Expert Group Meeting on ILO Crisis Response in Asia and the Pacific

Expert Group Meeting on ILO Crisis Response in Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand In the past decade, the Asia-Pacific Region has been increasingly affected by mega-scale natural disasters including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis. These disasters have made it evident that the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda plays a pivotal role in disaster risk reduction. During the last few years, in fact, the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) has engaged in disaster recovery efforts in a number of countries including China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Given the increasing frequency and magnitude of natural disasters affecting the region, the ILO is expected to better prepare for and respond to future disasters. In order to enhance crisis response capacities of the ILO and its constituents, ILO/ROAP organizes an expert group meeting a) to share experience already gained through the past and ongoing crisis response efforts in the field and b) to identify key areas for the ILO’s crisis response. The objective of this meeting is to consult ILO colleagues and constituents to: a) take stock of past and existing efforts by the ILO constituents and country offices in natural disaster response; b) generate lessons learned from the past and existing natural disaster response efforts; c) identify the ILO’s role in natural disaster response. Based on these findings, the meeting also aims at formulating the ILO’s strategy in natural disaster response. This expert group meeting also serves as a peer review meeting so that the draft manual on ILO’s crisis response capacity in the region, which has been developed based on the ILO handbook ILO’s Role in Conflict and Disaster Settings, can be further tailored for the Asia-Pacific area. The two-day expert group meeting expects the following outcomes: • The crisis response strategy of the ILO in the Asia-Pacific Region is identified; • A report summarizing the ILO’s experience in natural disaster response is produced; and • The draft manual on crisis response well reflects the realities and needs of the ILO Country Directors in crisis response.

Project symbol

RAS/11/05/JIL

Admin unit

RO-Asia and the Pacific

Start date

04/07/2011

End date

31/12/2011

Total allocation

18186

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

18186

Development Partners

Japanese Institute of Labour

Country/Countries

Global

Outcomes

Employment Promotion