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Asia and Pacific - Preparedness and Mitigation Programs Fact Sheet #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2008

Países
China
+ 19
Fuentes
USAID
Fecha de publicación

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

BACKGROUND

Disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanoes, droughts, tsunamis, and wildfires affect populations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Worsening socio-economic conditions of some populations are increasing the region's vulnerability. Demographic changes, urbanization, and environmental degradation have reduced the amount of habitable land available, forcing the settlement of hazard-prone, marginal lands, such as flood plains and steep slopes. In addition to natural disasters, civil crises and complex emergencies also cause hardships and impede development. USAID/OFDA is committed to assisting in the development of preparedness, mitigation, and emergency response capacities in the region. Since 1995, USAID/OFDA has provided more than $50 million for ongoing preparedness and mitigation projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including nearly $4.4 million in FY 2008.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION ASSISTANCE FOR ASIA-PACIFIC

USAID/OFDA Assistance in FY 2008: $4,391,526
USAID/OFDA Cumulative Assistance for all Active Programs: $50,099,336

REGIONAL PROGRAMS

- Program for the Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER), Phase II: Funded by USAID/OFDA and implemented by the Kathmandu-based National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) since 2003, PEER is developing national and regional cadres of professional emergency response instructors in six Asian countries. PEER is geared primarily towards earthquake preparedness, but is widely applicable to any collapsed structure or mass casualty situation. PEER assists local, regional, and national disaster management agencies in organizing and conducting training in medical first response, collapsed structure search and rescue, and hospital preparedness for mass casualties. The first phase of PEER, managed by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), began in 1998 in India, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines. Phase II of PEER expanded activities to Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as increasing the corps of trainers, adapting courses to national requirements, and creating a network of disaster responders in each country. Beginning in April 2009, Phase III of the program will focus on improving communitylevel preparedness in collapsed structure search and rescue, medical first response, and disaster planning and preparedness. USAID/OFDA has provided more than $11 million since FY 1998.

- Program for Hydrometeorological Risk Mitigation in Asian Cities (PROMISE): In September 2005, USAID/OFDA provided a grant to ADPC for a three-year phase of urban disaster mitigation activities entitled "PROMISE." This program builds upon the activities of the Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program (AUDMP) in which ADPC developed pilot disaster preparedness projects in targeted Asian cities. PROMISE promotes hydrometeorological, or rainfall-related, disaster preparedness through demonstration projects in five rapidly growing urban areas that have been significantly impacted by hydrometeorological disasters: Chittagong, Bangladesh; Hyderabad, Pakistan; Dagupan City, the Philippines; Kalutara, Sri Lanka; and Da Nang, Vietnam. In FY 2007, PROMISE was expanded to include the city of Semarang in Indonesia. In the target cities, ADPC has facilitated preparedness and mitigation action planning workshops, carried out hazard mapping and vulnerability assessments, and established community-based early warning mechanisms. Additional programming included implementing training and capacity building for riskbased urban land use planning, piloting community-based flood forecasting and warning systems, developing city-level disaster management information systems and public awareness and advocacy campaigns, and assisting micro-credit enterprises to improve resistance of houses to disasters. USAID/OFDA funding since FY 2005 totals $1,855,286.