U.N. urges Asia to spend more on disaster preparedness

Governments in Asia's most catastrophe-prone areas should set aside one-tenth of their development funds to limit the risk of disaster, especially given the impact of climate change, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

The world spent $12 billion on humanitarian responses to disasters last year, and 99 percent of those killed by natural phenomena were in the Asia Pacific region, said John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, during a visit to Jakarta.

"A 10 percent figure of what you are spending on response or even on development should go into disaster risk reduction because that is a good investment," he said.

Holmes toured West Sumatra on Wednesday, visiting areas where a magnitude 7.6 quake in late September triggered landslides, killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed more than 130,000 homes.

Before visiting Indonesia, Holmes had stopped in Manila, which was been badly hit by tropical storms recently.

Holmes said that the Indonesian and international response to the earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra, was one of the more successful he had seen, but that building codes needed to be enforced to minimise the impact of the next natural disaster.

"All development measures should have disaster risk reduction measures built into them," he said, adding that disaster risk reduction should also be built into discussions on a world climate pact that will take place in Copenhagen in December.

"That also has to be part of the wider Copenhagen discussions and negotiations in December in order to ensure that not only do we focus on reducing emissions to tackle climate change at its source but also to make sure we are focusing on the adaptation side," he said.

"In other words, helping developing countries cope with the effects of climate change which are with us right now and disaster risk reduction is very much a part of that."

Indonesia, which sits on one of the world's most active seismic fault lines, has several active volcanoes and is prone to earthquakes and heavy flooding.

In December 2004, a magnitude 9.15 quake off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, with around 170,000 killed in Indonesia's Aceh alone.

A recent tsunami in Samoa also caused widespread destruction. (Editing by Sara Webb)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20091015/760/twl-u-n-urges-asia-to-spend-more-on-disa.html

Sunanda Creagh

Top 3 Insights on Managing Emergencies on the Headlines

As you know, with the current spate of disasters in the headlines, slow response and not being prepared have been the top 2 most criticism being brought up. See headlines below:

· Kurnool administration ignored flood warnings, causing 5 million affected by ‘worst floods in 100 years’ in south India; 250 killed >>more
· Philippine government being accused of not preparing the nation properly for Ketsana, leaving 293 people dead, 3 million people affected and millions of dollars in business disruption >>more
· Air France crash killing 200 people could have been avoided, if there’s access to more recent weather maps >>more
· Anger mounts at slow response to Java earthquake >>more
· Singapore Mosque, without sprinkler systems, gutted by fire, costing more than 1 million dollars in ruins >>more

I would like to highlight 3 insights from the EMPRR Global Agenda to address the above challenge.

Insight #1: Even with our desire to respond quickly, it seems that if we are not ready for all disasters, we are not prepared for any.

The floods in the Philippines and India recently highlight the fact that our defence to natural disasters just has to be better and well prepared for. With harsher climates and more frequent natural disasters, the scale of impact has become wider and more severe. Our investments in preparedness have to relatively increase, as well as our skill and capacity to respond.

Insight #2: Unexpected severe disasters will affect not only the public, but also businesses, despite compliance with safety and disaster management standards. We need to test and monitor our organisation’s preparedness or readiness to face and manage crisis/disaster during the moment of truth (MOT).

One of the causes of many organisational and corporate failures is that an operation has failed and business is discontinued or interrupted because of a disaster or crisis. We have simulated scenarios and we score well in them, but only when you test your BCP/BCM initiatives to be functional and operational will ensure your organisation’s readiness to face and manage crisis/disaster.

Insight #3: Proper response needs accurate real-time information.

President Yudyhono criticises the local authorities that response to the recent earthquake in Padang was slow and ineffective, as the supplies are either not sufficient or not relevant. Proper and quick response would have been done if real-time communication had been effective.

I would like to share with you the content-rich EMPRR Global Summit, which will concentrate on a holistic approach to emergency management and compiles solutions to address the challenge quickly responding, testing your BCP and EM plan and providing a suite of solutions for accurate real-time information—a great business case to attend EMPRR Global Summit, including how you can:


· Restore order and business (product/service) continuity, especially of critical services, protect organizational assets (properties) from further damage; not compromise vital or confidential resources (such as records, customer/data information)
· Protect and ensure the safety of people (employees, customers, the public at large)
· Minimise and mitigate the negative impact of the crisis
· Contain and ensure that the crisis will discontinue and not escalate or spread further

In Singapore alone, workplace safety is under scrutiny, attributing half of 200 workplace fatalities to failure in following safety plans endorsed by bosses and hast cost companies close to SGD 4 million dollars. In fact, construction, manufacturing, logistics and transportation, marine, water supply, sewerage and waste management and architectural and engineering industries figure prominently in these fines.

EMPRR 2009 Global Summit, supported by IAEM Asia Pacific and Business Continuity Institute, recognizes that your role in emergency preparedness, facilities management and business continuity management is more demanding than ever. With the economic landscape yet to withstand the downturn, your role as a professional is more critical to safeguard your infrastructure from internal and external threats, be prepared in all matters of contingencies and more so, help the company generate revenue and deliver your products and services.
The program has been designed with your challenges and purpose in mind, that is why we are bringing the top experts in the field to share with you best practices and a crowd that’s involved in emergency preparedness, facilities management and business continuity management to provide you with a holistic interaction. The EMPRR Global Summit features experts in risk management, crisis management and disaster recovery and are also top-notch and award-winning in their craft, including:
· Chosen to run the 2005 benchmarking of the UK financial sector and wrote the original 1200 questions used in that survey as the Tim Armit, who will be chairing the conference, wrote the original plans for the London Stock Exchange, Bank of England and British Airways as well as the BBC and the chapter on testing for the Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity and has been testing and using plans since 1989. Tim has led BCM tests in all business sectors from short sharp surprise tests to three day all company events. He will be sharing many "war stories" or case studies of what really happens to companies and how plans are either not used, not understood or not appropriate when a real incident occurs.

· Awarded as SPE’s Distinguished Lecturer, Peter Cockcroft who has dealt with crises in many parts of the world—evacuations of personnel in 3 different countries, has negotiated with both terrorists and criminals and has survived coups in four countries and is currently the Chairman of Blue Energy. He will be discussing how you can effectively address geopolitical risks and negotiation strategies for your business.


· The top of guy for the world’s safest airport in its category, awarded by ACI, Zeev Sarig, MD of Ben-Gurion Intl Airport, who has led the airport to become one of the safest airports in the world, awarded first prize by ACI and has been responsible for continuous revenue generation in the airport while ensuring safety, security and credibility.

By investing in EMPRR 2009 Global Summit, you will receive the following benefits:
· You will UPDATE your crisis management, organisational response and business continuity manual from multi-hazard, multi-sector and full cycle approaches, allowing you to restore order and business continuity, protect organisational assets from further damage and protect and ensure safety of people· You will IMPROVE your response time, organisational notification system, disclosure and information channels, whilst not compromising vital or confidential resources and maintain reputation and credibility internally and externally· You will BUILD rapport with various partners and service providers and focus your efforts on resources and infrastructure you need to contain and ensure that the crisis will discontinue and not escalate or spread further and bring back your business to normalcy
Plus! Attending the pre-conference workshop C will benefit your team by letting you gain insights into:
· Who is commanding?· Establishing a rescue area· Establishing a rescue team and representations of the response, rescue and medical support· Preparing alternatives· Means of communication · Technologies for command and control· Information to the public· Procedures, exercise and quality control
I have a good feeling that you will benefit from this training course that have kept Ben-Gurion as one of the safest airports in the world, awarded by ACI first prize in the category of airports. I am pleased for you to also meet responders, emergency managers, policy makers and solution providers, including:


Department of Transportation and Communications • New South Wales Fire Brigades • Ben-Gurion International Airport • Communicable Disease Control • PTIT Focus • Blue Energy • ConocoPhillips • Ministry of Home Affairs • International Association of Emergency Managers • National Science & Technology Center for Disaster Recovery • GVK Emergency Management Research Institute • Philippine Coast Guard • Risk First Consultancy • Business Continuity Institute • BCP Asia • IAEM CEM Commission • Nepal Center for Disaster Management • ASEAN Secretariat • Canadian Red Cross • Kyoto University • Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority • APEC Secretariat • Asian Disaster Preparedness Center • Aviation Security Company Limited Hong Kong • Murphy Oil • Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation • French Regional Police Attache, Embassy of France Singapore • Singapore Contractors Association Limited • Dupont • Independent Power Producers Forum • Kyoto University • White & Case • Airports Council International • Forbes Calamity Prevention • United Nations World Food Program • Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore • Singapore Changi Airport • Utilis S.A.S. • Crisis Asia • Maritime Transport Authority, Singapore • OSH Inspectorate, Occupational Safety and Health Division, Ministry of Manpower • and a lot more.

Jakarta hotel bombs kill 9, dent investor confidence

By Telly Nathalia and Olivia Rondonuwu

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Bomb blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in attacks that could dent investor confidence in Indonesia.

A car bomb also blew up along a toll road in North Jakarta, police said without giving further details. Indonesia's Metro TV said two people had been killed. An unexploded bomb was also later found at the Marriott, police said.

The apparently coordinated bombings are the first in several years and follow a period in which the government had made progress in tackling security threats from militant Islamic groups, bringing a sense of political stability to Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Suspicion is likely to fall on remnants of the Jemaah Islamiah militant group, blamed for previous attacks including a car bombing outside the Marriott in 2003 as well as bombings on the island of Bali the previous year that killed 202 people.

"I think the attacks are devastating for the image of security that Indonesia has built up painstakingly over the past four years," said Kevin O'Rourke, a political risk analyst in Jakarta.

"The attack is particularly severe for investor confidence because it took place despite strenuous counter-terrorist efforts by the government and has affected the hotels that are seen to be among the most secure in Jakarta and also either killed or wounded numerous prominent expatriate businesspeople."

Tim Mackay, president director of cement maker PT Holcim Indonesia, was among those killed in the hotel attacks, the company said. Police said nine people had been killed including foreigners. More than 42 people were wounded.

INDONESIAN MARKETS DIP

Indonesian financial markets fell after the blasts, with the rupiah down 0.7 percent at 10,200 per dollar, prompting state banks to sell dollars to support the currency, traders said. Indonesian stocks were down some 2 percent.

A spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called the blasts a "terrorist" act. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also condemned the attacks.

The Manchester United soccer team said it had canceled the Jakarta leg of an Asian tour. A Ritz-Carlton employee said the team had been due to stay at the hotel ahead of a game in Indonesia early next week.

Witnesses said the bombings at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton were minutes apart and it appeared both had occurred inside the hotels, judging from the way windows were blown out.

That will raise inevitable questions about how tight security at the luxury hotels could be penetrated.

At the Ritz-Carlton, torn curtains flapped around broken windows and glass lay around the hotel. There was blood on the street across from the Marriott. The hotels are near each other in a business area home to many offices, embassies and bars.

Scores of foreigners and Indonesian hotel guests milled behind police lines in the hours after the blasts, some still wearing bathrobes.

"It was very loud, it was like thunder, it was rather continuous, and then followed by the second explosion," said Vidi Tanza, who works near the hotel, describing the blasts.

PROGRESS SINCE SUHARTO FELL

The bombings will also be a blow for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, re-elected last week in a crushing election victory that reflected the former general's steady leadership and firm stance on security.

Both parliamentary elections in April and the presidential poll this month passed peacefully, underscoring the progress made by the world's most populous Muslim nation since the chaos and violence that surrounded the downfall of ex-autocrat Suharto in the late 1990s.

"I would say it damages foreign investor confidence since the attacks appear aimed at Westerners, but not shatter it, so long as there is no further violence for some time," said Sean Callow, currency strategist at Westpac Bank in Sydney.

Lydia Ruddy, a witness who lives in the area, said she heard an explosion and saw smoke coming from the Marriott, followed five minutes later by another explosion at the Ritz-Carlton.

Jemaah Islamiah, which wants to create an Islamic state across parts of Southeast Asia, was blamed for a string of attacks between 2002-2005 in Indonesia. Many militants have since been arrested. But an Australian security report on Thursday said Jemaah Islamiah could be poised to strike again.

Leadership tensions in the group and recent prison releases of its members raised the possibility that splinter groups might now seek to re-energize the movement through violent attacks, said the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The report said Jemaah Islamiah was now a splintered group which may not be capable of replicating mass casualty attacks, but warned there was evidence that JI members released from prison "are gravitating toward hardline groups who continue to advocate al Qaeda-style attacks against Western targets." "These hardline groups continue to believe that the use of violence against the "enemies of Islam" is justified under any circumstances," said the report.

(Additional reporting by Michael Perry in Sydney, Harry Suhartono in Singapore, Writing by Dean Yates and Sara Webb, Editing by Jerry Norton)

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56G0EX20090717?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=11569

EMERGENCY MITIGATION, PREPAREDNESS,RESPONSE & RECOVERY 2009

Onward to a region of disaster-resilient nations and safer communities through early warning systems andnew technologies, strong global public-privatepartnerships and regional capacity-building

Grand Copthorne Waterfront Level 2, Singapore, 7-8 October 2009

Dear colleague,

“The need for business continuity and disaster recovery has come to the fore in the light of a possible H1N1 outbreak that could impale firms. However, most businesses have yet to fully understand what is involved, thinking that business continuity and disaster recovery is just an IT exercise.”- The Straits Times, 10 June 2009

The recent Air France crash in Brazil killing 228 people on board, the outbreak of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 bringing 100 casualties in less than a month, the Victorian bushfire killing 200 adults and children one fine day in February this year and hundreds of thousands of casualties and survivors from last year’s Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar resulted from disasters that prompted emergency managers and disaster experts to converge in an impactful 2-day Asia-Pacific World conference, Emergency Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery 2009 (EMPRR 2009), on 7-8 October 2009 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Singapore organised by the AMG Center for Business Strategy and Tactics (CBST).

With the impetus from the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action, the global instrument for promoting disaster preparedness, “governments and firms are now focusing heavily on risk reduction, aside from response,” said Adelina Kamal, Head, ASEAN DMHAD. Pundits say that ideally the CEO or the business decision-maker should lead (business continuity and disaster management) efforts as the potential impact of a disaster especially on the industry, public and profitability is dire. (source: Straits Times)

Ideally the CEO or the business decision-maker should lead (business continuity and disaster management) efforts as the potential impact of a disaster especially on the industry, public and profitability is dire.“When you are in a bottoming economy, you can’t afford to make mistakes. Your processes should be 101% resilient to potential disasters that could harm your business and the community,” said CBST Director Francis Mercado.

The EMPRR 2009 Asia Pacific Convention and Exhibition is attended by industry leaders, decision makers, international players in charge of emergency management, risk management and business continuity from all over Asia Pacific, including ASEAN Head of Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance Division Adelina Kamal, SCDF Commissioner Peter Lim, Undersecretary of Maritime Transport Tom Lantion, NSWFB Commissioner Mark Whybro, IAEM Asia Pacific President Nathaniel Forbes, Le Commissaire Divisionnaire Yves GODIVEAU (Attaché régional de sécurité intérieure à Singapour).

The impetus for this conference is fourfold:

1) Grave disasters can be avoided if early warning technologies were available and implemented

2) A unique kind of alertness and preparation is critical and should be available even without early warning

3) Government readiness for disasters is strengthened with the recognition that emergency response is not just an ad-hoc function but a full time

4) In face of disasters, your neighbours are your best allies – therefore regional cooperation and readiness have to exist readily for effective disaster management

The international convention aims to achieve a region of disaster-resilient nations and safer communities, through early warning systems and new technologies, strong global public-private partnerships and regional capacity-building.

Delegates will also pick up early updates on current regional regulations, national government initiatives and industry partnerships on emergency management and benchmarking.Please contact Paul Adams for information on sponsorships, exhibition, partnerships, speaking slots or delegate registration:· Call +65 6844 2080· Fax +65 6844 2060, or· Email info@arcmediaglobal.com (subject line: EMPRR 2009)· For more info, kindly visit www.arcmediaglobal.com/emprr09

Please include your name, job title, company name, direct telephone and email address in your fax or email, and we will call you back.

Special super early bird discounts of up to 30% apply to sponsorship agreements and delegate registrations finalised before 30 June 2009.We look forward to welcoming you in October in Singapore!

Sincerely,
Paul Adams
Marketing Manager
EMPRR 2009 Desk
AMG CBST