1. ASEAN 40 th ANNIVERSARY 2007 International Day for Disaster Reduction 25 September 2007, Bangkok, Thailand By Christel Rose, UN/ISDR Asia and Pacific United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) www.unisdr.orgwww.unisdr.org, www.unisdr.org/asiapacificwww.unisdr.org/asiapacific

2. Joint cooperation ASEAN/ISDR in 2006 Successful first joint regional celebrations of Int’l Day for Disaster Reduction and ASEAN Day for Disaster Management, Oct 2006, BKK -Roundtable discussions on Education for DRR -Exhibition with contributions from ASEAN Member States -Kid corners with school children from 2 int’l high schools in BKK – Riskland Game and Computer Game Stop Disasters tested -Joint Press Release -> Express appreciation to ACDM Team and DDPM as lead shepherd for coordinating the contributions from ASEAN Member States Collection of information on national celebrations of Int’l Days in ASEAN countries coordinated through ACDM and ISDR – special report on this subject in third edition of ISDR Informs (under print)

3. 2007 Int’l Day for Disaster Reduction commemorations Highlighted in BKK by the Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on School Education and DRR, 8-10 October Context At the global level: HFA priority No3: “Use Knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels” Millennium Development Goal Target 2 “Achieve Universal Primary Education” UNESCO-led Decade on Education for Sustainable Development 2007 UNESCO’s Education for Disaster Preparedness (EDP) Initiative Closing year of the 2006-2007 World Campaign on Disaster Reduction “Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School” ISDR Cluster on Education and Knowledge At the regional level: wealth of initiatives and materials on disaster risk reduction developed over the recent years and in 2006 through ASEAN/ACDM and DRR community’s mobilization, including mainstreaming of DRR into school curricula, development of guidelines (RCC, UNCRD, Ahmdabad Declaration etc.) and regional programmes (UNESCO, IFRC, UNICEF, UNESCAP) Creation of an Education Task Force (ETF) under UN/ISDR’s leadership -2006 - Joint ISDR, UNESCO and UNICEF’s initiative to join hands on promoting education for DRR in Asia and Pacific region -Development of a concept note and first steps towards a regional strategy for DRR -2007: Broadening to new key members involved in education and DRR: IFRC and ADPC – Latest members include UNCRD, ASB (German NGO based in Indonesia), UNESCAP, ASEAN, ADRC ETF’s objective: come up with concrete preparatory work for the Regional Workshop development and define a regional strategy to move the Education for DRR agenda in Asia and Pacific for joint implementation by ETF

4. Overall Goal of the Regional Workshop Contribute to the reduction of school children vulnerabilities, loss of lives as well as damage to school environments caused by disasters through an increased knowledge, awareness and proper education on disaster risk reduction at all levels, the effective integration of DRR as part of school curricula and the promotion of safer school construction programmes. Objectives Seek political recognition of the urgency to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) into school curricula and school construction initiatives and come up with concrete related recommendations and guidelines Promote the integration of DRR into non-formal education and extra-curricular activities - recognize the importance of traditional and indigenous knowledge Highlight the role and contribution of local communities, in particular village leaders and women, as well as local authorities and implementing partners (NGOs, national societies) in the educational process Recognize the special needs of vulnerable groups including disabled children Identify good practices and national “champions” in integrating disaster risk reduction into school curricula and in developing school safety programmes Promote a joint regional strategy/approach in moving ahead Education for DRR agenda Target audience Governments and Ministries of Education Curriculum development and school construction authorities School children, teachers and parents associations Local communities, local authorities and related implementing agencies Other stakeholders (development agencies, tourism operators, tourists in resort areas)

5. Expected Participants – so far around 120 participants registered Governmental level: Ministries of Education, Ministries / Departments of Disaster Management, National Platforms, NDMOs, etc. Relevant regional partners involved in education and disaster management related issues: selected UN regional offices, regional technical organizations, regional /sub-regional political bodies, regional NGO networks, IFRC regional office Selected in-country stakeholders: national NGOs, selected IFRC national organizations, universities, local communities representatives (incl. village leader), special guests Tentative format of the workshop 8-9 October: Technical Segment Technical discussions among education sector experts, curriculum developers and representatives from the disaster risk reduction community to exchange successful regional, national and local experiences as well as major obstacles and challenges in integrating disaster risk reduction into education sector (formal and non formal school curriculum, safe school construction and education sector programs ) 10 October: Policy discussions – coinciding with Int’l Day for DRR The conclusions of the technical discussions will be brought to Ministers of Education, policy makers and representatives from Ministries of Education to jointly come up with recommendations/ statement on the need for a systematic mainstreaming of DRR into education sector towards a successful education and long term effective protection and resilience of future generations to disasters The meeting will be articulated around: Plenary sessions and working group discussions on the following themes: - Session 1: Integrating disaster risk reduction into school curricula (UNESCO) - Session 2: Mainstreaming DRR into Education (ADPC) - Session 3: Safer School Constructions (UNCRD/ADPC) - Session 4: Non Formal Education and Disaster Risk Reduction (IFRC) - Session 5: Addressing the special needs of disabled school children – Biwako +5 (ASB/IIEES) - Session 6: Education as an essential component in reducing the socio economic impact of disasters (UNESCAP) - Session 7: Children’s Voices – Let Our Children Teach Us (UNICEF/ISDR)

6. Parallel discussions on: -Revising existing guidelines on integrating DRR into school curricula (RCC) and on school safety initiatives (UNCRD, Ahmdabad Declaration etc.) -Evaluation of Educational Materials on DRR Commemorations of the Int’l Day for DRR – Special ceremony on 10 Oct morning with UNESCAP Ex. Secretary, Director ADPC, IFRC - ASEAN invited to brief on ACDM Special addresses by Ministers of Education Exhibition on Education for DRR – Inviting ASEAN Member Countries to display their material and DDPM to serve as coordinating body Interactive “Poster Session”during lunchtime and coffee breaks – audio, video materials to display, projects to present Visibility – Press Release, invitation of children, media and promote articles in press Expected Outcome of the workshop Formal recognition by Governments / Ministries of Education through a set of concrete recommendations highlighting the importance and urgency to include DRR as a priority in school curricula agendas and to develop further systematic school sfatey construction measures Concrete guidelines to assist Governments and schools in integrating disaster risk reduction into school curricula and school construction Recognition of traditional and indigenous knowledge for DRR and the need to involve more systematically local communities, NGOs, villages leaders in the educational process Special attention to the needs of special vulnerable groups (disabled school children among others) Commitment to jointly develop and implement “as ETF” a forward looking and long-term regional strategy / approach to move ahead the DRR Education agenda in Asia & Pacific

7. Initial steps towards a regional strategy for DRR Education 1.Mapping out exercise of EDP materials by UNESCO as part of EDP initiative 2.Regional workshop on Education to DRR, 2007 3.Development of an educational kit on DRR No educational kit specifically on disaster risk reduction has ever been developed so far. The purpose of this process is to develop the first educational kit on DRR with key educational material on DRR as identified through the workshop in order to support the educational process on DRR for teachers and non formal education leaders. The Kit should be multi-hazard to start with, and could be further developed around specific focused areas (specific natural hazards or themes in relation to DRR). The session on evaluating Educational Materials will highlight key documents that could be part of the Kit. Pilot studies on the Kit’s impact will be carried out in Asia and Pacific with ASEAN countries as priority target 4. Compilation and analysis of success stories / good practices in integrating disaster risk reduction into School curricula for possible replication (through adaptation and translation) in other countries / communities 5. Equitable access for all to education – Seek commitment to translating and adapting existing children material on DRR into English and/or local languages Encourage Asia and Pacific countries to produce educational material on DRR on their own in their own language based on their own traditional knowledge – Roster / database of translation capacities in ASEAN region 6. Training of Trainers Complete the process by educating teachers / religious or local leaders to the overall theme of disaster risk reduction, building on the workshop outcomes, guidelines and DRR Education Kit produced and how to utilize the materials produced to assist them in teaching DRR to school children (Teachers’ guide, games, educational kit on DRR, videos…)

8. 7. Development of series of joint educational materials for DP / DRR Joint materials on landslides were produced by UNESCO, Japan Trust Fund, ADPC, ISDR in December to raise awareness on vulnerabilities to landslides in Northern Thailand and how local communities can empower themselves to become more resilient to natural disasters. This material is part of the EDP materials -> develop jointly with interested partners (including NGOs) a series/collection of similar materials on different natural hazards 8. Education for all - Fostering the dissemination of ISDR Field Libraries and in strengthening existing community learning centres or mobile libraries with DRR educational materials 9. Develop a joint strategy to involve the media community in educating communities to DRR 10. Use every regional foras, including Asian Ministerial Conferences on DRR to take stock of the progress in integrating DRR into school curricula In THAILAND As a follow-up to drawing competition and community risk mapping exercise carried out in 2006 by NDWC, Ministry of Education and ISDR in Tablamu School,Pang Nga Proince ISDR cooperating with NDWC and Ministry of Education of Thailand in grouping together 8 schools from the south of Thailand led by Kalimi School in Phuket (heavily devastated by tsunami) -Principal and school child who will attend BKK event will brief schools on BKK Education workshop discussions -involve children in a “Children Local Parliament on DRR” who act as the watchdog of HFA/DRR implementation and environmental protection and educate their friends on behavioural changes to build their communities resilience to disasters

9. PROPOSED AREAS OF COOPERATION 2007 WITH ASEAN SECRETARIAT AND MEMBER STATES ASEAN contribution to regional strategy on DRR Education targeting ASEAN countries special needs Technical cooperation to facilitate HFA implementation in ASEAN countries and delivery of DRR components of AADMER and ARPDM – January 2008 ASEAN’s Contribution to Regional Platform for DRR – First “expanded ISDR Asia Partnership” Meeting 27-28 Sept, BKK – follow-up to HFA Consultation for Asia and Pacific (4 June, Geneva) – involve key regional and sub-regional partners incl ASEAN Key role of ACDM in supporting the reporting and monitoring process on DRR and HFA implementation in ASEAN countries through ASEAN Secretariat and key regional partners (RCC, ACDR) – Initial steps: Baseline Study on the status of DRR in A& P (ADPC,ADRC,ISDR) ACDM’s responsibility to compile ASEAN Member States’ activities towards Global Platform preparations 2009 in a sub-regional report – need to build on existing ASEAN foras (ACDM and others) to promote reporting process by September 2008 Encourage “champions” on specific aspects of DRR in ASEAN countries: Education, heath, public-private partnership 2008-2009 World Campaign on DRR on “Safer Hospitals” – launch the campaign in South Asia (India and Sri Lanka) and in ASEAN region –> offer to launch the campaign early 2008 in ASEAN Country and to formulate an ASEAN strategy (includes creation of a thematic group) on Health and DRR – Encourage activities at national level

10. Seeking political commitment with your respective Governments in making DRR a priority -To develop national strategies / plans / roadmap for DRR along HFA – SNAPs (Cambodia, Philip,VN) -To develop institutional framework and capacity building for DRR through development of national platform for DRR / strengthening NDMOs for DRR -Develop high level advocacy with Governments and Parliamentarians – collection of statistics, promote articles in the press, radio and TV programmes on DRR, analysis of trends, good practices and lessons learned --> increased recognition of DRR in APEC Summits, ASEAN Summits and G8 Summit in Japan 2008 Develop Public Private Partnership for DRR – identify ASEAN specificity and key contribution Develop a joint approach on how to address CC adaptation related issues or other common threats to the ASEAN region UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction – could organize sub-regional selection process to feed into global process to better reflect wealth and innovative approaches of ASEAN countries in DRR ISDR will assist with organization of Asian Ministerial Conferences on DRR (every two years) - Organize specific ASEAN discussions to promote ASEAN commonalities and concerns, and mobilize an ASEAN position to be endorsed by the Ministerial - ASEAN side event during Second Asian Ministerial, Delhi 7-8 November 2007 - Malaysian Govt offered to host Third Ministerial in Malaysia, 2008 Enhance information sharing and knowledge management throughout the ASEAN region -> linking websites - ISDR Informs contribution - Revitalize Monthly Regional Highlights with specific focus on ASEAN countries - Information network and databases - Direct access to Prevention Web

11. Many areas of cooperation in building safer communities and nations to disasters by 2015 Looking forward to a closer cooperation with ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Member States THANK YOU ! Please contact rosec@un.org or visit www.unisdr.org/asiapacificrosec@un.org www.unisdr.org/asiapacific