PDC Updates | Apr 23, 2010
Kickoff
The meeting to kickoff PDC's USTDA-funded Flood Modeling and Early Warning Capacity Development Pilot Project in Vietnam: Facing the camera are, left to right, Dr. Ha of the Water Resources University, Hanoi; three PDC staff members, Southeast Asia Program Advisor Nathan Sage, Geospatial Information Specialist John Livengood and Chief Information Officer Chris Chiesa; and Ms. Tuyet Tres of the U.S. Embassy, Hanoi. This meeting was just one of several activities that brought PDC personnel to Vietnam in April.

On Tuesday, April 6, Chief Information Officer Chris Chiesa, Geospatial Information Specialist John Livengood and Southeast Asia Program Advisor Nathan Sage held the kickoff meeting for the Center's Flood Modeling and Early Warning Capacity Development Pilot Project in Hanoi, Vietnam. At the time, Chiesa had just come from representing PDC as an official member of the U.S.–Vietnam Working Group on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation; while Livengood and Sage were in the Vietnamese capital to participate in the instruction phase of the Natural Disaster Risk Management Education and Training Program, developed by PDC.

Ambassador Michalak
U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak.
In fact, for a full week, seven members of PDC's senior staff were in Vietnam at the same time, supporting these three major activities and attending meetings with clients and partners. The Center's entire, worldwide staff is only about 40 people, so that is a very large commitment.

Sage participated along with Chiesa in the U.S.–Vietnam Working Group on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, March 31 to April 1. The U.S. delegation also included representatives of several federal agencies, universities, and the private sector. Vietnamese participants include representatives of central government agencies and institutions, as well as universities. Several nongovernmental organizations participated, too. The significance of the meeting was underscored by the fact that it opened with remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak and the Director of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology Hydrology and Environment, Dr. Tran Thuc. The kickoff meeting for Flood Early Warning project, funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), was attended by the newly appointed Director of the Vietnam National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) Dr. Nguyen Huu Phuc. The substance of the meeting was pre-briefed to Dr. Dao Xuan Hoc, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD); and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak. Participants included representatives from MARD, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Water Resources University (WRU), U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) and the U.S. Embassy.

After the Flood Early Warning kickoff meeting, on April 6–8, Chiesa, Sage and Livengood met with key regional and provincial disaster management organizations in Da Nang and Tam Ky—both in the central part of Vietnam where the flood project will be focused—to discuss implementation plans. In a completely separate project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently built the Quang Nam (Province) Flood Management Operations Center in Tam Ky, and is building a similar Flood Management Operations Center in Da Nang, to be opened in late July. Both Flood Centers are expected to participate in PDC's Flood Early Warning Project.

Meantime, beginning on April 5, instruction began in PDC's Education and Training Program. Under the direction of Team Lead Suzanne Frew and Senior Disaster Management Specialist Dr. Erin Hughey, two more PDC staffers—Hazard Mitigation Specialist Sharon Mielbrecht and Humanitarian Assistance Program Advisor Steve Recca—taught the second of four two-week courses of study. Having begun with central government officials, the second group of trainees were representatives of disaster management offices in Vietnam's northern provinces. Classes for central-provincial and southern-provincial groups will be completed on April 30 and May 14, respectively.

Other resources on PDC's website about enhancing disaster management in Vietnam:

Articles about a few disaster management challenges in Vietnam:

For still more articles, maps and other items of interest, search "Vietnam" on the PDC home page.

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