and staff should be aware of the relationship. This would equip them in disaster preparedness activities. The seminar creates an understanding in newly joined team members of the culture and values of ORD in order for the team to function effectively and collectively.

Regional Training of Trainers Course on Community-based Disaster Management

A PDR-SEA Project Regional CBDM Training of Trainers course will be held in the Philippines on July 16-27, 2001. The course will be hosted by CDP, a local NGO that focuses on disaster manage-ment.CDP is not an ECHO-funded institution, but has had several working engagements with ADPC in recent years, and has ongoing disaster preparedness programs in several DIPECHO target countries. Several of its project sites in the Philippines are included on the training course itinerary.

The seminar culminated in a one-day input from ADPC on the basic concepts of environment and its relationship with disaster. tivities.

VIETNAM

National-level CBDM Training Courses for Vietnamese Red Cross

IFRC-Vietnam has recently finalized an agreement with ADPC to conduct national level CBDM training courses in Vietnam, starting with a course scheduled to be held in Danang from 10-21 September 2001. The agreement wasformalized during the visit of Mr. Ian Wilderspin, IFRC Head of Delegation to Vietnam, to ADPC, where he met with ADPC Directors, PDR-SEA Project Manager and staff. The Training and Education Division (TED) of ADPC will collaborate with IFRC-Vietnam through the PDR-SEA Project in conducting national CBDM training for Vietnamese Red Cross Trainers (approximately 50 participants). The CBDM training course will address the expressed needs of the Vietnamese target audience.

ADPC expressed its commit-ment to fully support the IFRC-initiated local CBDM training courses in Vietnam in relation to its regional program, implemented through the PDR-SEA Project.

Integrated Project on Flood Preparedness and Forest Fire Prevention

APS-Vietnam is currently implementing an integrated project for the reforestation of mountain and river valley areas of Vietnam, interventions for forest fire prevention, construction of structures for flood mitigation, preparations for flood rescuing, and training. The current project started in November 2000. APS has also implemented other disaster preparedness initiatives of similar scope in different areas of Quang Binh province since 1996. These projects aim to reduce the dangers and the effects of forest fires and flash floods in one of the poorest and most disaster-prone areas of Vietnam, and to strengthen the capacity and the effectiveness of the local people to respond to these hazards. Taking a long-term perspective to the economic needs of beneficiaries, the projects are expected to help raise living standards by providing work opportunities and sources of income through activities such as resin collection from pine trees in both replanted and protected forests.

Reforestation of hillsides and river banks, and better protection of existing forests against fire, as well as civil works to control water flow in mountain streams, have had a substantial effect in reducing the danger from flash floods. Measures for fire control include the construction of fire observation towers and the creation of a network of firebreaks in forested areas, and training and equipment provided to fire-fighting units. Training and equipment for flood rescue interventions has also been provided.

The most direct beneficiaries of the program are the people living in forest areas (most of whom belong to ethnic hill tribes) who will benefit from forest products, and potential victims of natural disasters such as large forest fires or floods, who will find themselves at less risk and with a better chance to respond effectively to disasters.

The APS project is now more than halfway complete. All activities described above are now being implemented; some, such as actions for fire prevention, are nearing completion. The program is supposed to be completed by mid-September, but APS has requested a time extension of two and a half months to ensure a better outcome, taking into account local climatic conditions, which make it more appropriate for some components to be completed after the storm season.

Flood Preparedness and Health Education Projects by CISP

CISP is an Italian NGO currently implementing a one-year ECHO-funded project in the Plain of Reeds in Long An, the most flood-prone province in Vietnam. The project focuses on the elevation of village houses as a counter-measure against floods, health education for hygiene and sanitation, preventive training for flood-borne diseases, and dissemination of public awareness materials.

The project's primary aim is capacity-building through training and the provision of counter-flood measures, as well as sanitation. It benefits the most marginalized districts in Long An province, with a total of approximately 6,000 beneficiaries, of whom 4,000 are women and children.