USAID RDM/A Regional Environment Office Weekly Report Week Ending November 16, 2007

Disaster Managers in Indonesia Strengthen Emergency Response Planning. Over the past two years, the Indonesian government has increasingly adopted the Incident Command System (ICS), a system for managing the flow of information and resources across multiple agencies involved in disaster response. Indonesia’s National Coordination Board for Disaster Management (BAKORNAS) has expanded its efforts to implement ICS by assigning Incident Commanders in its provincial and district units and including ICS in the new Disaster Management Law. The Ministry of Forestry, the Indonesian Red Cross Society, and the Department of Justice have also committed to building capacity for ICS. The Department of Justice established a train-the-trainer program covering all major island groups, beginning with Sumatra. In support of these efforts, the U.S. Forest Service, under the USAID-funded U.S. Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System Program, provided training from October 31 to November 9, 2007, to strengthen the planning processes for emergency response. Officials from the police, military, and the disaster management, health, social welfare, and forestry sectors participated. The course included tools for managing resources, staff, and information in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

King Prajadhipok’s Institute and USAID’s Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Program Team Up to Provide Leadership Training for Local Community Leaders in Thailand. The Office of Peace and Governance at King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) in Thailand is an academic institution committed to promoting democracy for sustainable peace. In keeping with KPI’s conviction that peace-building is the path to solving problems, a two-day workshop on “Leadership, Conflict and Conflict Resolution training for Tambon Administration and Village Leaders” was conducted on October 31- November 1, 2007, in Ranong, Thailand. Over 35 religious and village leaders, educational administrators and members of the Tambon Authority Office participated in the workshop to learn more about leadership and conflict management techniques and the application of those techniques in enhancing a community’s ability to effectively manage civic functions. The opportunity to support the KPI training program is consistent with one of the Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Program’s focal elements: To assist in the building of the capacity of local government to self-manage by fostering regional education and the sharing of lessons learned.