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News Archived 2009

Land use team conducts 4th Field Investigation in Kathmandu

Friday, 31 July 2009 08:00
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The Land use team of EMI conducted the 4th field investigation for Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Risk-Sensitive Land Use Planning last 12-20 July 2009 at the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) Conference Room in Lalitpur, Nepal. Ms. Marqueza Reyes (Team Leader), Mr. Marino Deocariza (Socio-economic planner), and Atty. Saviniano Perez (Consultant on Legal and Institutional Aspects) organized a series of workshops and consultations with members of the KMC Project Working Committee, NSET-Nepal, and KMC Department Heads to validate the Sectoral Profile and Situational Analysis of KMC, conduct a visioning workshop with stakeholders and formulate goals and objectives of the risk sensitive land use planning.

The team also met KMC’s local coordinator, Mr. Raijan Chitrakkar, who was recently hired for the position to coordinate the day-to-day operations of the planning project with members of the Project Implementation Team and KMC Project Working Committee.

On July 15, the draft KMC Sectoral Profile was presented to the workshop participants and in a discussion that followed, they provided inputs to the five sectors covered by the Sectoral Profile which include physical environment, land use, population and social, economic, and disaster risk. On June 16, the stakeholders updated KMC’s Vision Statement and conducted sectoral problem tree analysis and objective tree analysis to identify the problems and objectives that will be pursued in the planning project. The participants raised the issue on whether they have the mandate to update KMC vision and it was agreed that the updated Vision is limited to serving the purpose of the planning project and not for the entire city.

The next planning activity is a joint undertaking with the City Government of Makati in the Philippines focusing on the development of spatial strategies. This said activity is tentatively set on 6-12 September 2009 in Makati City, Philippines.

To download related documents, please visit the Project Webpage.

EMI supports symposium commemorating 1999 Marmara Earthquakes

Wednesday, 29 July 2009 08:00
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EMI joins Turkey in commemorating the 1999 Marmara Earthquakes, as it provides support to the holding of the International Earthquake Symposium 2009 in Kocaeli, Turkey on August 16-19, 2009.

The symposium is organized by Kocaeli University in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent Society and the General Directorate of Disaster Affairs in Turkey to revisit the past, learn from the experiences of those who dealt with the disaster, and generate valuable lessons that the present generations can use to move forward in a safer and disaster-resilient future. The symposium with a theme “Reflections from the Past, Mobilization for the Future” will gather various stakeholders from different sectors including national and local government officials, private sector representatives, community leaders and organizers, non-governmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, students, researchers and academic personnel, and the media.

EMI has a long history of partnership with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, particularly in developing Istanbul's disaster risk management master plan in the aftermath of the Marmara Earthquakes which killed 18,000 people and caused around 15 billion dollars worth of economic losses.

For more details please visit the events sections here.

EMI lectures at JICA-Kobe University Training Program for Urban Seismic Risk Reduction

Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:00
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EMI Chairman, Dr. Fouad Bendimerad, and Mr. Mariño Deocariza were invited by Kobe University to give lectures on the basics of disaster risk management (DRM) and to share information on some of EMI’s recent initiatives such as Cityriskpedia, Professional Certification Program, risk-sensitive land use and redevelopment planning, and the Disaster Risk Management Master Plan (DRMMP) model.


The lecture was part of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – Kobe University Training program for Urban Seismic Risk Reduction, which started last May 10, 2009 until July 4, 2009. Eight participants from different developing countries attended the training.

EMI supports the delivery of the JICA-KU training program by providing resource persons. The course, which has been going on since 2004, focuses on three key components namely: Risk Assessment, Risk Management, and Risk Communication.

The training program is envisioned to be part of a global professional certification program being developed by the World Bank Institute (WBI), United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ProVention Consortium, EMI, and a consortium of universities.

EMI conducts 2nd Field Investigation in Mumbai

Friday, 03 July 2009 08:00
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Barely two months after the Asia Megacities Forum and the commencement of the project, EMI returned to Mumbai on May 26 to June 1, 2009 to conduct the 2nd Field Investigation for the project, “Disaster Risk Reduction in Greater Mumbai,” a two-year joint undertaking between EMI and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). The EMI group, composed of two teams namely, Legal and Institutional Arrangements (LIA) Team and Emergency Management (EM) Team, met with local, state, and federal officials.

The field investigation aimed 1) to gain insights on the disaster risk management practices in Mumbai including determining relevant statutes and inter-agency collaboration; and 2) to introduce the project to key stakeholders. It was received positively by members of the Focus Groups representing strategic agencies and MCGM departments. The commitments of support among members were solicited and accepted during the FG meetings on May 28, 2009. This enthusiasm was also echoed during the EM/LIA Workshop on May 30.

Office visits to selected agencies with DRM functions were also conducted. EMI received briefings from high-ranking officials of MCGM, different state agencies, and private sector offices on their respective agency’s stake on DRR. For MCGM, Mr. Vilas Vaidya, Head of the Emergency Management Unit, presented the state of the DRM practice and system in Mumbai.

The EMI group was composed of Atty. Violeta Seva, Dr. Gaudioso Sosmeña Jr., Mr. Julie Paran (LIA Team members), Ms. Nadia Pulmano, and Ms. Deborah Steffen (EM Team members)

The next Field Investigation is tentatively set in September 2009.

EMI pushes for urban risk reduction at the 2nd GPDRR meeting

Thursday, 18 June 2009 08:00
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As a member of the U.N. Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), EMI joined the rest of the international DRR community in the Second Session of GPDRR on 16-19 June 2009 at the International Conference Centre, Geneva, Switzerland. EMI’s Chairman Dr. Fouad M. Bendimerad and General Secretary Atty. Violeta S. Seva were among the 1,800 delegates representing 309 governments and organizations from across the world.

EMI co-organized a round table on urban disaster risk reduction along with four local government organizations of the Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction (PURR). Dr. Bendimerad facilitated the round table discussion while Atty. Seva provided inputs on governance, legal, and institutional aspects to create an enabling environment for local DRR implementation. Atty. Seva also graced two other special events where she provided local governments’ perspectives, practical insights, and lessons on local government-led DRR and climate change adaptation initiatives. These special events are the “Community Safety and Resilience” organized by International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction and “the Human Dimension of Climate Change Adaptation” organized by the Commission on Climate Change and Development and the ProVention Consortium.

The 2nd Session of GPDRR aims to assess progress made on DRR since its First Session on June 2007. It also seeks to increase commitment and measurable actions in implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) locally and globally. HFA is the main international framework guiding all work on disaster risk reduction.

For more information, visit www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform/

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