PROMISE Activities for May and June
2006 :
-
BANGLADESH – BDPC has met with ward
commissioners of two wards identified
for the demonstration projects. Ward
Disaster Risk Management Committees were
formed.
-
PAKISTAN - AKPBSP hosted an ADPC mission
team to finalize project details, meet
with the Nazim (mayor) and senior
officials of the demonstration city
Hyderabad, and to develop an
understanding on all project related
issues. The grant agreement was signed
with ADPC on May 24, 2006. Preliminary
surveys including the collection of
essential data have already begun.
-
PHILIPPINES – CDP organized a
facilitators’ workshop and two community
workshops on the disaster risk
management framework. The facilitators’
workshop was designed to improve
knowledge and skills in facilitating
training the community workshops. The
community workshops were held on May
10-12 and May 22-24 and covered 5 out of
8 target communities. The last workshop
will be on May 31 and will cover the
last 3 communities. CDP also hosted Mr.
Peter Dias Amarasinghe, Secretary of the
Ministry for Disaster Management and
Human Rights of Sri Lanka, on a study
tour to Thailand and Philippines
facilitated.
-
SRI-LANKA – Sarvodaya has met with the
Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kalutara and
discussed the implementation of the
PROMISE demonstration projects in
Kalutara Metropolitan Area. Sarvodaya
also met with the Divisional Secretary
and with Gramasevakas (village-level
officials). Eighteen cluster villages
have already been selected for the
project, and within these villages three
community-based projects have already
been identified: drainage system
development, road infrastructure
development, and improving the canal
system.
-
VIETNAM - CECI has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with Cam Le district to
be the demonstration site for PROMISE.
CECI completed the Participatory
Vulnerability Assessment (PVA)
assessment and the draft report. Local
trainers, identified from the communes
in Cam Le district, Da Nang City,
conducted the surveys. CECI trained the
local trainors in survey methodology.
A. FROM THE
REGION
(1)
Typhoon Chanchu
(based on Reuters and globeandmail.com)
Typhoon
Chanchu, left a trail of destruction in
Vietnam, the Philippines and China. The
typhoon with winds of up to 170 km per hour
is the strongest on record to enter the
South China Sea in May, the start of the
storm season. It killed at least 37 people
in the Philippines last weekend, and by late
Friday rescuers had found the bodies of 44
Vietnamese fishermen drowned after their
ships were caught in Chanchu's path.
Flooding in southern Taiwan swept two women
to their deaths. It killed 23 people in
China after it slammed into the southern
coast on Thursday and caused landslides,
flooding, and forced the evacuation of more
than one million people. High waves in
southern Japan killed one teenager and left
another missing after they'd been swimming,
said coast guard spokesman Shoji Kawabata.
The storm brought rain to parts of southern
and central Japan, said forecasting service
Weather Underground.
Eight fishing
ships sank 1,000 km east of Vietnam's
central city of Da Nang, while eight
remained missing. Rescuers had found 26
bodies and rescued 81 others, the government
said in a statement. State-run television
reported that the Fisheries Ministry listed
more than 400 fishermen as missing from Da
Nang and nearby provinces of Quang Nam and
Quang Ngai.
Nearly 60
survivors had been rescued from the water,
but two fishing boats from Vietnam's central
city of Da Nang that survived the storm were
returning to port with 20 corpses and four
surviving sailors, said Ha Van Thong, a
coast guard official from Da Nang.
Left figure:
Chanchu track from Cooperative Institute for
Meteorological Satellite Studies. Right
figure: Families of victims in Da Nang;
photo by CECI.
B. CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
(2)
Call for Papers: Natural Hazards Review
Natural Hazards Review is currently seeking
manuscripts for publication in upcoming
issues. The journal publishes original,
peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of
natural hazards loss reduction. Articles
containing detailed case studies are
complemented by ones reporting original
research findings. Natural Hazards Review
serves as a forum for holistic approaches to
natural hazards mitigation. Additional
information, including complete manuscript
preparation instructions, is available
online at http://scitation.aip.org/nho/.
(3)
Call for Papers: Symposium of the Canadian
Risk and Hazards Network
Researchers and practitioners in social
sciences and physical sciences are invited
to submit their presentation or poster
session proposals related to the theme "A
Dynamic Risk Management Partnership: Lead by
Example" for the Third Annual Symposium of
the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network to be
held in Montreal, Canada, from October
11-13, 2006. The deadline for submitting a
proposal is June 9, 2006. For further
information, contact Michel Dufault,
Universite du Quebec a Montreal; (514)
987-3000 x4887; http://www.geo.uqam.ca/crhnet2006/call_papers.htm.
(4)
Call for Abstracts: MapAsia 2006
Map Asia is an international initiative
aimed at providing a platform for the
convergence of geomatics community of
Asia-Pacific region. Founded in the year
2002, Map Asia is one of the largest annual
Asian conferences on Geoinformation
technology and applications. Deadline for
the submission of abstracts is June 15,
2006. For more information visit
http://mapasia.org/2006/conference/abstract.htm.
C. CONFERENCES AND COURSES
(5)
World Bank E-Discussion: Disasters and
People with Special Needs
The World Bank will host an e-mail-based
discussion on the issue of Disasters and
People with Special Needs. The e-discussion
is designed to solicit information on
special needs populations and natural
disasters to help develop guidance on the
inclusion of disabled and vulnerable people
in disaster-related activities. The
conclusions will be made available to
emergency and development agencies,
including the World Bank, policy makers, and
civil society. For more information about
this event, visit
http://www.dgroups.org/groups/worldbank/Disaster-Disability/.
(6)
World Planners Congress. Vancouver, British
Columbia: June 17-20, 2006
Organizers: Canadian Institute of Planners
and Planning Institute of British Columbia.
This event will be a regional, national, and
international conference for planning and
related professionals from across Canada and
around the world. The theme of the congress
is "Sustainable Urbanization: Turning Ideas
into Action." For further information,
contact Dave Crossley; (604) 696-5031;
e-mail: info@wpc2006.com;
http://www.wpc2006.com/.
(7)
World Urban Forum. Vancouver, British
Columbia: June 19-23, 2006
Organizer: United Nations (UN) - HABITAT.
During this conference on urban
sustainability, participants from around the
world will meet to examine and identify
solutions to the challenges or urbanization.
A few of the forum's topics include Urban
Safety and Security: Taking Responsibility;
Energy: Local Action, Global Impact; and
Public Engagement: The Inclusive Approach.
For more information, contact the World
Urban Forum; +1 604 666 1293; e-mail:
info@wuf3-fum3.ca;
http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf/.
(8)
Map Asia 2006, August 29-September 1, 2006
The theme for
Map Asia 2006 is GeoICT for Good
Governance . Map Asia 2006 will
re-emphasize the linkages between the
Geo-Information Technology and ICT and will
promote GeoICT as a valuable means of
effective and good governance. For more
information visit
http://www.mapasia.org/2006/ .
(9)
34th Regional Training Course on Disaster
Management, November 6-24, 2006
Organizer: Asian Disaster Preparedness
Center (ADPC). Bangkok, Thailand. The
purpose of this course is to provide
comprehensive disaster management knowledge
and skills to enhance the capabilities of
professionals working in disaster
management, development, and donor agencies
to effectively integrate disaster management
into development programs and policies. For
more information, contact the Training and
Education Division, ADPC, Asian Institute of
Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang,
Pathumthani 12120, Thailand; e-mail: tedadpc@adpc.net;
http://www.adpc.net/training/brochure/DMC-34brochure.pdf.
(10)
Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) VI
General Assembly, November 7-10, 2006
Bangkok, Thailand. The ASC 2006 symposium is
titled "Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster
Preparedness and Mitigation." For more
information, e-mail asc2006_loc@yahoo.co.th;
http://asc1996.netfirms.com/asc2006/.
