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Activity Report

29 July to 3 August 2013 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)


In collaboration with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), IRP/ADRC facilitated a back to back workshop on disaster recovery planning for Ethiopian officials (29-31 July 2013) held at Dreamland Hotel in Bishoftu and for Somali officials (1-3 August 2013) held at Panorama Hotel in Addis Ababa. Both workshops were part of the three workshops intended for the Horn of Africa under the EC-funded project "Strengthening Region-based Capacities in Disaster Recovery Planning", which is implemented by UNISDR through the IRP. The third workshop is planned for South Sudan officials to be held in Juba on 25-27 September 2013. These workshops are aimed at creating a pool of recovery experts in the region as well as build a standby capacity in IGAD. Achieving this objective entails that support can be expected by any country in the region desiring technical assistance for disaster recovery planning.

Group Ethiopia.JPGAbout 25 officials from Ethiopia and 20 officials from Somalia participated in the first and second workshop, respectively. The participants were high-level, coming from different ministries of the government with knowledge and background on disaster risk management and long-term recovery. In addition, representatives of international organizations, specifically UNDP, ILO, WHO, JICA, and African Center for Disaster Risk Management (ACDRM) also participated to make sure that the workshop encapsulates local knowledge, regional experience, and international expertise. With Ethiopian government hosting the back to back event, H.E. Ato Mitiku Kassa, State Minister for Disaster Risk Management, came at the opening of both workshops. Additionally, H.E. Said Yousuf Noor, Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, came at the first day of the workshop intended for the Somali government officials.

Group Somalia.JPGDuring the workshops, various aspects of recovery planning were discussed. In particular, options and strategies to "build back better" after long-drought and heavy flooding were explored in order to address the challenges that are expected in the recovery process. Although IRP/ADRC served mainly as facilitators, experts from WHO, ILO, and UNDP came to the workshop to share their expertise and experiences from their respective activities in the region. The following observations came out from the discussions. Firstly, there has been a paradigm shift in dealing with disaster in the region from "crisis management" to "risk management". This new paradigm embraces the importance of pre-disaster recovery planning and views disaster management in broader and holistic perspectives. Secondly, the disaster risk management activities initiated by the governments are aligned with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). In other words, the governments have localized and reported updates on the priorities for action identified in the HFA. Finally, there have been ongoing initiatives by the governments on integrating disaster recovery planning in disaster risk management and sustainable development. One example is the DRM Strategic Program and Investment Framework (DRM-SPIF) of the Government of Ethiopia. The DRM-SPIF is an instrument that guides and prioritizes investment towards full operationalization of the DRM policy. Among a number of prioritized areas is the disaster recovery planning so that communities can "build back better" and become more resilient in future disasters. The lessons on recovery, as compiled by IRP/ADRC from various experiences around the globe, provided an additional input to build on the existing government initiatives. The key output of the workshops is the consolidated strategic recommendations for recovery plan for drought and flood.

 

(2013/8/12 14:30)

2 to 4 July 2013  yanmar, Nay Pyi Daw City

Myanmar is a disaster prone country. On May 2008, 130,000 people were perished or missed by Cyclone Nargis, and they had floods and landslides in 2010, a heavy earthquake in 2011.

For this reason, the Myanmar Government stipulated the " Myanmar Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction" in 2012, and has been promoting various DRR projects based on the Plan. The Myanmar Government decided the establishment of "Disaster Management Training Center" in order to enhance disaster prevention awareness in people and to train the personnel involved in disaster management, and planned to build their facilities in 3 years from 2013.

In 2nd to 4th of July, with the aim of making proposals and advice to the Myanmar Government for training and educational content in the center, sponsored by International Cooperation Agency of Japan (JICA), the United Nations Development Programme, this workshop was held in Nay Pyi Daw, the new capital city of Myanmar. About 80 people from the governments of Asia including Myanmar, international organizations, and NPOs participated in the workshop, and one of the ADRC staff was invited to this workshop.

In the workshop, there were introductions of the education / training center of Thailand and Singapore, JICA and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center also introduced their international capacity building businesses. The ADRC presented our capacity building activities for Myanmar, such as the Visiting Researcher program in which we invite young officials of member countries to Japan and the DRR training program for local government officials sponsored by Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund.

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Opening Speech by the Union Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement

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Presentation by an ADRC staff

(2013/07/12 13:00)

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