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Church World Service (CWS) is one of the oldest and largest ecumenical organizations in the Asia/Pacific region.
Dedicated to providing humanitarian and development assistance to the world’s most disadvantaged, it has close to 1,000 organizational partnerships that go back decades.
In the region, CWS-Asia/Pacific works in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Our regional office is in Bangkok, Thailand.
Further afield, CWS also has offices in Africa, South America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
In collaboration with a range of key global, regional and local partners, CWS-Asia/Pacific provides support to some of the most vulnerable communities, both in emergency situations and for longer-term development, to enhance their ability to safeguard themselves from a range of threats and help them prepare for future challenges, be them natural disasters or man-made.
CWS-Asia/Pacific is a member of ACT Alliance, an alliance of 125 churches and related organisations that work together in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development.
It is a member of People in Aid, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to improving organizational effectiveness within the humanitarian and development sector.
CWS-Asia/Pacific is also a member of The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), and an associate member of The Asian Disaster Reduction & Response Network (ADRRN).
CWS-Asia/Pacific's activities include strengthening government capacity in the fields of disaster management, disaster risk reduction, and health. Opportunities are provided to government officials to benefit from training, exposure visits, and to ensure that disaster risk reduction remains high on the government’s agenda. CWS-Asia/Pacific has been part of action survey called Views from the Frontline (VFL) since 2009 in Afghanistan. Currently, it is undertaking VFL 2013 in Myanmar as well. VFL is a participatory action-research project undertaken by civil society actors in conjunction with government bodies and local communities. It aims at measuring progress towards the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) at the local level across developing countries and regions.
Additionally, as a result of the partnership with Seeds Asia, the mobile knowledge resource center (MKRC) and the water knowledge resource center (WKRC) were established to allow vulnerable communities gain access to disaster risk reduction knowledge. These activities have been carried out in Myanmar and Pakistan. In Cambodia, CWS works to ensure that the target communities understand and have the capacity to minimize the effects of climate change disaster risks. In Afghanistan, CWS works with the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) and is the strategic partner for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
CWS-Asia/Pacific is a member of the ACT Alliance, People in Aid, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), and Global Network of CSO for Disaster Reduction (GNDR). It is also an associate member of the Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN). CWS in Pakistan and Afghanistan is the Sphere focal in Asia and is a certified member of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP).
Takeshi Komino (Mr.), Head of Emergencies CWS-Asia/Pacific ([email protected]) , Allan Calma (Mr.), Deputy Director Disaster Management Program Church World Service - Pakistan/Afghanistan ([email protected])
http://www.cwsasiapacific.org/
http://www.cwspa.org/
- Trainings for government officials and relevant departments and stakeholders on disaster risk reduction.
- Strengthening relationships and knowledge with relevant departments to make and keep disaster risk reduction on the agenda.
- Strategic National Action Plan (SNAP) launched in Kabul, Afghanistan. This includes improved and increased disaster risk reduction efforts throughout Afghanistan.
- Hazard mapping and town-watching exercises taught to school.
- The provision of radios for disaster awareness.
- The identification of safe places.
- Construction of safe housing and safety construction tips.
- Awareness raising in schools and with communities on disaster risk reduction.
- Disaster risk reduction education through learning life-saving techniques.
- Training of Trainers to disseminate knowledge to communities.
- Importance of mangrove tree plantation and plantation along the coastal belt.
- Regular repairs and maintenance of canals.
- Simulation models designed on housing and village in accordance with local culture and structure.
- Mud plaster for strengthening houses, roof-tie repairs, sand bags, and boat-making.
- Disaster risk reduction communities established.
- Steps taken at school, village, and community levels to reduce risks and to better respond to disasters.
- Communities have prepared sand bags, life-saving bottles, and boats.
- Steps taken to repair housing roofs, raising plinth levels, etc.
- Safety documents folder provided.
CWS-Asia/Pacific constantly takes part in ISDR partnership meetings in Asia and the Pacific as well as to support local NGOs in the region to raise their voices at Asian Ministerial Conferences on DRR.
CWS-Asia/Pacific together with Seeds Asia helped Myanmar Government officials to look into DRR infrastructure and systems in Japan in 2011 and 2012. It also helped to disseminate safe school and hospital campaign information in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the last campaign by UNISDR.
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.