1 MPAT TEMPEST EXPRESS-14 Staff Planning Workshop Phnom Penh, 6 March 2008 DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM in CAMBODIA PEOU SAMY Secretary General, NCDM Kingdom of Cambodia Nation Religion King

2 I. COUNTRY INFORMATION A.Government Organization -Country:Kingdom of Cambodia -Organization:National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) chaired by Prime Minister and seconded by 2 senior Ministers as 1st vice & 2 nd vice Royal Government Of Cambodia National Committee for Disaster Management

3 B. Location of the Country -Between the latitudes of 10 & 15 North and the longitudes of 102 & 108 East -Area:181,035 sq.km -Population:14 million (85.4% in rural areas) -Provinces/Municipalities: 24 (185 districts, 1621 communes) North: -Bordered:North: by Laos North and West: North and West: by Thailand East and Southeast: East and Southeast: by Vietnam South-West: South-West: by Gulf of Siam

4

5 C.Climate-Temperature-Rainfall May-November:Rainy season o C Nov-February:Dry season o C Feb-May:Hot o C Rainfall: - East Mountainous areas: 2, mm - South-West Coastal areas: 4,000 mm - Plain areas: 1,400-1,600 mm

6 II- National Committee for Disaster Management Membership: 19 ministries, institutions chaired by Prime Minister and Seconded by two senior Ministers: HE Nhim Vanda as first vice and HE Ly Thuch as second vice Mission To lead the Disaster Management in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

7 A.Roles and Responsibilities  To study, monitor, assess, collect, analyze and manage the disaster risk data and develop the disaster situation report to be submitted to the Royal Government with recommendations in order to issue principles, policy, circulars, declaration and measures undertaken for disaster management;  To make request to the Royal Government on the needs and the use of resources, namely funds, fuel, means of mission and human resources for disaster management operation and assisting victims affected by natural and man-made hazards;

8  To develop human resources through skill training activities equipped with knowledge for the capacity building of officials in charge of disaster management at the national level in related ministries/ institutions,at provincial/ municipal, district,commune and village level, and make public awareness and education to the people in vulnerable communities about the natural and man-made disaster risk;  -To collaborate with government ministries/institutions, UN agencies, IOs, NGOs and donors to implement the national policy of disaster management, including disaster prevention, preparedness & mitigation to strive against natural and man-made hazards;

9  To coordinate with the national agencies, regional and international communities for cooperation in sharing information on disaster situation in order to reduce the negative impact of disasters; * To coordinate with government ministries/institutions, UN agencies, IOs, NGOs, international communities and local donors in order to seek assistance for the purpose of emergency response and post-disaster rehabilitation.

10 Organization of NCDM NCDM Cabinet NCDM Gen Secretariat DM working Group Of Ministries Audit Unit Provincial CDM District CDM Secretariat PCDM District Secretariat Commune CDM

11 Organization of the General Secretariat of National Committee of Disaster management NCDM General Secretariat Dept Finance Dpt Info & Relat Dpt Emergen, respon &Rehab Dpt of Prep & Train Dpt of SAR National Emergency Coordination Center ( NECC)

12 Rationale - Every year, Natural Disasters continue to cause serious impact on vulnerable communities, encountering the development process of the country and retarding the poverty alleviation program. - Together with climate charge, the threat of AHI has been emerging across the region. In this regard, NCDM has been granted a new mandate to deal with this issue, specially in the field of Pandemic Preparedness and Response. B.National Strategy on DM and DRR

13 Vision - As a leading agency, NCDM needs to build a resilient community to natural disasters in line with HFA on DRR. Mission - NCDM is to implement its role of inter-ministerial coordination toward an effective DM system, including disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Rehabilitation.

14 Strategy Objective The Priorities of Strategic Action Plan ( ) are given to 5 objectives : 1. Human Resource Development 2. Develop National Policy on DM and Dissemination 3. Develop the Contingency Plan for Disaster Preparedness and Response 4. Develop the DM Information System 5. Integrating with Effectiveness the CBDRM into Social and Economic Development Plan at all levels.

15 III. Major Hazards A. Natural Disasters 1. Floods: -Flash flood (South-West and North-West of Phnom Penh) -River flood (Provinces along Mekong River and around Tonle Sap Great Lake) -25% of plain areas on average is flooded annually by Mekong River and its tributaries in rainy season -Serious floods: 1961, 1966, 1978, 1984, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001

16 Table: Comparison of water level at hydrological station Basac Chatomuk Warning state: 10.50m YearMax water level (m)

17

18 Mekong Flood in 2000 and 2001

19 Flash Flood situation in North-Eastern provinces ( Ratanakiri and Preah Vihear )

20 2. Drought: -Impact of El Niño in 1997 and 1998 on nearly all provinces. -A dry spell of days in rainy season can give rise to extensive drought and damage to paddy field. -Not sufficient irrigation schemes :Lack of rainfall in late rainy season.Around 10% out of 2 million ha of rice crop were destroyed.

21 3. Tropical Storms: -Rare typhoons hit Cambodia, except one in 1997 (Linda) -Cyclones and tropical storms hit Cambodia every year causing damage to houses, schools, pagoda across the country. -Some typhoon influences bring good rainfall to Cambodia

22 4. River Bank Erosion: -Every year river bank erosion occurs in provinces along Mekong river due to the change of water flow direction in combination with human-induced activities -Sediment in Tonle Sap Great Lake and in down stream areas bordered by Vietnam has caused extension of flood.

23 B. Human-made Disasters 1. Fire: Rare wild land fire occurs in Cambodia Urban fire frequently occurs in Phnom Penh and several other big provincial towns Light construction easily caught fire and road access to affected sites are too narrow Fire fighting engines are not sufficient/available in big cities

24

25 2.Air Crash 1996: one military helicopter crashed in the jungle, Northern province of Kompong Thom, 2 killed and 10 injured 1997: one Vietnam Airline VN-815 crashed in the rice field outside Phnom Penh International Airport killing 65 passengers and crew 2002(1 st April):one military helicopter crashed at Military Airport,3 crew killed and 1injured 2007: 2Antony Russian- made Aircrafts crashed into the mountain and in the rice field killing 22 passengers and crew.

26 Urban fire and plane incident ( 1997 & 2007 )

27 IV. Measures Toward Disaster Risks Reduction A.Non-Structural Measures - Improvement of legal framework - Improvement of National policy and strategy on DM - Nationwide public awareness of legal framework \\related to Disaster Management - Issue guidelines on emergency response and rehabilitation to be undertaken by relevant government agtencies.

28 - Upgrading the E.W. System in close cooperation with MRC, related ministries - Improvement of DM information system - Strengthening the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response System through refresher training at all levels, Community-Based Disaster Risk Management program and simulation exercise - Public awareness and education on hazard risk with the participation of community and stakeholders.

29 -Exercise-Simulation conducted every year :.Individual exercise for flood intervention : Navy, Parachutist, Military Police, Body Guard unit.Combined exercise : All units of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces

30 Simulation Exercise on flood rescue in ASEAN Region Level ( ARDEX-06 )

31 B. Structural Measures Adoption of new standard for road, bridge construction, school buildings, health centers based on flood water level in 2000 Improving irrigation system, dike, dams, ponds, water channel to protect people, crops from threat of flood and to catch water for supplying rice field. Opening water way and bridges along national road N o 1 to discharge flood water from upstream.

32 Conclusion Agreements with other ASEAN countries and in the region are very important and helpful for Cambodia Cambodia needs to have support from UN agencies, IOs, NGOs, donors and international communities to Provide assistance in Emergency Response and Post-Disaster rehabilitation Capacity and capability of disaster management mechanism need to be strengthened so as to involve in activities with ASEAN member countries and other countries. Bilateral and Multilateral Corporation with the US and other Nation over the world in time of crisis are very crucial in terms of Emergency Response and recovery on the basis of mutual assistance

33 Thank you for your attention.