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APFM Newsletter No.19, June 2009
Download (PDF): Newsletter No.19
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Increasing Support for the IFM HelpDesk |
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The HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management will be launched 17June 2009 as a facility to support countries that want to adopt an integrated approach to flood management in terms of flood management policy, strategy and institutional capacity building. Over the last months the Technical Support Base, an essential feature of the HelpDesk, has been established. It is based on a network of centres of excellence that provide technical support to the services provided by the HelpDesk. Letters of Engagement between WMO and the Support Base Partners were signed during and after the World Water Forum. Many other partners are in the process of joining the HelpDesk Technical Support Base.
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Be invited to the Launch of the IFM HelpDesk
During the Second meeting of the Global Platform on
Disaster Risk Reduction
At the Centre International de Conférences Genève
17 June 2009, 13h-15h
Room 15 |
For more information, please visit www.floodmanagement.info
(Please be invited to interlink your website with this domain)
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World Water Forum: Bridging the gap between policy and practice |
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The 5th World Water Forum held in Istanbul, Turkey from 16 to 22 March 2009, brought together various actors working towards sustainable solutions to water related problems. APFM in line with the theme of the forum of "Bridging Divides for Water" took part in a number of sessions in order to bridge the gap between policy and practice. The forum provided opportunity to sign a number of the Letter of Engagement for IFM HelpDesk above while it was noted that some of those partners were foreseen as technical partners.
Sessions
 APFM had been requested to be involved in the organization of a technical session on "Managing water-related risks in changing climate" on 17 March, under the framework theme of "Global Changes and Risk Management", with Korean Water Forum. The session had the distinguished guest in the form of Mr. Mori, former Prime Minister of Japan who provided his opening remarks. Dr. Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of WMO, provided a keynote speech, emphasizing the importance of multi disciplinary and robust policy approaches such as Integrated Flood Management, to manage various natural hazards in order to prevent them turning into disasters. Such an adaptive approach is imperative in the context of climate change and growing water-related hazards. Under conditions of climate change hydro-meteorological extremes may be more frequent and intense, thereby posing a great challenge to the millions of people in terms of looming food crises, pressure on natural resources, loss of livelihoods and human life.
The objective of the session was to stress the need for a shift from "Reactive" to "Proactive" approach in addressing the water-related disasters. It was observed that water-related disasters may have already increased in their frequency and intensity. A number of examples were presented at the session with specific data on the extent of these changes - particularly significant were the changes taking place in Japan, Republic of Korea, the Himalayan region, and the Netherlands. APFM presented examples of challenges managing in water related extremes, both due to increased climate variability and change as well as changing demographics, land use and geopolitical situations. Through the discussion on impacts of and preparing for climate change, the session emphasized the need for a multi disciplinary response to reduce casualties substantively; a mix of adaptation measures to maximize livelihood opportunities and reduce risk; making available climate information products and time series hydrological, meteorological and climatological data. It is vital that the characteristics of water related extremes, their changing characteristics and their impacts on socio-economic and ecological conditions are better understood under the changing climate. This requires not only more reliable projections of various climates in the future, but also the way these scenarios would impact the hydrological cycle, including the extremes. There should be a judicious combination of both structural and non-structural measures. Examples of such policies were presented from The Netherlands (long term investment in nation-wide water infrastructure), Romania (active planning for rapid response to disasters), South Korea (rehabilitation of dams and other infrastructure), as well as for urban planning and urban flood risk management. Water related infrastructure, particularly to reduce the impacts of water related extremes would require to be designed under this changing scenario where the future is not necessarily going to be a reflection of the past. (used as an assumption in current design practices). It would require pursuing new areas of research in support of design under non-stationary conditions. Nevertheless, a thorough analysis of past events forms a pre-requisite for better understanding of vulnerabilities and to reduce uncertainties in the future. "Sound bites" of the session included:
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Aiming for zero loss of life from water-related extremes. Even though it is difficult to achieve examples from many countries show that a multi hazard response setups can bring substantive reduction in casualties. |
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Maximizing livelihood opportunities and reducing risk: Risk reduction related to water hazards and poverty reduction principles do not necessarily result in the same mix of adaptation measures. Livelihood security is a key to reducing vulnerabilities. Therefore, rural livelihoods in particular in the agricultural sector should be strengthened through robust policies. The efficient use of floodplains plays a major role in this. | The level of participation at the session was highly encouraging and exceeding the capacity of venue. This showed the interest and concern that the water community has in general with the subject of water related disasters including flood, not least due to the large-scale flood events of 2008 and climate change issues covered widely by the media.
 Exhibition Booth
As the main international event on water, more than 25,000 participants were registered including vairous stakeholder groups and politicians that encouraged dialogue to influence water policy making at a global level. In order to promote WMO's visibility during the event, WMO with the support of Turkish State Meteorological Service rented a booth in the Expo Hall to demonstrate WMO activities and publications. Also within the framework of UN-Water "Delivery as One", WMO ran a booth in the UN Pavilion to disseminate its publications and promote its activities in different water related fields. Several thousand people - of various nationalities representing intergovernmental, governmental, non-governmental and research organizations - visited the two booths during this period. It was also visited by high level delegates including Ministers, Assistant Ministers and Heads of NGOs. There was a high demand for information on climate change issues and for material related to flood management. APFM used this opportunity to put an emphasis mostly on the new HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management, to be launched in June 2009 (www.floodmanagement.info).
Global Water Education Village
Since the World Water Forum in Mexico APFM had been collaborating with Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), a US based non-profit foundation for water education programs and publisher. The Water Forum in Istanbul provided an excellent platform to launch two new joint publications on floods at the Global Water Education Village: "Discover Floods -Educator's Guide" and "Discover Floods KIDS Activity Booklet". While the latter has been conceived for children it provides insight into the issue of floods for all age groups.. The educator's guide provides hands-on and classroom ready activities for use with children and youths in water education. Those publications were made available with the kind support of the United States Agency for International Development and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. The Forum allowed for widest possible distribution of the two materials while various requests fro translation have been received during the forum. These publications would be soon available in the APFM website.
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This valuable 60-page resource helps educators teach students about both the risks and benefits of flooding through a series of engaging, hands-on activities. Acknowledging the different roles that floods play in both natural and urban communities, the book helps young people gain a global understanding of this common--and sometimes dangerous--natural phenomena that affects hundred of millions of people around the world each year. Complementing its text are photographs that shed light on the aftermath of floods, as well as numerous illustrations to facilitate learning. Students will apply a number of problem-solving techniques to such relevant issues as how to protect yourself and your family should you live in a flood-prone area. |
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When water is on the rise, students' imaginations are bound to be swept away. Saturated with important-to-know facts and engaging hands-on activities, it's a force of nature that's ideal for making a splash in the classroom.
Ages eight to 12
16 pages | For more information: http://www.projectwet.org/
International Flood Initiative (IFI)
The side event of IFI in the evening of 21 March provided an opportunity for discussion about collaborative activities toward floods. IFI was launched, as joint initiative of UNESCO and WMO, to address existing management gaps through a holistic approach and to provide a platform for further collaborative efforts (www.ifi-home.info). IFI works in close cooperation with the UNU, IAHS and ISDR. The initiative is based on the concept of integrated flood management (IFM) which APFM has engaged to develop. Among the three main thematic activities (policy brief, reference series, and web-based tutorials), APFM has taken the responsibility to jointly work with the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management under the auspices of UNESCO, IWR on the IFI Reference Series, which seek to fulfill gaps and elaborate in detail on flood issues and solutions for practical use with the respect to ongoing activities at WMO.
For more information about IFI and APFM http://www.apfm.info/advocacy/advocacy.htm
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IFM Trainings: Building Capacity for IFM in South East Asia |
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 APFM together with the Collaborative Knowledge Network Indonesia (CKNet- INA), and AquaJarring, both Cap-Net affiliated capacity building networks in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, held a regional training of trainers (ToT) on Integrated Flood Management in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 24 to 28 February 2009. The course was financially supported by Cap-Net, NUFFIC and the Worldbank. APFM made available its training materials on Integrated Flood Management and provide facilitation for the Training of Trainers. The day before the course started was used as an open network conference on Integrated Flood Management, with attendance from government agencies, donor organizations, NGOs, academia and the media. The training itself was attended by 16 participants from the region (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines). The partners in the region are now working on the development of a regional training package and national follow-up trainings in Indonesia and Malaysia are being planned for summer 2009.
For more information, please visit : http://www.apfm.info/jakarta_workshop.htm.
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Community involvement in Flood Management, Kenya |
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 Government of Kenya is working toward putting in place a National Flood Management Strategy based on Integrated Flood Management approach. The "Strategy For Flood Management For Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya" (The Strategy), which was developed in 2004 by Kenyan Experts in close collaboration with WMO and APFM. To implement the strategy on the ground, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) launched the study on the Integrated Flood Management for Nyando River Basin, a part of Lake Victoria Basin, in August 2005. The objectives of the study are to:
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formulate a plan of IFM for the Nyando river basin covering review of existing flood control plans and community-based activities, |
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support communities to strengthen capacities in flood management, and |
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develop the flood management capacity of concerned authorities through on-the-job training including site training and implementation of pilot projects. |
 Since the initial stage of the study, APFM provided technical advices on the IFM plan and training for capacity building through reviewing the draft of the plan and taking part in the stakeholders' workshop held in the region. The study was finalized in December 2008 and the final Regional Workshop was held on 11 December 2008. A Master plan formulated in 2008 covers both structural and non-structural measures from short-term (by 2012) to long-term (after 2021). APFM had an opportunity to participate in field survey just after the final workshop. The essential elements include the relationships between indigenous knowledge for flood damage and community based measures; the process of capacity development through participation "learning by doing"; and establishment of community-driven flood management organization (CFMO) for sustainability of activities. The flood sign is one of the tools for community-based activities. Under support of JICA, the five pilot projects were completed in 2008 and further 24 community projects to implement the plan for IFM are to be initiated from Spring of 2009. These projects emphasize community participation and transparency of decision making. APFM will participate in the proposed workshop to be organized by JICA to support the practical phase of their flood management through disseminating IFM tools and IFM HelpDesk, which are planned to adopt the IFM principles applicable to each field. Such activities can contribute to the applicability of the IFM guidance.
For more information please visit : http://www.apfm.info/regional_projects/africa.htm#kenya |
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| Creating Synergies |
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 Technical Conference Meeting the Climate Change Challenge in the Water Sector & 8th Session of WHYCOS International Advisory Group (WIAG) was held from 4 - 6 February 2009 in Geneva. In pursuit of satisfying the need to broaden linkages of the HelpDesk serving as a platform with the bi- and multilateral development agencies, the WIAG was used to present the HelpDesk to a number of existing financial partners of WMO from Africa, Asia and Europe and were the stakeholders from the HYCOS components in the pipeline and the technical partners in the WHYCOS programme. The IFM HelpDesk was widely appreciated by the participants.
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| Announcement of the APFM activities |
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| Official launch of the IFM HelpDesk at Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2009 |
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The "HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management" (IFM HelpDesk) will be officially launched on 17 June 2009 during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva. The IFM HelpDesk is a facility that will provide guidance on flood management policy, strategy, and institutional development related to flood issues to countries that want to adopt the Integrated Flood Management concept, which will be hosted within WMO headquarters and will be supported by a decentralized multi-disciplinary network of specialized institutions with required expertise in various facets of Integrated Flood Management.
The Hyogo Framework for Action highlighted the importance of integrated flood management approaches in incorporating the underlying risk factors of flood prone communities into natural resources and environmental management strategies. With strong climate change impacts expected in the water cycle, in particular in the intensity and frequency of hydrological extremes, flood and drought management strategies become a central element of adaptation strategies. WMO through its Associated Programme on Flood Management and some 20 partner organizations from Government, Academia, International Bodies, etc, are now launching a facility to assist countries in implementing an integrated approach on the ground: the IFM HelpDesk.
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The event will be an important opportunity to make the availability of the IFM HelpDesk known to the water and disaster management community through High level Interventions and practitioners involvement. Your participation to the event would be highly welcomed.
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IFM HelpDesk official launching event
Date : 17 June 2009, 13h -15h
Venue : Centre International de Conférences de Genève, Room 15 |
The period between this launch event and spring 2010 would be the period in which the IFM HelpDesk would be disseminated while its operation would be tailored for fitting needs. For more information, please visit http://www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform/2009/
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