DELSA II
PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES, 24TH AUGUST 2018
Entering its second phase of implementation, the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA) Phase II project continues to contribute to the implementation of One ASEAN One Response, specifically in the area of stockpile deployment to disaster-affected countries. As the leading mechanism in the Phase II project, the DELSA Phase II Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting was held on the 24th of August in the OCD-NDRRMC Office, Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippines.
As reported in the meeting, during 2018 the DELSA Phase II project has contributed to stockpile deployment and local procurement in response to the floods in Lao PDR, floods in Myanmar, and the earthquakes in Indonesia, providing relief items to a total value of USD 426,867. The remaining ASEAN stockpile, which is stored in the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Subang, Malaysia, consists of 45 types of relief items amounting to the total value of USD 1,777,460.
This meeting also formed an opportunity for the DELSA Project Management Team to report the progress of the establishment of the satellite warehouses in the Philippines and Thailand. The satellite warehouse in the Philippines utilises a building owned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, which after some renovations, will be ready to house the satellite warehouse.
Meanwhile, the satellite warehouse in Thailand is planned to be fully operationalised by the first quarter of 2019, with a scheduled official launching during the ASEAN Summit in April 2019, coinciding with the induction of the Thailand Chairmanship of ASEAN.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the satellite warehouse in the Philippines was also signed during the meeting by Ms. Adelina Kamal, Executive Director of the AHA Centre, and Under Secretary Ricardo B. Jalad, Executive Director of NDRRMC and Administrator of the OCD Philippines. This MoU marks the strengthening of cooperation and commitment between the AHA Centre and OCD Philippines to support the readiness of ASEAN in responding to disasters. The meeting also resulted in other significant guidance and decisions on key resources, criteria and partnerships to support the network of the DELSA warehouses. A key study on stockpile identification was agreed, with results to act as a baseline that will serve as a reference for minimum types and quantity of stockpiles to be stored across all three DELSA warehouses, as well as specific stockpiles unique to each warehouse.
The DELSA Phase II PSC Meeting was attended by the AHA Centre, ASEAN Secretariat, representatives from Singapore and Malaysia as the Co-Chairs of the ACDM Working Group on Preparedness and Response, representatives from the Mission of Japan to ASEAN and Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) Management Team as the donor, and representatives from the Philippines and Thailand as the host countries of satellite warehouses.
Written by : Caroline Widagdo | Photo : AHA Centre
ASEAN-ERAT
ADVANCED COURSE ON INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
VIENTIANE, 6-10 AUGUST 2018
As part of the transformation plan for the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT), during August, the AHA Centre facilitated the first-ever ASEAN-ERAT Advance Course, which aims to prepare a group of information management specialists for disaster responses in the region. The five-day course was conducted in Vientiane, Lao PDR, in partnership with MapAction, engaging ten ASEAN-ERAT personnel from seven Member States as the first batch of graduates from this new course.
During the course implementation, Lao PDR –the host of the event – remained in the middle of an emergency response, following Tropical Storm 11 and the resulting dam collapse in Attapeu Province. Therefore, during the opening ceremony, Mr. Prasong Vongkhamchanh, the Director-General of Social Welfare Department and Head of Lao PDR’s National Disaster Management Organisation, encouraged all participants to utilise real data and create outputs that may be useful for the actual emergency operations taking place in the country. Meanwhile, Ms. Adelina Kamal, the Executive Director of AHA Centre, emphasised that alongside physical relief items, information also forms a key support mechanism at times of emergency.
In order to qualify as participants, active ERAT members were encouraged to send a motivation letter, registration form, and follow a recruitment procedure which includes a one-on-one interview with the selection committee. The course combines both theoretical components and practical exercises to sharpen the participants’ skills in disaster mapping, data analysis, and data visualisation. At the end of the course, the final products were presented to the facilitators, with a chosen product to be published and disseminated by the AHA Centre as an official situation update on the Myanmar flooding.
“The ASEAN-ERAT Pilot Advance Course on Information Management enhanced my capabilities in fulfilling the tasks and responsibilities of an Information Manager during disaster responses”, said participant Lawrence Anthony Dimailig from the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines. In addition to the Information Management course, the AHA Centre has also developed curricula for two other advance courses on Rapid Assessment and Humanitarian Logistics. The Rapid Assessment course was undertaken in Bangkok, Thailand, in late August, and the Humanitarian Logistics course is scheduled to take place in Subang, Malaysia in late September 2018. All three courses are supported by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, and the results will be evaluated to refine the conduct of the future of ASEAN-ERAT advance courses.
Written by : ShintyaKurniawan | Photo : AHA Centre
AHA CENTRE COMMENCES
ACE PROGRAMME 5TH BATCH
The fifth batch of the AHA Centre Executive (ACE) Programme formally commenced on the 14th of August 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, with 17 disaster management professionals from the National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMOs) of ASEAN Member States to participate in the four-month course. Upon finishing the course, this new batch of ASEAN disaster management professionals will join the other 62 graduates of the programme, who have been prepared by the AHA Centre and its partners since the course first began in 2014.
By joining ACE Programme, participants are provided with the chance to acquire meaningful experience and knowledge on dealing with disaster situations, with such learnings supported by the programme’s wide array of diverse courses and trainings. In addition, the participants will also have the chance to undertake comparative studies by visiting disaster-affected areas in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
“We are all aware of how vulnerable our region is to natural disasters, ranging from cyclone, typhoon, earthquake, landslide, and drought. Knowing this, the ACE Programme is very useful for preparing our future leaders in the field of disaster management, and in promoting a culture of resilience and care for the environment”, said H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi, the ASEAN Secretary-General.
The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi, the Secretary-General of ASEAN; H.E. Kazuo Sunaga, the Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN; H.E. Pam Dunn, the Ambassador of New Zealand to ASEAN; H.E. Jane Duke, the Ambassador of Australia to ASEAN; Mr. Dicky Fabrian of National Disaster Management Authority of Indonesia (BNPB); other partners of the AHA Centre and representatives of ASEAN Dialogue Partners.
The ACE Programme is an intensive course that is specifically designed to address the needs for a comprehensive and collaborative disaster management strategy in Southeast Asia. The live-in concept of the course enables participants to build strong operational ties and emotional bonds, which can be useful for coordination amongst NDMOs of ASEAN Member States at a later time. The programme will also strengthen the operationalisation of One ASEAN One Response commitment through building capacities of the participants in the area of disaster management and humanitarian assistance operations.
“When a disaster strikes, we know that we can always rely on the ACE Programme graduates when we need them, and they can always rely on us when they need us”
said Adelina Kamal, the Executive Director of the AHA Centre.“Many of the ACE Programme graduates have now represented their countries in ASEAN meetings; some even have confidently given their views and their directions to the AHA Centre in those meetings” she continued.
Written by : Valerie Bayhon | Photo: AHA Centre
TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTER
GEOPHYSICAL (VOLCANO)
Situated on the Ring of Fire, the ASEAN region faces one of the greatest threats of natural disaster due to geophysical activity along this unstable belt of tectonic plates. One of the key disaster threats categorised into the geophysical type are volcanoes, as well as a range of related disasters that can occur as the result of volcanic activity. During 2018 ASEAN has experienced a range of geophysical events that have triggered disasters. Therefore, understanding the varieties and impacts of such occurrences is highly important for disaster management across the region.
The AHA Centre closely monitors the ongoing dynamic conditions of 150 volcanoes in the ASEAN region that are active and have a recent historical record of eruptions.127 of these volcanoes are located in Indonesia, with 23 in the Philippines, while volcanoes found in other areas of the region are currently dormant. Volcanoes in other ASEAN countries are in dormant condition, such as those in Viet Nam with its last eruptions dated back in the early Holocene era or underwater volcanoes in Andaman Sea between Thailand and Myanmar. Most recently in late 2017 to early 2018, monitoring, preparedness, and pre-emptive evacuations were undertaken by respective local and national agencies due to increased activities on Mount Agung (Bali, Indonesia) and Mount Mayon (Albay, the Philippines). However no lives were lost due to this increased activity. As of September 2018, only Mount Sinabung (North Sumatra, Indonesia) remains at Alert Level IV (out of the maximum 4 alert levels) – which means it may experience major eruptions at any point – with the level IV status ongoing throughout the past five years. Mount Agung remains at Alert Level III, while all other volcanoes in Indonesia and the Philippines are currently at Alert Level II (localised activity with no serious eruption risk).
ABOUT VOLCANOES
A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust that allows molten rock, gases and debris to escape to the surface, often exploding through the surface with severe strength and impact on nearby geography. Volcano eruptions are categorised into geophysical hazards that occur when magma (molten rock) is released from a volcanic vent, with eruptions classified into a range of different types including phreatic, phreatomagmatic, surtseyan and effusive (lava-bearing) eruptions.
RELATED HAZARDS
Most hazards, phenomena and disasters associated with volcanic eruptions affect areas close to the volcano itself. Of high importance is the realisation that volcanic activity may also trigger other natural disaster events, including tsunamis, landscape deformation, floods, and tremor-provoked landslides.
LINK TO EARTHQUAKES
Earthquakes and volcanoes are intrinsically linked, as they result from tectonic plate processes that constantly reshape the earth’s surface. Earthquakes form a key clue that a volcano is preparing to erupt, as the movement of magma exerts significant force on the earth above it as pushes through the crust. This pressure from the rising magma causes many of the earthquakes that occur in volcanically active areas. However, such earthquakes also rarely exceed magnitude 5, and are barely noticeable outside the vicinity of the volcano itself. Such earthquakes do help volcanologists to map and track underground lava flows, with different types of earthquakes often resulting based the signature of tremors, then used to determine if the volcano is heading towards an eruption. Seismic information such as this is valuable for volcanologists who are monitoring eruption events such as explosions or lahars.
Written by : William Shea