REPORT
IFNet Sessions at the 4th World Water Forum
March 21, 2006
Banamex Centre, Mexico City, Mexico
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On March 21, when the day is devoted for the framework theme "Risk
Management", IFNet held two joint sessions; "FT5.06: Sharing
Experiences about Local Actions taken for Water and Typhoon related Disaster
Reduction" with the WMO/UNESCAP typhoon committee (TC), and co-convened
the session "FT5.07: People-centered Early Warning System for Water-Related
Disasters" with the UN/ISDR .
In the session with TC, IFNet and TC reported about their activities respectively and their 6 local actions from Europe and Asia Pacific region were presented. The session confirmed that adopting strategic framework for international cooperation is of importance to enhance complementarity among partners towards reducing human losses.
IFNet secretariat explained an activity report and about GFAS project, and 2 IFNet members presented their local actions in the session with UN/ISDR. The session expounded for enhancing people-centered early warning systems for better local actions and concluded with recommendations.
During the forum period, IFNet implemented public relations stationed at the IDI booth, in order to promote its activities and Global Flood Alert System (GFAS).
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FT.5 06 Program
Sharing Experiences about Local Actions taken for
Water and Typhoon related Disaster Reduction
 
| Activity |
Presentator |
Institution/Country |
Title |
| Chairfs address, TC |
Mr. Ti Le Huu |
UNESCAP/ TC
Thailand |
Sharing experiences about local actions taken for water and typhoon related
disaster reduction
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| Chairfs address, IFNet |
Mr. Kees P. van Laarhoven |
Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management/ IFNet
The Netherlands |
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| Report from TC |
Mr. Katsuhito Miyake |
Chair, Working Group on Hydrology, Typhoon Committee
Japan |
WMO/ESCAP Typhoon Committee (TC) and activities of itfs Hydrological Component
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| Report from IFNet |
Mr. Kazuo Umeda |
Secretary General, IFNet secretariat
Japan |
IFNet Activities
since WCDR in Kobe, January 2005 |
| Presentation TC1 |
Dr. Hong Il-pyo |
Korean Institute of Construction Technology
Republic of Korea |
Flood forecasting model and reservoir operations |
| Presentation IFNet |
Mr. Ramesh Vaidya |
Nepals former state economic planning commissioner for water resources
Nepal |
Flood Risk-Management and Water Resources Strategy-Formulation in Nepal |
| Presentation IFNet2 |
Dr. Gabriela Babiakova |
Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute
Slovakia |
Non-structural Measures - Also Significant Factors of Flood Disaster Reduction |
| Presentation IFNet3 |
Dr. Maria Catalina E. Cabral |
OIC-Director, Planning Division service, DPWH,
the Philippines |
Landslide Disaster in South Leyte |
| Presentation TC2 |
Mr. Liu Zhiyu |
Ministry of Water Resources
China |
Actions taken to reduce Typhoon-related Disasters in China |
| Presentation IFNet4 |
Ms. Yolanda Benitez-Gomez |
DENR / Miriam College,
the Philippines |
Making a Difference in Managing Water Related Disaster through Survey and Assessment |
| General Discussion |
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Q&A
Conclusion and Recommendations |
| Closing |
FT.5 06
SESSION SUMMARY
The experiences of local actions presented by TC and IFNet partners pointed out:
Adopting strategic framework for international cooperation is of importance to enhance complementarity among partners and to contribute to such target as the Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005-2015: Building Resilience of Communities and Nations to Disasters.
Effective IWRM strategies could lead to a sound framework on disaster risk management which would be integrated into sustainable socio-economic development process.
Orientation for action is:
1. Partnership and experiences sharing towards halving human losses
It is essential to promote international cooperation among the water-related disaster management partners by building on existing initiatives such as TC and IFNet in order to achieve human losses reduction by floods.
2. Integrated approaches to water-related disaster risk management
Water-related disaster risk management should be conceived as part of the common efforts on IWRM taking into consideration the socio-economic aspects of water-related disaster risks which need to be well appreciated by all key stakeholders, particularly decision makers and financing institutions to enable formulation of proper strategies.
3. Promotion of priority measures for better disaster preparedness
Effective flood early warning and evacuation system suitable for the situation of each country must be established, so that quick evacuation of residents from dangerous areas is rightly performed. In addition, such priority measures as flood risk analysis, flood hazard mapping, trainings and drills for preparedness, would need to be further promoted.
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FT.5 07 Program
People-centered Early Warning System
for Water-Related Disasters
 
FT5.07
CONCLUSIONS
Some recommendations for enhancing early warning systems for better local
actions
- Observation systems need to focus on risk reduction
- Geospatial data to contribute to risk mapping
- Understanding role of climate change in disaster occurrence
- Improved monitoring systems and prediction tools
- Better data collection for enhanced modeling (e.g. bathymetry; coastal topography; human, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilityc)
- Decision system tools for decision-makers
- Evaluation and comparison of communication tools
- Understanding human response behaviour for enhancing preparedness and evacuation plans
- Various options for community preparedness, including livelihood protection
- Warning system performance, indicators, benchmarks
- Understanding the multi-hazards approach, essential for awareness-raising, education and preparedness, while specific hazard approach needed for EW and response
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