Regional Drought Preparedness Network for Asia and the

Regional Drought Preparedness Network for Asia and the Pacific By Pak Sum LOW Regional Adviser Environment and Sustainable Development United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) E-mail: low@un. org A Presentation at the Second International Conference on Early Warning, 16 -18 October 2003, Bonn, Germany

Drought events • … are very widespread in Asia and the Pacific - from Afghanistan (persistent drought in the past four years) to the Pacific small island states (droughtinduced by ENSO)

Drought in Central Java, August 2002 Drought in India, May 2003

Drought in Gujarat, India, June 2003 • •

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Above-average precipitation has been observed over the tropical Pacific, especially in the vicinity of the date line (180 o. W) since August 2002, while drier -than-average conditions prevailed over many sections of Indonesia, India, Mexico and Central America. These oceanic and atmospheric conditions indicate the presence of El Niño. •

The frequency, persistence and magnitude of El-Niño events have increased in the last 20 years, and this trend is projected to continue. El Niño years La Niña years The El-Niño phenomena leads to floods and droughts throughout the tropics and subtropics, though with different spatial patterns

Drought Preparedness Policy • Very few developing countries have formulated drought preparedness policy

Global Drought Preparedness Network (GDPN) • Prof. Don Wilhite’s vision • This GDPN is composed of Regional Drought Preparedness Networks (RDPNs). • This initiative has been endorsed by the UNISDR Ad Hoc Drought Discussion Group in March 2003.

Global Drought Preparedness Network (GDPN) GOAL: • To help nations build greater institutional and technical capacity to cope with drought by promoting risk management and sharing information and lessons learned on drought monitoring, mitigation, preparedness and management. Building national, regional and global partnerships

Global Drought Preparedness Network (GDPN) Individually, many nations will be unable to improve drought coping capacity. Collectively, through national, regional and global partnerships, we can share information and experiences to reduce the impacts of drought.

Regional Drought Preparedness Networks Med S&E Asia CAsia Pacific SSA GDPN NAm (NDMC) Europe SAm NAm CAm

Regional Network Objectives • To facilitate development of drought early warning systems, preparedness plans, and policies aimed at vulnerability reduction • Must be region-specific

Information Sharing • • • • Drought policies Data availability Planning methodologies Stakeholder involvement Traditional or indigenous practices Automated weather data networks Use of climate/drought indices EWS and information delivery Triggers or thresholds Mitigation/emergency response actions Water demand reduction/augmentation Impact assessment methodologies Scientific collaboration

Regional Drought Preparedness Network for Asia and the Pacific • In response to the global drought preparedness network initiative, UNESCAP in partnership with UNISDR, UNDP, UNCCD Secretariat, International Drought Information Center and Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), are developing a project proposal on Regional Drought Preparedness Network for Asia and the Pacific, to be funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Regional Drought Preparedness Network for Asia and the Pacific • Basically, it is an umbrella of three GEF medium-size projects for three subregions: –Central Asia, –South and East Asia, and –the Pacific.

Phase I: Participating Countries • • • Endorsement letters received: Afghanistan Cambodia Lao PDR Myanmar Papua New Guinea Vietnam China? India? Endorsement letters expected: • Indonesia, • Pakistan, • Thailand

Subregional Drought Preparedness Networks Central Asia • • • Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan The Pacific • Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Republic of Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Planned Activities 1. Project planning workshop (to be held in early January 2004) a) to discuss and develop work plan, b) to identify key local, national and regional institutions with responsibilities in various aspects of drought management (i. e. , planning, monitoring, forecasting, mitigation, response); 2. Provide information on drought monitoring, mitigation, and preparedness techniques and methodologies and linkages to the participating institutions;

Planned Activities 3. Develop and maintain a regional drought preparedness network website to link various organizations and agencies. As other networks develop in other regions, these regional networks would be linked into a global network 4. Develop and maintain national droughtrelated web sites that link the principal national and regional institutions; and to link into the regional network

Planned Activities 5. Scientific and technical exchanges with other groups to promote drought preparedness activities in the region 6. Public awareness and education on drought and its impacts, and on drought preparedness and management

Planned Activities 7. Capacity-building on drought preparedness and management through regional and subregional training workshops, with a view to assisting the governments in developing or strengthening their drought policies and strategies so that they can be integrated into the national sustainable development plan.

Linkage to UNCCD Thematic Programme Networks (TPNs) • TPN 1: Desertification Monitoring and Assessment; • TPN 2: Agroforestry and Soil Conservation in Arid, Semi-Arid and Dry Sub-humid Areas; • TPN 3: Rangeland Management and Fixation of Shifting Sand Dunes; • TPN 4: Water Resources Management for Agriculture in Arid, Semi-Arid, and Dry Sub-Humid Areas; • TPN 5: Strengthening Capacities for Drought Impact Management and Desertification Control; and • TPN 6: Assistance for the Implementation of Integrated Land Area Development Programmes (LADPs) Initiatives.

Linkage to UNCCD Subregional Programmes (SRAPs) and RAP • SRAP for West Asia (developed) • SRAP for Central Asia (developed) • SRAPs for South Asia, NE Asia, SE Asia and the Pacific (to be developed) • Regional Action Programme (RAP) (2003 -2008)

Linkage to UNFCCC • Climate change impacts (projected increase in frequency of extreme events, including drought) • Adaptation plans (e. g. NAPA for LDCs)

Acknowledgement • The slides on Global Drought Preparedness Network used in this presentation are modified from Prof. Don Wilhite’s previous presentation on the same topic.

Thank you for your kind attention!