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Government Delegates of Nepal and IOM Nepal visit the Philippines Newsletter
March 2015
The week from 24 to 28 February, Nepalese Government Delegates Mr. Shambhu K.C., Director General of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction and Mr. Krishna Prasad Devkota, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, together with IOM Nepal Program Coordinator Jitendra Bohara and Program Assistant Prajwal Sharma, visited the Philippines to learn more about IOM Philippines’ Camp Coordination and Camp Management and Shelter Response. The study visit was planned for the government officials as part of the “Preparedness and Management of Open Spaces for Effective Humanitarian Response in the Kathmandu Valley (P-MOS)” project supported by USAID and OFDA. The project aims to assist the Government of Nepal in disaster preparedness by improving the capacities and efficiency on the management of open spaces identified for humanitarian purposes in case of disaster. The project thus involves developing public awareness and increasing the response capacities of the Nepalese authorities.
From left: IOM Philippines Camp Coordination and Camp Management Program Manager Conrad Navidad, IOM Philippines Communication with Communities Program Manager Lionel Dosdos, IOM Nepal Program Assistant Prajwal Sharma, IOM Philippines Senior Operations Officer Rex Alamban, Director General of the Department of Urban Development and Building of Nepal Mr. Shambu K.C., Mr. Krishna Prasad Devkota Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, IOM Philippines Shelter Program Manager Maria Moita, IOM Nepal Program Coordinator Jitendra Bohara © IOM 2015
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Field visit Guiuan The Nepalese delegates visited Guiuan in Eastern Samar, to witness how the Municipality coped with Typhoon Haiyan’s impact and how IOM and the humanitarian community provided support to the government and affected population. They visited the Cogon transitional site where 135 transitional shelters were built by IOM with funding from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). These transitional shelters are part of the 3,200 transitional shelter units being built in the provinces of Leyte and Eastern Samar which bore the brunt of the typhoon. The Nepalese guests saw how the shelter units featured ‘build-back safer’ construction techniques making the structures more resilient to strong winds, providing protection to the residents. They also took note of how the site plan, WASH and communal facilities were established strictly based on the SPHERE standards.
Tacloban Their courtesy visit to the local Chief Executive of Tacloban, Mayor Alfred Romualdez, provided them with a glimpse of the challenges encountered by the Local Government Unit (LGU) during the early phase of the emergency response. The delegation also visited Ground Zero in Tacloban, the village that was heavily destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan’s storm surge and interacted with the village captain of Anibong. They also went to see the transitional shelters built by IOM in collaboration with international and local NGOs intended for the affected families that were staying in tents located in danger zones, while awaiting transfer to permanent. They concluded the day by listening to the CCCM and Shelter programme presentations of the Tacloban staff.
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Meetings in Manila IOM Manila In Manila, the Nepalese delegates met with Marco Boasso, IOM Philippines Chief of Mission who welcomed them together with Rex Alamban, Senior Operations Officer and the Programme Managers extending his support to the delegation and hoping this visit could give them a significant learning experience. The Nepal delegates had a formal orientation with Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit Programme Managers. Rex Alamban presented the best practices of the Haiyan humanitarian response, followed by Maria Moita who gave a presentation on the shelter programme including questions and answers regarding safer shelter construction techniques and trainings. Romina Sta. Clara, Protection Programme Manager provided essential component of mainstreaming protection while Lionel Dosdos briefed the delegation on the role of communicating with communities in the humanitarian response. Conrad Navidad and Mark Maulit presented the CCCM programme with capacity development as a key feature in providing support to the local government duty bearers and stakeholders.
Department of Social Welfare and Development The meeting at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Capital Region Office at Legarda, Manila was with Ms. Vilma Cabrera, Assistant Secretary for the Protective Programmes and Operations Group. Asec. Cabrera shared her views and experiences especially on the Typhoon Haiyan response. She also affirmed the valuable partnership with IOM and mentioned the past and current collaboration with IOM in the area of emergency response and ongoing CCCM capacity development assistance provided to DSWD counterparts and staff members.
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Office of Civil Defense Deputy Director Romeo Fajardo welcomed the Nepalese delegates and key Civil Defense officials gave a briefing on the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management system. Through the briefing, the delegates learned about the agencies under the system that are responsible for providing durable shelter solutions for displaced families. This was of particular interest to them as they are set to implement a project for managing open spaces pre-positioned for use as evacuation sites in times of emergency. Director General Shambhu K.C. of the Nepalese Department of Urban Development and Building Construction thanked the Office of Civil Defense for the informative briefing and invited them to visit Nepal to learn in turn what they are doing there along the lines of Disaster Preparedness.
At the end of the study visit, Mr. Shambhu K.C. commended IOM Philippines’ achievement and ongoing practices on disaster preparedness and response. “It was a fruitful experience because we learned from IOM Philippines how to manage on the field level the CCCM and Disaster Response. How IOM Philippines managed the disaster responses is great. We hope that we continue to get knowledge from the mission and it will be helpful for our colleagues in Nepal. It will be helpful for them to look at and learn from what your mission has done.”
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