UNESCAP Knowledge products for institutional developments
Developed for the needs of the ASEAN sub-region in Asia and the Pacific, the handbooks can also be adapted for use in other regions.
The handbooks have been developed through expert working groups, in collaboration with United Nations partners including UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER, UNITAR-UNOSAT, and OCHA. As well as extensive consultation with space agencies, national disaster management authorities and regional institutions, including GISTDA, LAPAN, ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and Asian Institute of Technology.
ESCAP, in collaboration with United Nations partners and regional institutions and based on country requests, regularly identifies gaps in institutional knowledge and practice in the use of space applications for disaster risk management. Where possible, ESCAP provides knowledge products to support institutional development and promote knowledge sharing.
Through various workshops, ESCAP gathers good practices from the region and compiles comprehensive and concise handbooks, in close consultation with operational staff and decision-makers. These reference products are widely shared with practitioners to provide operational guidance.
Existing handbooks have been field tested in various settings with several countries already adopting them as standard practice and others expressing their desire to adopt similar practices in the future.
These knowledge products are designed to increase capacity and skills as well as to promote institutional development for countries wishing to embrace innovative space-based information and their applications for disaster risk management.
The following three handbooks are presently available:
· Sharing space-based information: procedural guidelines for disaster emergency response in ASEAN countries
· Specific hazards: a handbook on geospatial decision support in ASEAN countries
· Rapid assessment innovation: a manual on resilient recovery for disasters in ASEAN countries
