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On April 26-28, 2005 the Participants of a Regional Review Meeting captioned ¨Beyond 2004 Events, Lessons for the Caribbean Region”, meeting at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica agreed on recommendations to provide guidance for the Caribbean countries in order to improve their disaster risk management capabilities, by increasing regional cooperation, national planning and community participation initiatives¨. The recommendations of this meeting are hereby called the Kingston Declaration 2005. The meeting was convened jointly by the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) and the UNDP office for Jamaica, with support from other agencies such as UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, USA’s Overseas Federal Disaster Agency (OFDA), and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The meeting was hosted by the Government of Jamaica through its office for Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

Full story // The Kingston Declaration 2005

More information: Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) // DRU and CDERA // DRU and Latin America and the Caribean Region

A two-day workshop organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on disaster management training was held in the Syrian capital, Damascus, between 18 and 19 May. Syrian officials took part in the workshop to improve the national response to natural disasters in the country. Damascus, is located on the Dead Sea fault line system in the west of the country, which is a seismically active area experiencing frequent minor tremors. "This workshop addressed the need to engage in a dialogue with the government and NGOs on disaster risk management in Syria. However, the government is already very response focused," Petra Demarin, of the UNDP's Disaster Management Training Programme (DMTP) told in Damascus following the event. This was the first such event of its kind to be held in Syria to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the government, respective UN agencies, NGOs and other participants in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

Full story // Disaster Management Project Signed (09.05.2005)

More information: UNDP Syria Country Office // UNDP BCPR Disaster Training Management Programme (DMTP) // DRU and Syria

Technical experts underlined after a meeting organised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) that recovery efforts would also have to tackle problems with poverty, conflicts or land disputes that existed before the tsunami struck, on top of reconstruction. "You're very rarely talking about a process of less than five years and usually it's more like 10 years," UNDP disaster recovery specialist Andrew Maskrey told journalists on Monday. "We have to be careful of the tyranny of rush: trying to get things done quickly can actually put us behind in the long run," said Kathleen Cravero Director of the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, adding that the process was "well underway". Other challenges included coordination of all the actors involved, and financial transparency in using the billions of dollars in aid pledges that have been made in areas that were sometimes blighted by corruption.

More information - Press Kit Material

More information: UNDP Updates on Tsunami Recovery // UNDP Tsunami Recovery Website

With school children being one of the most vulnerable sections in the event of a disaster like an earthquake or a fire, Delhi schools are getting ready to face any such eventuality by preparing their own `Disaster Management Plans.' In a process that was started as part of a UNDP-funded project in September 2003, around 500 schools in the national capital have already prepared disaster management plans. "We have covered government as well as private schools as part of this programme to prepare them for emergency situations," said Sanjay Kumar Jha, State Project Officer for the GOI-UNDP Disaster Management Risk Programme. Committees comprising the education officer for the concerned zone, principal, teachers, parents, head boy and head girl have been prepared that would coordinate the disaster management efforts in case of an emergency.

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More information: GLIDE Number: UNDP India Country Office // National Disaster Management in India // GOI-UNDP Disaster Mitigation and Vulnerability Reduction // DRU and India

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) has allocated USD 100,000 for emergency activities in response to the floods crisis in Romania. This amount will be used to procure motorized boats, life jackets and other equipments necessary for coordinating relief works. Romania has been hit with record-breaking floods in its Western region, considered to be the most devastating for the past 50 years. During the last two weeks, three counties: Arad, Caras-Severin and Timis have been affected leaving more than 3700 homeless with damage to around 350 bridges and dams. Timis County (on the border with Serbia and Montenegro) has been most severely stricken with floods, as the water level has risen tenfold. At present more floods are occurring in Southern and Eastern Romania, with continued heavy rains still expected.

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More information: GLIDE Number: FL-2005-000063-ROM // UNDP Romania Country Office // DRU & Romania // Serbia & Montenegro and Romania Floods OCHA Situation Reports No3 // No2 // No1 // Romania and Serbia: Timis River - Rapid response inundation map

A nationwide work suspension in face of the threat of Hurricane Adrian has cost El Salvador about 12 million US dollars, it is estimated. The National Private Sector Association (ANEP) said Saturday that the arrival of Adrian forced the suspension of work for half a day on Thursday and led to the absence of 20 percent of workers nationwide on Friday. The most affected sectors were commerce, tourism, industry, construction, foreign trade, banking and transportation, said ANEP. Adrian did not cause significant losses to agriculture, it said. Adrian, which approached El Salvador as a low-intensity hurricane, lost strength before landing and reached El Salvador as a tropical storm. Some 29,500 people were evacuated. Authorities said nobody was killed in the storm and no considerable material damage was caused.

More information // El Salvador Tropical Storm Adrian - Situation Map

More information: GLIDE Number: TC-2005-000073-SLV // OCHA Situation Reports: No 1 // UNDP El Salvador Country Office // DRU & El Salvador

On 11 May 2005, the offices of the International Recovery Platform (IRP) in Kobe, Japan were officially opened at a ceremony conducted by various UN, ILO, ADRC representatives, and Japanese local and national government officials. Over 300 participants then took part in a three-day international seminar on post-disaster recovery, looking at current recovery operations affected by natural disasters and the range of activities that contribute to sustainable economic and social development, as well as the gaps and challenges in promoting effective recovery through risk reduction. The ongoing tsunami recovery operations in south-east Asia were also reviewed. The aim of the IRP joint initiative, which resulted from the January 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction, is to support a more coordinated UN-system approach and methodology to recovery which helps transform disasters into opportunities for sustainable development

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More information: International Recovery Platform (IRP)

As has been reported in previous Situation Reports over the past two weeks, heavy rainfall, warm temperatures and a sudden onset of the seasonal snow melt resulted in floods across the country, particularly in Racha-Lechkhumi – Lower (Kvemo) Svaneti, Imereti and Samegrelo-Upper (Zemo) Svaneti on 25-26 April. On 27-30 April the eastern regions of Inner (Shida) Kartli, Lower (Kvemo) Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Adjara and part of Samtskhe-Javakheti were also affected. Landslides and mudflows have occurred in many mountainous areas. While fortunately there has been no loss of human life, the damage to already poor infrastructure, residential buildings and agriculture has been extensive. Populations from a number of villages have been relocated due to fears for their safety. Families from damaged or destroyed houses have mostly found temporary shelter with relatives, friends, or neighbors. Regional authorities have, with the assistance of the central Government, mobilized a variety of resources to address immediate needs, though still limited to address immediate food and non-food emergency needs. The Disaster Management Team has prepared a document on "Flooding in Georgia: An Overview of Needs and Assistance Actions" summarizing the needs assessments that have been undertaken by various DMT members, i.e., CHF, the International Federation/Georgian Red Cross, UMCOR, UNICEF, World Vision, and WFP as well as sectoral needs and proposed assistance actions.

More information // UNDMT Report - "Flooding in Georgia: An Overview of Needs and Assistance Actions"

More information: GLIDE Number: FL-2005-000065-GEO // OCHA Situation Reports: No 1 - No 2 - No 3 - No 4 // UNDP Georgia Country Office // DRU & Georgia

Oceans away from last December’s tsunami, the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada is living proof of how difficult it can be to translate outpourings of international assistance into recovery and reconstruction. In September of 2004, Hurricane Ivan swept the Caribbean taking 80 per cent of Grenada’s infrastructure with it and devastating the spice and tourist industries. The world responded generously to the calamity, which killed 39 of the tiny nation’s 103,000 people and left 90 per cent of the nation’s 28,000 houses in shambles. But seven months later, the ‘Spice Island’ – famed for its nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, ginger and cloves – is still struggling to pull itself back together.

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More information: UN Stories - 10 Stories the World should hear more about

The United Kingdom boosted Government and UN Development Programme (UNDP) efforts to reduce the impact of natural and man-made disasters on the people of Bangladesh earlier today by contributing USD 8.104 million towards the nation-wide ‘Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme’.

Following a rigorous programme design process, the partnership between UNDP and DFID to support disaster management, was officially sealed by the head of the UK’s Department for International Development’s (DFID) in Bangladesh, Paul Ackroyd, and the UNDP Resident Representative, Jorgen Lissner this morning at the DFID office in Gulshan.

The DFID contribution towards the Government/UNDP initiative is specifically targeted to help Bangladesh handle shocks resulting from climate change by supporting research and developing activities to lessen the impact. In addition, the support will help to establish a Disaster Management Information Centre (DMIC) to facilitate improved disaster emergency response and better disaster management coordination and information sharing. Most of the DFID contribution, however, will provide critical assistance to broaden and strengthen communities’ abilities to cope with natural and man-made disasters.

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In East Africa, heavy rains have continued to cause severe flooding in Ethiopia. Somalia, Kenya, and Eritrea have also been affected by severe weather conditions, but to a lesser extent. Increased rain over the next few days may further deteriorate the humanitarian situation in the region. In Kenya, flooding has affected more than 25,000 Somalia refugees from the Dadaab camp in the north-eastern part of the country. Heavy rains have destroyed the shelters of a majority of refugees. In Somalia, the town of Hargeisa was seriously affected, when heavy rains led to flooding of a dry riverbed. Infrastructure and property were destroyed and about one hundred and seventy households were affected. Teams comprised of government representatives and humanitarian partners conducted a rapid joint assessment mission of the areas most affected. This mission noted, in particular, that the heavy rain and flooding led to severe damage of the water supply systems, including dams and wells. Relief items have been rapidly distributed and most of the immediate, emergency needs are being met. Rehabilitation and recovery plans are currently underway. As for the south central region of Somalia, the river water level keeps rising and the area continues to remain on alert. As the Somali region of Ethiopia has been particularly affected, the remainder of this report focuses on this area.

OCHA Situation Report No 2

More information: GLIDE Number: GLIDE No. FL-2005-000064-ETH // OCHA Situation Reports: No 1 - No 2 // DRU & Africa