CFE-DM NEWS Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Monthly Newsletter
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APRIL 2021 VOL. 12 CFE-DM NEWS Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Monthly Newsletter WWW.CFE-DMHA.ORG 456 Hornet Avenue, Building 76, Ford Island JBPHH, HI 96860-3503 @cfedmha Around the Center Download the 2021 Sri Lanka Disaster Management Reference Handbook: https://www.cfe-dmha. A discussion of civil defense concepts and applications on day two of the three-day virtual knowledge org/DMHA-Resources/Disaster- exchange between (clockwise from top left) National Fire Agency Special Search and Rescue Northern Management-Reference-Handbooks Branch Chief, Reui-Hsi Lu; National Fire Agency Deputy Director Huan-Chang Hsiao; NFA disaster response cadres; and Alistair Harris, CEO of ARK Group, March 23. This handbook sets out some of the historic, social, economic, and climatic CFE-DM Co-hosts US-Taiwan HADR Subject Matter Expert Exchange context for Sri Lanka’s present and future ability to weather natural hazards, climate change, and man- In partnership with Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction made disasters. The country confronts (NCDR), CFE-DM led a virtual knowledge exchange between U.S. and Taiwan Humanitarian the risk of floods, landslides, tsunamis, Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) stakeholders March 23-25. droughts, and cyclones. The virtual exchange drew over 100 participants from Taiwan’s civil and military agencies and The Sri Lankan public also confronts non-governmental organizations, U.S. armed forces from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, 3rd the threat of endemic diseases on top Marine Logistics Group, and medical teams from the Army’s Security Force Assistance Brigade. of the challenge of pandemics such as COVID-19. Experts and HADR practitioners from Taiwan, the U.K., and the U.S., (including CFE-DM’s To mitigate risks, Sri Lanka’s health, Jesse Wolfe and Alice Tsai), presented on international disaster and crisis response coordination education, information technology, mechanisms, Taiwan’s search and rescue and NGO capacities, and best practices for establishing energy, and security stakeholders civil defense organizations. have built early warning systems, incorporated disaster response into The virtual exchange opened with remarks by CFE-DM Director, Joseph Martin, and Taiwan school curricula, institutionalized National Fire Agency (NFA) Deputy Director, Huan-Chang Hsaio. The three-day event precedes disease reporting processes, and a month of U.S.-Taiwan HADR joint training spearheaded by the NFA and the American Institute strengthened global partnerships. in Taiwan, and including forces from the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade and the III Marine CFE-DM collaborated with USAID, Expeditionary Force. The goal of these efforts is to increase humanitarian assistance and disaster IFRC, and the Sri Lanka Red Cross response interoperability between the U.S. and Taiwan in the event of a large-scale crisis on the Society to develop this resource. island. View all of our publications: In the coming months, CFE-DM’s Taiwan engagement will continue within the framework of https://www.cfe-dmha.org/Publications the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) (https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/ news/4146695), a multi-lateral platform for Taiwan to share its expertise across a range of subjects including HADR. CFE-DM looks forward to continued partnership with NCDR in these efforts. WWW.CFE-DMHA.ORG @cfedmha CFE-DM Delivers Logistics in HADR Response Training to Malaysia CFE-DM provided a workshop on “Logistics in HADR Response” to disaster management professionals in Malaysia on March 23. The three-hour virtual workshop was attended by 55 participants representing Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), and many of their interagency partners. This inaugural event was the first in a series of virtual workshops addressing different topics in support of NADMA as they draft a national HADR response plan. Greg St. Pierre, a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management Advisor at CFE-DM, presented the keynote presentation which highlighted the critical role that logistics play in response to natural and manmade disasters. The devastating September 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami were critically analyzed to provide advanced learning for the participants. Datuk Dr. Aminuddin Bin Hassim, Director General, National Disaster Management Agency Prime Minister’s Department of The training audience included several participants who participated in the Malaysia, speaks during the workshop, March 23. international response to this disaster. CFE-DM Director Mr. Joseph Martin, during his opening remarks, mentioned the focus of this workshop, along with all of the Center’s activities, results in the strengthening of civil-military partnerships and improvement of coordinated disaster response. Director General of NADMA Datuk Dr. Aminuddin Bin Hassim, reiterated the importance of the workshop. “Everyone must be on the same page and every action taken must be coordinated. The consistency of our actions can only be achieved through continuous training, discussion, and information sharing.” Representatives from the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster managment (AHA Centre), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Japanese Ministry of Defense (JMOD), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), and World Food Program (WFP) also participated. CFE-DM Shares Complex Emergencies Brief at NATO Workshop CFE-DM provided a presentation on complex emergencies at a NATO training workshop on Gender and Protection of Civilians on March 23. The day-long event engaged a wide range of NATO personnel, many with dedicated tasks related to gender and the protection of civilians. Participating CFE-DM Adviser Ralph Mamiya noted in his remarks that NATO has been a leader in consolidating lessons on the protection of civilians. The lessons are codified in a 2016 policy on the protection of civilians and a NATO handbook produced in 2021. Mr. Mamiya emphasized that although many of these lessons had been collected in the context of counterinsurgency operations, they will continue to remain relevant in an era of great power competition. The combined virtual/in-person event hosted by Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples included representatives from NATO personnel from Allied Command Transformation (Norfolk), JFC Naples, KFOR (Kosovo), NMI (Iraq), and the NATO Center of Excellence for Crisis Response and Disaster Management (Bulgaria). DAP Students Receive Tailor-Made US Military Response to Foreign Disasters Lecture When the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Manila received an urgent request from the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) for a lecture on how the U.S. military responds to foreign disasters, they knew just who to call - CFE-DM! As part of their Professional Military Education program, field grade officer students of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Command and General Staff College Cohort 16 (CGSC Cohort 16) attended a workshop on Development and Disaster Response. The workshop was facilitated by the Development Academy of the Philippines. Continued, on page 3 WWW.CFE-DMHA.ORG 456 Hornet Avenue, Building 76, Ford Island JBPHH, HI 96860-3503 @cfedmha WWW.CFE-DMHA.ORG @cfedmha Due to the enormous number of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response operations that the AFP and U.S. DoD have performed together, the organizers of the workshop realized that the understanding of U.S. policies and procedures for DoD Foreign Disaster Response (FDR) would be critical for the officer students’ professional development. Greg St. Pierre, a DMHA advisor at CFE-DM, produced and delivered a tailor-made course of instruction for CGSC Cohort 16. He previously served on the Embassy Staff as a member of the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG) and as the Senior Mentor to the Director of the AFP’s Multinational Coordination Center (MNCC) during the international response to Super Typhoon Haiyan. He is well versed in the response procedures and capabilities of the AFP. Dr. Lizan E. Perante-Calinta, Dean of the Development Academy of the Mr. Emmanuel Bautista, the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Philippines and host of the workshop, said “The students of Cohort 16 the Philippines and Under Secretary at the Office of the President, speaks benefited immensely from the experience and expertise that Mr. St. Pierre during the workshop on March 8. brought to the workshop.” The CGSC Cohort 16 officer students engaged in a robust discussion of DoD policies and procedures, comparing and contrasting them to the policies and procedures of the AFP. Other presenters during the workshop included Mr. Orlando “Orly” Mercado, a former Secretary of National Defense and two-term Senator, as well as Mr. Emmanuel Bautista, the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Under Secretary at the Office of the President. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Foreign Liaison Officers Discuss Upcoming Events, Intiatives With CFE-DM Director U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Foreign Liaison Officers visited CFE-DM to discuss upcoming events and initiatives on March 22. Representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines participated in a meet-and-greet and 101 briefing with CFE-DM Director Mr. Joseph Martin and CFE-DM Branch Chiefs. Throughout the presentation and roundtable,