Information Bulletin

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.
g.santillan@unesco.org
b.aliaga@unesco.org
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.
ph.engell-petersen@unesco.org
oscaraato@gmail.com
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.
gdelcastillov@gmail.com
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: g.santillan@unesco.org
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: g.santillan@unesco.org
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: g.santillan@unesco.org
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:
ph.engell-petersen@unesco.org
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:
g.santillan@unesco.org
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:
gdelcastillov@gmail.com
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