Republic of Korea - The human cost of disasters may be highest in developing countries, but the economic impact can also be felt hard in developed countries, IOM’s Director of Operations stressed this week.

Mohammed Abdiker was speaking on the conclusion of a first Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) training initiative for the government and partners in the Republic of Korea.

IOM is the global lead in CCCM during natural disasters, and has already rolled out similar capacity building in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Thailand and the Philippines.

“Most people think of disasters as hitting developing countries hardest,” said Abdiker. “It’s true that this is where more lives may be lost and the effects of the disaster last longer, but in urban centres and developed countries natural disasters can bring industry to a grinding halt. We saw this in Thailand during the floods and most recently in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan. We also saw displacement of some of the most vulnerable, underprivileged and migrant communities.”

IOM’s Capacity Building for National Partners and Authorities (CBNPA) initiative is preparing governments and local partners to react, and will also increase resilience among vulnerable urban groups.

“As our initiatives take a global focus, IOM is assisting governments in both developing and developed nations to be better prepared to respond to natural disasters and to help assist the most vulnerable displaced to return home faster,” noted Abdiker.

“Building the capacity of national authorities to respond more rapidly and more effectively saves lives and reduces the financial cost of assisting displaced people. In that way the authorities can concentrate on helping people where they need it most, in their homes, prior to a disaster striking,” he added.

IOM’s recent three-day CCCM training included 18 staff from the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Korean Council for Overseas Development Cooperation (KCOC), Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Emergency Management Service (NEMA) and local NGOs.

Using global CCCM material, the training covered international humanitarian norms and standards, coordination, settlement design, and camp management and closure of camps. IOM will be providing two additional training sessions in January.

Existing international standards and methodologies in CCCM have been translated into Korean and training carried out thanks to IOM’s collaboration with KCOC and KOICA. The initiative is funded by USAID/OFDA.

 For more information please contact

Mihyung Park at IOM Seoul
Email: mipark@iom.int

Or

Chris Hoffman
IOM’s Asia-Pacific Office in Bangkok
Email: choffman@iom.int