Tag: AHA Centre

Contributing to excellence in emergency response

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We are working with our colleagues in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to share valuable insights and experience, and to learn about how AHA is adapting and developing the expertise of its team.

The centre recently ran a series of virtual sessions which provided the opportunity for graduate members of ASEAN’s Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT) the chance to hone their technical skills and consult with experts. The programme also refreshed members’ memories and enhanced their technical competencies.

MapAction ran a session on response mapping which included guided tutorials and self-paced learning on how to make use of Excel and Google Earth in an emergency. Participants learned how to use the tools and techniques quickly and efficiently in the early stages of a response and how they might also support decision makers in the response teams. These techniques were built on during the other sessions led by AHA staff on data collection and analysis, data visualisation and developing information management dashboards. The sessions were tested during a four hour online simulation exercise.

The online course was composed of eight people from across the ASEAN region including Brunei, Laos, the Philippines and Indonesia who had graduated from previous courses. 

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This work was made possible thanks to the generous support of the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of a programme to improve the use of geospatial analysis and services across the entire humanitarian response sector.

MapAction and the AHA Centre have signed a Memorandum of Intent with each other which formalises our joint efforts to help build mapping and information management capacity among humanitarian actors in the ASEAN region, as well as helping them prepare for disasters by putting in place essential geospatial information and resources. This training forms part of this ongoing activity.

MapAction provides support to Hurricane Eta and Typhoon Goni responses

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MapAction teams are in action again, this time providing support to the humanitarian responses to Hurricane Eta in Central America and Tropical Typhoon Goni in South East Asia.

Hurricane Eta – A coordinated team of MapAction GIS volunteers is working remotely in support of UN OCHA’s Regional Office for Latin America and Caribbean (ROLAC) as they coordinate the humanitarian response across Central America in the wake of Hurricane Eta. Over 1.8 million people have been affected across Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize. 

Honduras: Tropical Storm Eta Municipalities affected (November 7, 2020) – Honduras

The team are already delivering mapping support for the immediate aftermath of the hurricane and are preparing to deliver 3W and flood mapping.  It is anticipated that further support may also be required with this fast developing situation and we are standing by for requests. You can see the maps and other products produced so far here. You can see further MapAction-aided products on the Reliefweb site.  

Hurricane ETA is a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Nicaragua on Tuesday Nov 3rd and moved north through Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and then Belize. Eta is now a Tropical Storm and is due to hit Cuba in the next 24 hours. The Central American region has suffered widespread flooding, storm surges and landslides. Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are under red alerts. Guatemala has also been severely affected. For further situation information see the most recent OCHA needs snapshot and Relief Web update.

MapAction is grateful to the German Federal Foreign Office for supporting our response, as well as to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK FCDO for their continued support of MapAction’s response capacity. 

Tropical Cyclone Goni – This typhoon is affecting people across the Philippines and Vietnam. A member of the team is supporting MapAction partner the AHA Centre (ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management) as it coordinates the response. You can see the maps and other products here. You can see further products on the Reliefweb site. 

As UN assessment teams make their way to some of the hardest hit areas, a clearer picture of Typhoon Goni’s impact (known locally as Rolly), which made landfall in the Philippines on Sunday, is emerging. The UN OCHA office reported that as of 6 November, around 1.2 million people (more than 312,500 families) across seven regions have been directly impacted by the disaster. “As more than 21,000 homes were destroyed, many families will remain in long-term displacement,” it reported.

Emergency response training in Indonesia

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Two MapAction members have just returned from Sentul, Indonesia, where they have been working with our ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) partners to help provide training to new members of the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT).

MapAction volunteer Raquel Martin described it as a “Fantastic experience…  An honour and a pleasure to contribute as a facilitator.”

Our participation was part of our joint programme of work with the AHA Centre (the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management) to build mapping and information management capacity among humanitarian actors in the ASEAN region, as well as helping them to prepare for disasters by putting in place essential geospatial information and resources. This work is supported by the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID OFDA).

Since the formalisation of our joint-working relationship with the AHA Centre last year, we have provided in-country and remote assistance to emergencies including Typhoon Mangkhut, the Sulawesi Earthquake and floods in Laos.

Indonesia earthquake and tsunami

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On Friday 28 September 2018, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Donggala Region, in the province of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing extensive damage and triggering devastating mudflows and a tsunami. Over 1,200 people have been killed and more than 61,000 have been forced from their homes. Queues at petrol stations around Palu reportedly stretch for kilometres. Thousands of people have tried to flee via the city’s airport but only one flight a day is due to leave.

A three-person team of MapAction mapping volunteers in Indonesia at the the request of our partner the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Centre (AHA Centre) to help them coordinate the response. They will be ensuring that rescue and recovery workers have situation maps which are continually updated and reliable. We have also been providing remote support since the earthquake struck creating maps detailing essential information such as health and transport infrastructure. We’ve launched an appeal to fund this mission.

Supporting the response to Super Typhoon Mangkhut

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Catastrophic weather events have affected millions of people around the world in recent weeks. So far this month we have seen six named tropical storms in the Atlantic and Pacific, including three hurricanes and two super typhoons – and storm season is still far from over.

At the same time as the southern US was battered by Hurricane Florence just under a fortnight ago, parts of the Philippines were devastated by Super Typhoon Mangkhut, known locally as Ompong, which also caused widespread damage in Hong Kong and southeast China.

Mangkhut has affected over 2.1 million people in the Philippines, which is still recovering from the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 in which over 6,000 people died. The latest death toll has reached 127, with almost the same number still missing, compared to four dead in China. More than 10,000 houses in the Philippines were completely destroyed by Mangkhut and over 100,000 others damaged. More than 50,000 people are in immediate need of assistance and, with damage to agriculture estimated at over £378 million, livelihoods and food security are of concern in the medium-term.

A MapAction member has been in Jakarta, working with emergency response teams at the head quarters of the AHA Centre (the Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as it responds to the emergency. Our latest maps show some of the impacts Mangkhut has had in the Philippines as well as the assistance currently being provided. We are continuing to provide mapping and information management support to support the recovery process.

Training information managers in Lao PDR with the AHA Centre

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Two MapAction members were in Vientane, Lao PDR, last week, working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre). They were helping to deliver an Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT) Pilot Course on Information Management.

This collaboration follows on from our recent signing of a Memorandum of Intent with the AHA Centre to formalise our joint efforts to help build mapping and information management capacity among humanitarian actors in the ASEAN region, as well as helping them prepare for disasters by putting in place essential geospatial information and resources.

Last week’s course provided our first opportunity to meet and work with information management teams in the region and MapAction volunteers Mark and Tony used the time to coach them on creating mapping products, as well as gain an understanding of their support requirements and working methods.

This work was made possible thanks to the generous support of the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of a programme to improve the use of geospatial analysis and services across the entire humanitarian response sector. 

We are looking forward to many more collaborations with the AHA Centre in future.

AHA Centre and MapAction partner to strengthen disaster management in Southeast Asia

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PRESS RELEASE – The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), established by ten Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to facilitate cooperation and coordination of disaster management across the region, has entered into a formal partnership with humanitarian mapping charity MapAction. The Memorandum of Intent was signed today by Adelina Kamal, Executive Director of the AHA Centre, and MapAction Chief Executive Liz Hughes, during the 8th Meeting of the Governing Board of the AHA Centre held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The two organisations are working together to build mapping and information management capacity among humanitarian actors in the ASEAN region as well as help them prepare for a disaster by putting in place essential geospatial information and resources. MapAction will also be called upon to provide mapping and information management support in the event of a disaster in Southeast Asia, both in-country and remotely, as needed.

Liz Hughes commented, “Humanitarian emergencies often strike without warning and the challenge for those responding is to know where to start. They need information about what help is needed and where, as well as the status of roads and other infrastructure, as quickly as possible. Conveying this information visually in the form of maps and data visualisations helps to create a shared operational picture for aid agencies, governments and local partners, which is vital for a coordinated and effective response. The work that the AHA Centre is doing across and beyond the ASEAN region to protect and assist vulnerable communities is excellent and we are very pleased to be able to support it.”

Adelina Kamal said, “We are delighted to be working closely with the MapAction team. Their expertise and experience in humanitarian mapping and information management will be very valuable for the AHA Centre, as well as for our ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team or ASEAN-ERAT members, who have been trained together with the MapAction team in recent years. The knowledge and practical skills shared by MapAction through joint training and exercises will allow the AHA Centre and our ASEAN-ERAT members to better assist the disaster-affected country and enhance coordination with other humanitarian actors in line with the spirit of One ASEAN One Response.”

MapAction’s participation in the joint training exercises and activities with the AHA Centre and ASEAN-ERAT members is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Photos

Top: signing ceremony of the MoI. Back row, members of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management, from L to R: Mr. Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community; Dato’ Haji Muhammad Yusoff bin Wazir, the Deputy Director General (Post-Disaster) of NADMA Malaysia; Dr. Ko Ko Naing, the Director-General of Myanmar’s Department of Disaster Management

Above: MapAction and ASEAN-ERAT team members train together.

About the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance

The AHA Centre is an inter-governmental organisation established by ten ASEAN Member States on 17 November 2011 with the aim to facilitate cooperation and coordination amongst ASEAN Member States and with relevant United Nations and international organisations in promoting regional collaboration in disaster management. Under the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN One Response signed by the ASEAN Leaders in September 2016, the AHA Centre is reaffirmed as the ASEAN regional coordinating agency on disaster management and emergency response. The AHA Centre reports to a Governing Board that consists of heads of the National Disaster Management Organisations of the ten ASEAN Member States. The AHA Centre is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

For more information regarding the AHA Centre, please contact:

Ms. Shintya Kurniawan
shintya.kurniawan[at]ahacentre.org
t: +62 21 2982 7793 ext. 108
www.ahacentre.org

About MapAction

MapAction’s mission is to save lives and alleviate suffering for people affected by humanitarian emergencies by mapping priority needs and helping to coordinate the response. Recognised as a leading provider of professional mapping services in first phase emergency response, MapAction is a long-term partner of humanitarian agencies including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Food Programme, Save the Children and ACAPS and has recently joined the Missing Maps project. Since 2002, MapAction has responded to 78 humanitarian emergencies, which have impacted on the lives of tens of millions of people.

For more information about MapAction, please contact:

Ms. Jo Pratt
Jpratt[at]mapaction.org
t: +44 (0)1494 568 899

MapAction’s participation in joint activities with the AHA Centre is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this press release are the responsibility of MapAction and the AHA Centre and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.