Information Bulletin UNESCO DIPECHO VII Project Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru Bulletín Nº 1 9/2011 WELCOME Is with great pleasure that we present the first information bulletin of the UNESCO DIPECHO 7 project “Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System – preparations in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru” of the 7th Action Plan for South America of the Disaster Preparedness Programme (DIPECHO), of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid (DG – ECHO). We hope to be able to share with you these quarterly information reports on relevant advances made in the South Pacific region. This first edition includes information on: - Member of the project team - Project advances - Forthcoming activities UNESCO THE UNESCO DIPECHO PROJECT TEAM The following section presents the UNESCO DIPECHO 7 South America project team members. We would like to thank the Government of Norway for the support that it has provided through the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) towards the consolidation of this working team. Regional Project Coordinator and Chile National Coordinator Giovana Santillán Regional Project Advisor in Paris UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Giovana hold a degree in sociology and a master’s degree in sustainable development. Since 2004 she has been involved in the coordination of projects based on a perspective of risk management and the rights of the child in emergency situations, with particular emphasis on the right to education. She has been working in the UNESCO Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean since 2009, in the department of Disaster Risk Reduction and Education in Emergency Situations. Bernardo is a marine biologist and programme specialist in the Tsunami Unit of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Paris. He is currently the Technical Secretary for the Caribbean and Pacific of the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, and has more than 10 years of experience working with UNESCO, six years of which he has spent in efforts to strengthen Tsunami Warning Systems in the region. [email protected] [email protected] Bernardo Aliaga Ecuador National Project Coordinator Colombia National Project Coordinator Peru National Project Coordinator Pernille Petersen Oscar Guevara Gabriela Del Castillo Pernille holds a degree in Globalization and Development and a postgraduate qualification in International Studies. She has previously worked in the management of environmental education projects in Ecuador. She has been working in the UNESCO Office in Quito since 2010, overseeing strategies for disaster risk reduction in education, and education for sustainable development, as well as coordinating the UNESCO DIPECHO project on tsunami preparations in Ecuador. Oscar is a civil engineer with master’s degrees in disaster risk management and economics of the environment and natural resources. He has more than 10 years of experience in project management and consultancy, with continuing participation in international cooperation projects, development programmes, and humanitarian actions in communities and individuals affected by humanitarian and environmental crises. [email protected] [email protected] Gabriela holds a degree in sociology and has five years of experience working on development strategies for public and private bodies and nongovernmental organizations. She is experienced in the design, formulation, and execution of disaster risk management projects with a rights-based perspective, and in the creation of disaster emergency operations plans and qualitative and quantitative research tool management. Gabriela has also worked in a wide range of projects in coordination with vulnerable communities in all zones of Peru: coast, Andes mountains, and Amazon rainforest. [email protected] Information Bulletin UNESCO DIPECHO VII Project Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru Bulletín Nº 1 9/2011 UNESCO PROJECT ADVANCES Chilean Ministry of Education promotes training in tsunami risk management in schools along Chile’s coast. Discussion of the first proposal for the Regional Tsunami Communications Protocol for the countries of the South Pacific. The Ministry of Education of Chile is promoting training in tsunami risk management in schools along Chile’s coast. In June of this year, the Regional Tsunami Communications Protocol for the countries of the South Pacific was presented to the members of the National Tsunami Warning Systems of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The protocol is proposed for use in these countries in the event of an immediate tsunami warning, and includes specific actions to be taken by institutions such as oceanographic and hydrological institutes, geophysical institutes, risk management departments, and education ministries. The proposal was discussed and analysed in depth by the national representatives, who in the next phase of implementation shall undertake a more detailed review in their respective countries, before the proposal can be accepted by the governments’ foreign ministries. With the support of the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific and in the framework of the UNESCO DIPECHO project, monitoring and support of this activity shall continue over coming months. For further information, contact: [email protected] These actions began in September, directed towards teachers and specialists in coastal Chilean schools. The first training session was held on 14 September, with the participation of the National Emergency Office of the Chilean Interior Ministry (ONEMI), scientists from the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Education Ministry officials, and UNESCO DIPECHO team members. At this first meeting, more than 50 specialists in the Region of Valparaíso, who teach in schools located in areas at risk of flooding in the event of a tsunami. In order to complement this activity, UNESCO and the Chilean Red Cross have received support from the Swiss government to reprint educational texts on “Tsunami Risk Management in Educational Establishments”, which were prepared by UNESCO in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, SHOA, the Chilean Geological Society, and ONEMI last year, in the framework of the 6th DIPECHO Action Plan. These texts, designed in line with the current national curriculum, will be distributed and used in forthcoming training workshops, to be held in schools along the northern and southern coast of the country. For more information, contact: [email protected] Japanese cooperation and UNESCO join forces to reduce risks in the event of a tsunami in Chile A coordination meeting has been held between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Regional Bureau of Education served to identify shared working areas of the UNESCO DIPECHO project and the JICA research project on Enhancement of technology to develop tsunami-resilient community in Chile, which will be implemented in the country over the next four years. JICA received recommendations, materials prepared by UNESCO, and information relating to the strengthening of the National Tsunami Early Warning System in Chile, identifying possibilities for cooperation in activities of capacity strengthening in the National System and in Tsunami Risk Management Education. The JICA project will begin its activities early next year, integrated by UNESCO into the national dynamic of projects currently underway in tsunami preparedness in Chile, such as the projects backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Chile, and by the Chilean Red Cross. For more information, contact: [email protected] Information Bulletin UNESCO DIPECHO VII Project Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru Bulletín Nº 1 9/2011 UNESCO PROJECT ADVANCES FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES A successful national workshop was held on Standard Operating Procedures in the event of a tsunami in Ecuador, attended by international specialists. Regional course on Tsunami Numerical Modelling to be held in Valparaíso, Chile UNESCO promotes regional campaign on student participation in Disaster Risk Reduction Advisory services provided by UNESCO to the National Pacific Tsunami Early Warning Systems of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru shall include a course on numerical modelling that will permit enhancement of tsunami flooding maps for coastal areas, organized by the Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) in coordination with the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). In coordination with the education ministries of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, together with partners in the DIPECHO 7th Action Plan for South America, UNESCO is joining the “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction!” campaign, spearheaded by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). The country’s National Risk Management Secretariat and the UNESCO Office in Quito, Representation for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, organized a “National Workshop on the Tsunami Early Warning System in Ecuador”, held from 26 to 28 September in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. The event was organized under an agreement signed on 11 March, 2011, between the governments of Ecuador and Chile, in the framework of the UNESCO DIPECHO 7 project. The activity aimed to support the optimization and standardization of operating protocols to be applied in the country in the event of a tsunami. Participants included representatives of authorities and key stakeholders in the Tsunami Early Warning System in Ecuador, as well as other DIPECH partners in the country such as Intermon Oxfam and the UNESCO DIPECHO project working group, the National Risk Management Secretariat, the Oceanographic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy (INOCAR), the Geophysical Institute, the Ministry of Education, and the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS). The head of the Early Warning Centre of the Chilean Interior Ministry’s National Emergency Office (ONEMI) also took part in the workshop, sharing experiences from the tsunami of 27 February, 2010, and the tsunami warning of 11 March of this year with his Ecuadorian counterparts. The UNESCO project will provide support in monitoring collaboration agreements arising between these two countries. For further information, contact: [email protected] The course will be held from 21 to 25 November, 2011, at the SHOA facilities, and will be attended by 20 tsunami early warning specialists from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as other countries in the Latin American region. The course is being organized in view of demand by countries for capacity building in numerical modelling, evinced at the 24th Meeting of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, held in Beijing, China, during May. For further information, contact: [email protected] http://www.eird.org/dia-internacional-2011 This campaign, to be launched on 13 October, is based on the participation of children and young people as partners in disaster risk reduction. In the framework of the UNESCO DIPECHO project, student participation will be promoted in tsunami disaster risk reduction in the countries of the South Pacific, with the aim of culminating in a general meeting of students in 2012. . For further information, contact the project’s national coordinators, using the email addresses listed above. Information Bulletin UNESCO DIPECHO VII Project Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru Bulletín Nº 1 9/2011 UNESCO FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES National workshop for the validation of the national tsunami protocol in Peru to be held in November. The Peruvian National Civil Defence Institute (INDECI), the Hydrography and Navigation Department of the Navy of Peru (DHN), the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), the Education Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme in Peru, and the NGO PREDES are joining forces in organizing a National Workshop on Standard Operating Procedures in the events of a Tsunami in Peru. This activity is programmed for the first week of November, and aims to validate and formalize the structure of the tsunami early warning system national protocol, and to disseminate this proposal at a local/regional level. This activity will be supported and advised by high level technical personnel of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), as well as local authorities from the country’s coastal regions. One of the workshop’s objectives is the optimization of these mechanisms prior to their testing in an international tsunami drill, to be held on 9 November. For further information contact: [email protected] RECOMMENDED PUBLICATIONS IOC report on the Chilean tsunami of 27 February Post event assessment of PTWS performance by Chilean and foreign institutions following the tsunami of 27 February, 2010. (Link & photo) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0019/001921/192194E.pdf Analysis of the State of National Tsunami Warning Systems in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Description of the current situation of National Tsunami Warning Systems in the four countries, taking into account advances made in the areas of oceanography, seismology, risk management, and education (in Spanish). http://www.cpps-int.org/index.php/ oceanografia-operacional/tsunamis/ dircienttsunami-reuniones/374-diagnostico-delossistemas-de-alerta-temprana-ante-tsunami-enelpacifico-sudeste.html