PreventionWeb - Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters

"In support of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) the UNISDR* has launched PreventionWeb, a website for disaster risk reduction (DRR). PreventionWeb informs and connects professionals working in disaster risk reduction, and promotes an understanding of the subject by non-specialists.

PreventionWeb provides a common platform for institutions to connect, exchange experiences and share information about DRR."

Visit PreventionWeb at http://www.preventionweb.net/

The website provides:

• Data and Statistics
• Academic Programmes in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
• Education Materials for DRR
• Terminology
• People in DRR
• Share with the DRR Community
• and more.

UNISDR* - UN International Stategy for Disaster Reduction.

International Day for Disaster Reduction - Presentation Now Available

Some may have noticed this blog pretty quiet over the past week.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors had the opportunity to participate in multiple forums, including International Day for Disaster Reduction with representatives from the World Bank, United Nations, NGOs, universities, and industry.

The presentation that Andrew Levy delivered is available on the World Bank website.

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this collaboration with you and the audience found this workshop very useful according to feedback we received.

We could now leverage this spirit of collaboration and goodwill which emerged between participating organizations as a result of this workshop. We have discussed the need for stronger collaboration to take this agenda forward, in addition to highlighting a number of best practices, specific solutions and lessons learned." (World Bank).

International Day for Disaster Reduction

Did you know that Wednesday October 8, 2008 is International Day for Disaster Reduction?

Working with representatives from the World Bank and United Nations, Neighbors Helping Neighbors is proud to be a partner and speaker at International Day for Disaster Reduction.

During the next week, Neighbors Helping Neighbors will focus on best practices and questions related to disaster reduction, with a focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Children Around World

A few days ago, we had the opportunity to hear "A Prayer for Children" again.

This poem fit very well to the experiences that have been shared on Neighbors Helping Neighbors over the past year.

From helping a community in a developing country reduce their risk from a disaster or helping a fellow neighbor, it is important to realize that others may not be as fortunate as others.

At the same time, realizing that we should not feel sorry for those that do not have the same tangible item, as they lead very happy lives within their means.

The following poem is really appropriate for any religion and can be found on multiple websites.

A Prayer for Children

We pray for children…
who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak Popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never “counted potatoes,”
who are born in places where we wouldn’t be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off-key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.


And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.


We pray for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who love visits from the tooth fairy,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the school bus,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at
and whose smiles can make us cry.


And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move,
but have no being.

- Ina Hughes

ICS and CERT Training On The Other Side Of The World - Still The Same Message

Pictured above is Col. Mario Verner Monsanto, Chief Operations Officer, Central Communications and Emergency Response Center (Central 911) and Executive Officer of the city Disaster Coordinating Council. He presented an orientation on disaster management and introduced my sessions.

We had the opportunity to present the following classroom based courses:

• IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS-200 ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training

As many of the participants are already experienced responders, there was limited focus on the hands on portion of the class.

We joked that I was transported to the training via a motorcade, as pictured below.

In attendance were representatives from Central 911 leadership, City Disaster Coordinating Council, Philippines National Red Cross, United Nations, barangay, multiple rescue groups, church based organizations, and other representatives.

Part of the discussions were about working together.

A challenge was presented to all the barangay to spend 1 hour with another barangay response team in an informal setting. Doing something like basketball or anything. This would provide the opportunity for neighbors to get to know neighbors as their barangay are right next to each other. A very simple challenge with a year for them to complete. Everyone agreed that even getting people together for this type of training and really getting to know each other goes a long way.

So what are your children doing this summer? Disaster Preparedness Camp

Your child may be going to summer camp and taking Red Cross swimming lessons.

Did you know, there are some children around the world that are going to Disaster Preparedness Camp? Yes, Disaster Preparedness Camp.

While we have programs in the United States with the Boy and Girl Scouts for specific badges, take look at this program:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ccm8iNFp_A

We could probably agree that training is only good if the participants are able to leverage the skills in real world situations.

With the current economic situation in the United States, NGOs have become more dependent on volunteers and the skills gained through these training programs.

There are programs such as Model United Nations (UN), but it does not appear we have anything to this level, which focus around our youth:

Red Cross Youth Activated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43psWTl53D0&feature=related

Other countries often look to the United States for best practices, but these are two programs that could have a major impact here.

Additional information can be found at:
http://www.rcyofuplb.org/index.php/Home.html

Volunteers and Legislation - International Guidance

At the World Conference on Disaster Management, there were several questions raised in my session about how to incorporate spontaneous and non-affiliated volunteers.

The following materials from the International Federation on Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies provides some good starting material.

http://www.ifrc.org/voluntee/publications.asp


Report: Taking volunteers seriously

The volunteering progress report, Taking volunteers seriously is now available. The report is important tool to address future need on volunteering development as well as reporting on the implementation of the Internatonal Federation's Volunteering Policy to date. The report covers the period 1999—2007.

Volunteerism and legislation: A guidance note

Published jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the International Federation, and United Nations Volunteers (UNV), this guidance note on volunteerism and legislation is for use by parliamentarians around the world. The note was prepared following extensive consultations with parliamentarians from all regions, volunteer-involving organizations and Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies.