" Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Manu Gupta Vice-Chairperson, ADRRN Co- Director, SEEDS India The Asian Disaster Reduction & Response Network

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" CHALLENGES IN ASIA Asia is the most disaster prone continent 90% of all natural disasters 50% of all major disasters Affects economies, lives, fabric of human society Sheer scale and complexity of natural disasters in recent times Many countries struggling to recover

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ASIAN NGOs Total number uncertain Different definitions/classifications Local vs International Capacities vary What is certain is the number is increasing and the roles are more evident

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" NGOs should complement each other NGOs need to be responsible, transparent and accountable Benchmarking Good practice guidelines

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ADRRN February 2002, Kobe, Japan ADRC & UN-OCHA More than 30 NGOs gathered from all over Asia Asian NGOs wanting to take charge Asian Disaster Reduction & Response Network (ADRRN) was formed

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" 28 member NGOs from 15 Asian Countries Chairperson –Dr. Jemilah Mahmood (MERCY Malaysia) Vice Chairperson –Manu Gupta (SEEDS India) Committee Members –Milet Mendoza (Tabang Mindanao, Philippines) –Amod Dixit (NSET, Nepal) –Naeem Salimee (CoAR, Afghanistan) –Dr. Tan K. (SiF, Singapore) Current Strength

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ADRRN Meetings Subsequent meetings in December 2003, June 2004, WCDR 2005, August 2005, and June 2006 at Bangkok

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Activities

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Post Tsunami :Promoting Awareness

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Young Communities

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Building Safety Water Conservation Governance Training CHANGE AGENTS within communities

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" November 2005 : Penang ADRRN/GOLFRE Asia Regional Learning Workshop Disaster Risk Reduction: Learning from Tsunami Experience 22 to 30 November 2005, University of Science Malaysia, Pulau Pinang

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies"

Workshop Methodology Experience sharing through country case studies Tools and Techniques –Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue –Medical First Response –Relief distribution –Psycho-social aid –Shelter: temporary and permanent –Participatory rapid assessment –Livelihood recovery and rehabilitation –Non-Structural Mitigation Simulation Exercise (Group Work) Field Exercise – Impact, Response, Mitigation & Preparedness

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Learning Knowledge bank Synthesize Reflective Practice developing with communities from and for them Communit y Generate information

" Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies"

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" PARTNERS

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" PROJECTS INDIA : SEEDS Micro credit program for immediate Livelihood recovery INDONESIA : MERCY MALAYSIA Development of Resource Center & Sustainable Knowledge Bank SRI LANKA : SARVODAYA Eco-village & Preparedness for long term Recovery

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" May March 2007 Training and Capacity Enhancement of Local Governments in the Earthquake Affected Areas of Pakistan To be Implemented by United Nations Inter-Agency secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) Contribution from the Government of European Union through the Voluntary Trust Fund for disaster reduction) Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN) and Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (KU GSGES)

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ADRRN member NGOs working in humanitarian sector are directly in touch with the Change Agents – workers, community leaders, school teachers, masons, health workers…..

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ADRRNs MISSION Promote coordination and collaboration among NGOs for effective and efficient disaster reduction and response in the Asia-Pacific region

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" OBJECTIVES To develop an interactive network of NGOs committed to achieving excellence in the field of disaster reduction and response To raise the relevant concerns of NGOs in the Asia-Pacific region to the larger community of NGOs globally, through various international forums and platforms To promote best practices and standards in disaster reduction and response To provide a mechanism for sharing reliable information and facilitating capacity building among network members and other stakeholders

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" What has worked…. Asian spirit Strong & Committed Core Group Volunteering time and efforts for the network Implementing activities on the ground Complementing each others roles Regular communication, meetings, website etc Member NGOs see great value in their participation in network activities

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" …….challenges remain Recognition at national level Sustained funding for secretariat Legal Status : Registration etc. Membership criterion Guiding principles

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" Every organization has its own unique identity If we can encourage diversity….

"Safe community environments and disaster resilient societies" ….true unity can prevail! Thank you