Dr. Imon Chowdhooree, Assistant Director of Postgraduate Programmes in Disaster Management (PPDM), Department of Disaster Management, School of Architecture and Design, was invited by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (APDC) to participate in a study visit to the Philippines. It was a program of the Bangladesh Preparedness Partnership (BPP), which is a unique multi-stakeholder partnership led by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) with technical support from the ADPC and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The partnership aims to improve coordination between local actors from national to sub-national levels in Bangladesh through a ‘Whole of Society Approach’ promoted by the SOD 2019. One of the focus areas of BPP is to facilitate cross-country knowledge sharing and exchange visits to promote locally-led actions and learn from each other. In line with this, ADPC organized the study visit to the Philippines, one of its partner countries, to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, best practices, models, and cross-learning. This visit was conducted from 6 September 2023 to 10 September 2023. Other members of this team were the Joint and Additional Secretaries of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the Director of the Training Unit of Fire Service and Civil Defense, the Director of CPP, a representative of FBCCI, the Director of the Department of Disaster Management at MoDMR, a representative of the Disaster Response Forum, and a representative of ADPC. Dr. Chowdhooree represented the academic institute involved in disaster management education. The team visited 4 sites: the Resilience Institute of the University of the Philippines, the National Emergency Operation Centre, Projects of the Centre for Disaster Preparedness in Urban Slums, and the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF). The team also visited Taal Volcano view points and the old part of Manila City.