Hi everyone on this Jisc Mail Network,

As many of you aware, Port Vila, Vanuatu, suffered a direct from TC Pam last
night.  Communications are down, and we're trying to establish satellite
phone contact with people in or around Port Vila.

A number of you are linked to emergency services throughout the Pacific.
 Could you, as a matter of some urgency, send us details of key people there
who are in satphone contact.  Ideally we need:
-  Name person
-  Organisation and role within it
-  Satphone number
-  Location in Vanutu.

Could you email this info asap to the following:
-  Allan Bell, NDMO DRM Adviser in Fiji (also he's linked up to the UN network
there) - [log in to unmask]
-  Clare Backwell (ACC/DFAT ) in Canberra on [log in to unmask]
-  Myself in Tonga - [log in to unmask] 

Thank you.

Chris 

Chris Piper
NEMO DRM Adviser
Kingdom of Tonga
Tel:  + 676 8700180
Email:  [log in to unmask]        





>-- Original Message --
>Date:         Thu, 12 Mar 2015 16:06:52 +0100
>Reply-To:     Natural hazards and disasters
>              <[log in to unmask]>
>From:         MECHLER Reinhard <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Invitation to side event of Zurich Flood Resilience: Making communities
>resilient to floods -What does it take?
>To:           [log in to unmask]
>
>
>Dear colleagues,
>
>Please join us at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
>in Sendai to challenge the lessons that the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance
>is learning about building resilience. We hope you will join this energetic
>and highly interactive session to contribute with your ideas and innovations
>to build the resilience of poor and high risk communities to the ever increasing
>hazard of floods.
>
>Where and when?
>
>PUBLIC FORUM EVENT #340 
>Monday March 16, 2015 13.00 to 15.30
>Tohoku University Kawauchi-kita Campus Room C205
>
>What?
>
>There is growing recognition of the importance of local decision-making
and
>local action for building resilience in poor and high risk communities.
Catalysed
>by the original Hyogo Framework of Action many national governments have
>set up disaster funds to finance activities when disaster strikes, but for
>are these funds and the huge amount of humanitarian assistance provided
each
>year leading to positive change for the poorest and most vulnerable? 
>In this session, the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance invites you to assess
>and explore innovative approaches that can support the decision-making process
>to help those when and where it matters most. 
>Attention will be given to:
>
>? Challenges to measuring a complex and dynamic phenomenon such as community
>resilience over time and place
>? Using measurement and tools such as cost-benefit analysis to prioritize
>and inform strategic decision making for resilience interventions
>? Implementing the right interventions based on both quantitative and qualitative
>assessments
>
>Who?
>
>Key Note Speakers
>? Geoffrey Riddell, Regional Chairman of Asia-Pacific and Middle East, Zurich
>Insurance Group
>? Reinhard Mechler Deputy Program Director, Risk, Policy, and Vulnerability
>Program, IIASA, Austria
>? Arno Wicki, Head of Multilateral Affairs Division, Federal Department
of
>Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Humanitarian
>Aid and SHA
>
>Discussion Leaders
>? Nathan Cooper, Senior Advisor, American Red Cross & IFRC, Switzerland
>? Gehendra Gurung, Head, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change, Practical
>Action, Nepal
>? Colin McQuistan, Senior Advisor Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction,
>Practical Action, UK
>? Ian O?Donnell, Senior Advisor, Global Disaster Preparedness Center & American
>Red Cross, USA
>
>Facilitated by
>? Linda Freiner, Flood Resilience Program Manager, Zurich Insurance Group,
>Switzerland
>
>For further information contact Linda Freiner at [log in to unmask]
>
>
>Attachment: WCDRR Zurich flood resilience side event flyer.pdf
>