1. Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok 17-18 September 2009 Wenxi Zhu Head of UNESCO/IOC Regional Secretariat for the Western Pacific, Bangkok Tony Elliott Head of UNESCO/IOC ICG/IOTWS Secretariat, Berth, Australia UNISDR-ESCAP Consultation Meeting on Priorities for the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Status of Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response Standard Operating Procedures in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia

2. UNESCO IOC’s role in tsunami warning and emergency response Why are SOPs important? SOP training in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Outline

3. TWS before 2004

4. 26 December 2004 c.230,000 Dead – Nations of the region react 2 international coordination meetings in early 2005 IOC invited to lead TWS establishment ICG/IOTWS established by IOC Assembly, July 2005 11 countries ~230,000 deaths 1 million displaced

5. Global Network of TWS

6. End-to-End Tsunami Warning System Upstream Detection, verification, threat evaluation, tsunami forecast, warning dissemination Downstream Delivery of public safety message. Initiate national counter-measures Prepare and implement standardised reaction Well designed and tested SOPs could ensure the operations be carried out in a structured and logical manner

7. What to consider Tsunami Warning Centre: – Coordination and information flow (type, content, timeline) with NDMO – Iterative process (warning, update, cancellation) Tsunami Emergency Response: – NDMO/EOC receipt, interpret, decide, notify – Notify Responders, Decision-makers, Public – Recommend Public Safety Action – Implement / coordinate Action – Inform on ‘All-Clear’ for safe return – Initiate Search-and-Rescue, etc.

8. SOP Working Definition “ A description and procedure on agreed steps by institutions used in coordinating who, what, when, where and how for tsunami early warning and response” From Indonesia Local SOP Workshops: Capacity Building for Development of Local SOPs for Tsunami Early Warning and Response. 2006-2007

9. What are SOPs? Set of written instructions for routine/repetitive organization activities. Procedure followed in an emergency. Detail work processes conducted/followed within organization. Document activities performed for consistent conformance to system requirements and organization’s mission.

10. Why are SOPs important? Foundation of effective, reliable warning systems All warning systems require SOPs, but for tsunami, rapid evaluation, warning and response is essential to save lives In an end-to-end system, communications links between stakeholders must be robust or warning chain will be broken---Loss of lives SOPs should be developed, practiced and modified as necessary – a “living document”

12. Strengthening Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response: Training Workshops on the Development of Standard Operating Procedures for Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian Countries A UNESCO IOC project funded under the UNESCAP administered Multi-donor Voluntary Trust Fund on Tsunami Warning Arrangements in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia

13. Project Deliverables 1 Regional SOP Workshop 3 Country SOP Workshops in Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippine and Vietnam SOP materials for regional and country workshops Country-developed documents based on country’s present operations Exercise training and training materials to test workability of SOPs

14. Progress to Date Regional Workshop, Bangkok, May 2008 – Attended by 40 participants and trainers from 20 countries Country workshops: – Philippines (completed) – Pakistan (to be completed by end of 2009) – Vietnam (completed) – Myanmar - TBA

15. Country Workshop Objectives Provide information on best practices Work with country to evaluate existing procedures and practices Recommend improvements and work hands-on to strengthen end to end warnings through the development of SOPs Provide information on exercises and drills, and how to conduct them Conduct tabletop exercise involving stakeholders to test feasibility of developed SOPs

16. Other SOP Training Activities End-to-end Tsunami SOPs, Jakarta, Aug 08 (with UNDP). Attended by Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand Mauritius and Mozambique, 2007 – 2009, 8 capacity building missions, including SOP Preparation of Sector and National SOPs, Maldives, Jul 09 (with UNDP)

17. Summary SOP training in over 20 Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian countries More than 200 people trained Progressive development of SOPs in most countries Importance of exercises at regional, national and local level recognised to practice and refine SOPs Exercise IOWave09, 14 th October 2009

19. Thank You!