Project
Period: 1 year, commencing 19 June 2003
Funding: European
Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO)
Geographical Focus: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao
PDR, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
PROJECT
OVERVIEW
The Partnerships for Disaster
Reduction - South East Asia project phase-2
(PDR-SEA-2) builds on the achievements of NDMO
and NGO partners during Phase 1. The active
participation of partners in project activities
and hard work has resulted in them being able
to apply new knowledge and experience to disaster
preparedness. Continued technical and financial
assistance is necessary in order for the full
benefits of all partner investments in this
project to be realised, and the ultimate goal
of risk reduction at community level achieved.
PDR-SEA 2 aims to capitalize on the gains from
the PDR-SEA Phase 1 and set them on a more sustainable
footing.
The PDR-SEA-2 project, under
the DIPECHO Third Action Plan for South East
Asia, provides technical support for regional
information exchange, networking and capacity
building for DIPECHO target countries namely,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines,
Thailand and Vietnam. The project emphasizes
the need to address disaster-related issues
within the context of sustainable development,
with communities targeted as major beneficiaries.
It uses a process-oriented approach, and strategies
that do not exclude any interested group from
the process. It draws on successful local experiences
that deserve a wider application within the
region.
The project is being managed
in partnership with United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP). At ADPC overall project management
will be the responsibility of the Regional Programs
Division
Overall
Objective
Strengthened capacity to prepare and protect
at risk communities from natural disasters through
training and information exchange in targeted
Southeast Asian countries.
PROJECT
COMPONENTS
The PDR-SEA project was designed within an
overall logical framework, so that the project's
components are distinct yet interrelated. The
need for better sharing and dissemination of
information serves as the common thread of these
components.
Component
1: Information Sharing
Objective 1:
To increase information sharing on best practices,
experiences and methodologies amongst disaster
management practitioners.
Information Sharing at the regional level will
be done through 4 channels of communication:
Newsletter, E-mail discussions, Website and
through Networking.
Quarterly regional newsletter
The regional quarterly newsletter has been a
tool for sharing information and experiences
of partners in disaster reduction initiatives.
The newsletter revolves on themes identified
by project partners as of key interest, features
their experiences, best practices/ lessons learned,
and provides information resources – publications
(new, and listing of partners’ collections
on the theme) and web links. Feedback from the
evaluation is that partners would like to see
it as a tool, not only for learning about and
from one another’s initiatives, but also
for learning new methodologies and concepts,
as well as tools that will be of practical disaster
management use. The newsletter layout also needs
to be re-designed to make it more interesting
and user-friendly.
Quarterly national newsletter
To overcome the English language
barrier in countries where English is not the
national language of communication and to increase
the spread of information to a wider audience
within the countries a quarterly national newsletter
will be produced in Khmer, Laotian, Bahasa and
Vietnamese languages. The national newsletters
will have the same contents of the regional
quarterly newsletter and will be produced subequent
to it.
PDR-SEA website
The current website design will be upgraded
to have an identity unique to the PDR-SEA initiative.
A PDR-SEA staff member will work on organising
and maintaining the website and the newsletter,
to post and update information, and to package
reference materials and project outputs. The
website will also aim to provide more online
documents on key themes identified by partners.
It will also build up information gathered in
Phase 1.
The sustainability of the website will be brought
to the table in the country meetings proposed
below. The website may be hosted by ADPC, and
may be maintained by partner organizations that
will be identified in the meetings.
E-mail list (Listserv)
& Thematic E-Discussions
The current e-mail list will be maintained,
which already has over 80 members that includes
not only NGO partners but also NDMOs, sectoral
agencies, institutions and individuals concerned
with disaster preparedness and mitigation in
the region. The listserv will be facilitated
by ADPC. During the implementation of the PDR-SEA-2
four thematic E-Discussions is to be conducted
on themes identified by the partners in disaster
reduction initiatives.
ECHOES: Monthly Posting
ECHOES
a monthly electronic magazine for the disaster
management community in southeast Asia. The
idea of this kind of information exchange emerged
after a survey which was conducted after the
1st email discussion was held between August
15-September 15, 2003. A concept
note was written and the consensus from
the participating partner organizations was
sought. ECHOES is hosted on the pdrsea webpage
under the information component of the project.
Subscription is free and is open to all. The
objective of the monthly posting is to provide
an informal platform and to encourage more information
sharing between the members of the community.
Training on Information
Management
Though training on Information
Management is not part of the project proposal
it has been included in PDR-SEA 2 to facilitate
sustainability of the project initiatives at
the national level and to build the capacities
of the national partners and NDMOs.
Training will be include providing practical
tools in managing an information resource center,
insight into the current trends in information
and knowledge management and its application
to disaster management. Trainings will be conducted
at the national level in Cambodia, Indonesia,
Lao PDR and Vientnam (countries that expressed
a need for training on information management).
Component
2: Networking
Objective 2:
To strengthen disaster risk reduction network
at the national and regional level.
Support to the initiation
of a national network of disaster management
practitioners
A key partner NGO will be identified in each
country to establish a national network of disaster
management practitioners. Meetings will then
be organized to promote the need for a national
network, and to discuss the modalities: who
will facilitate, what activities will be undertaken,
who will lead the activities, what information
will be shared. This national network could
be a focal point for in-country activities,
and for sharing of information as well as of
resources.
Of the activities to be identified, PDR-SEA
will provide technical assistance to one activity
at the national level, which will be organized
by an identified lead NGO (e.g. training on
information management and use of internet;
inventory and linkaging of partners’ websites,
including website development).
3rd Disaster Management
Practitioners Meeting
The meeting of DIPECHO partners under the First
Action Plan for South East Asia, hosted by APS
Vietnam in October 1999 in Hanoi, proposed the
hosting of periodic meetings for the exchange
of experience and information. The International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) Vietnam Delegation was mandated to host
the second meeting of partners under the Second
Action Plan. This second meeting, which was
held in Danang, Vietnam and expanded to include
non-DIPECHO partner NGOs, recommended for an
annual meeting of disaster management practitioners
at regional level, not only to share experiences
and information, but also to discuss key issues
in disaster preparedness and mitigation, learn
new concepts and methodologies related to disaster
preparedness and mitigation, provide opportunity
to network with non-DIPECHO partner NGOs, as
well as encourage dialogue and networking between
NGOs and NDMOs. The Danang meeting identified
Vientiane as the venue of the third meeting,
which will be organized in cooperation with
a DIPECHO partner NGO in Laos PDR and the NDMO.
As in the second meeting, this meeting will
include non-DIPECHO partner NGOs, with participation
of NDMO representatives, to enable sharing and
networking in a wider group.
ASEAN partnership for
the development and pilot implementation of
the ASEAN Regional Program on Disaster Management
ADPC has worked in close partnership with the
ASEAN Secretariat during the PDR-SEA Phase 1
to develop the ASEAN Regional Program on Disaster
Management during the 25-27 March 2002 workshop
and through subsequent follow-up activities.
The draft program will be reviewed at a meeting
from 9-10 September and will be presented for
approval at the 12th ASEAN Experts Group on
Disaster Management Meeting to be held in Hanoi
from 12-14 September 2002.
ADPC will work closely with the ASEAN Secretariat
and the disaster management program proponent
country, Philippines, to develop the draft documents
and additional proposals for funding of specific
activities. Under the PDR-SEA Phase 2, ADPC
seeks financing of the above technical support
and the financing of a priority pilot activity
identified in the March 2002 workshop, which
is a Training of Trainers on Total Disaster
Risk Management. The training will be hosted
by an identified country, with the opportunity
to use national resources such as training venue
and resource persons.
Regional Learning Lessons
Workshop
Lessons learned in the implementation of DIPECHO
projects under the Third Action Plan will be
documented and shared at a regional workshop,
which will be held towards the end of the project.
PDR-SEA will formulate a framework for documentation,
which will be presented to partners at the beginning
of the project. The workshop will share experiences
and discuss what worked, what didn’t work,
and what needs to be done in the implementation
of one-year projects that aim to reduce the
vulnerability of communities and prepare them
for disasters, such as projects under the Third
Action Plan, including those from the First
and the Second Action Plans (no sharing of lessons
learned has yet occurred at the regional level).
Componet
3: Capacity Building through Training
Objective 2:
To enhance the capacities of disaster management
practitioners to use practical tools to implement
community-based disaster management projects.
The activities conducted under this objective
will supplement conceptual training courses
provided during the first phase and equip participants
with practical tools to implement activities
to reduce the vulnerability of at risk communities.
The training courses will be conducted at the
regional level, the hosting of which will be
rotated around the partner countries to allow
exchange visits by participating NGOs and NDMOs.
- Training on tools
for community-based hazard, capacity, and
vulnerability assessment
The assessment is a structured analytical
procedure to identify hazards, estimate the
probability of occurrence, and determine the
consequences. With similar structured analysis
of actual or potential vulnerabilities, these
estimations are then compared with standard
criteria in order to decide whether or not
action is desirable to reduce the probabilities
or to protect people, property or environment.
This training focuses on the practical tools
for gathering information, systematisation
and analysis in hazard, capacity and vulnerability
assessment.
- Training on tools
for the preparation and production of public
awareness materials
This training is designed to provide disaster
preparedness practitioners with a practical
guide to materials production. The training
will guide participants on the steps involved
in the preparation (determining the target
audience, objectives, type and use of materials
to be produced, etc), and in the production
process, which includes artwork, materials
pre-testing and final production.
- Training on project
development and management of community-based
preparedness and mitigation projects
The training will identify key community development
approaches, methods and techniques relevant
to participatory community based preparedness
and mitigation project management. The substance
of this training will be the tools on planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
- Development of a
well-illustrated manual on the tools in Community
Based Disaster Management
Disaster management practitioners are increasingly
applying participatory and community-based
approaches in their work in disaster prone
communities. However, there is a lack of practical
and tested reference materials on participatory
tools for CBDM, the concepts and processes
of which continue to evolve as DM practitioners
explore, innovate and generate ideas and techniques
in managing risk. This sourcebook will document
the various tools and methods developed in
the course of doing CBDM as actually and effectively
employed by field practitioners in the region.
EXPECTED
OUTPUTS
The above project components have the following
expected results that are intended to establish
initiatives or mechanisms, given the one-year
project lifetime. These address information
exchange, networking and capacity building.
Information
Exchange
- An operational listserve supporting dialogue
among DIPECHO partners and initiating the
establishment of a South East Asia Disaster
Management network
- Four month long e-discussions in disaster
reduction initiatives to be conducted
- ECHOES a monthly posting uploaded at the
end of each month until June 2004
- An updated and informative website
- A quarterly regional newsletter in print
and electronic form
- A quarterly national newsletter in printand
electronic form in the national languages
- An experts contact database
- An updated ADPC library information database
available to all target countries
Networking
and Coordination
- At least two national networks of disaster
management practitioners initiated
- Report of the 3rd Disaster Management Practitioners
Meeting circulated to partners and hosted
on the project website for wider dissemination
- ASEAN Regional Program on Disaster Management
Plan Document
- Report of the Regional Learning Lessons
Workshop circulated to participants and shared
with the wider audience through the project
website
Capacity-Building
- Three training courses delivered at the
regional level on: tools in community-based
hazard, capacity and vulnerability assessment,
tools in the preparation and production of
public awareness materials and project development
and management of community-based preparedness
and mitigation projects
- Training on Information Management provided
to partner organizations
- 20 trainers from NDMOs of ASEAN Member
Countries trained on Total Disaster Risk Management
- A well-illustrated manual on tools for
use in Community Based Disaster Management
Monitoring
and Evaluation
UNESCAP will be responsible for monitoring
the project. It will report progress regularly
to DIPECHO. Representatives of DIPECHO will
be able to determine the value of several activities
through direct participation that will allow
them to meet partner NDMOs and NGOs.
The partners of this project consider planning,
monitoring and evaluation to be a continuous
cyclical process. It regularly monitors and
evaluates its work through participatory processes
in order to learn and improve the efficiency
and effectiveness of its efforts to reduce the
risks that disasters pose to vulnerable communities.
The project team closely monitored PDR-SEA Phase
1 activities and invited regular feedback end
evaluation from participants at the end of each
discrete activity. This enabled the team to
modify subsequent activities to increase their
effectiveness and make them more responsive
to partner needs. Project progress was monitored
closely by ADPC senior management throughout
the year. Regular reporting and dialogue with
DIPECHO representatives gave additional opportunities
to revise project work plans where necessary.
The final evaluation process of the PDR-SEA
Phase 1 that examined the overall efficiency
and effectiveness of the project strategy and
implementation included a half-day internal
critical reflection by ADPC Directors and Managers.
This was a crucial step in the design of PDR-Phase
2. UNESCAP/ADPC intends to continue this successful
approach to monitoring and evaluation during
the next phase of project implementation.
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