United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) November 2011
InterWorks conducted a four-day workshop in Yangon, Myanmar for participants responsible for (or working in support of) emergency response, refugee, and IDP issues in the country. Approximately two thirds of these were Government Ministry members from Mon and Kayin States, the rest being UNHCR and NGO staff members.
The workshop design was a variant of those used in previous years in Myanmar with an important modification, namely the use of three different actual planning examples as the basis for the contingency planning exercise: (1) extreme river flooding at Du Yin Seik, (2) influx of IDPs into Myaiang Gui Ngu, and (3) a spontaneous return of refugees from the Thai border camps to Nan San Yit. In each case the villages are actual locations in either Mon or Kayin States, and significant data was available as background information for the exercise.
The course focused on a simplified contingency planning approach as well as specific tools and templates to support the process. The course trainers provided short presentations of key components of the overall approach and provided practical exercises based on the three scenarios described above, in which each of the tools introduced could be explored and practiced. The primary output of the workshop was a simplified contingency plan presentation for each of the three planning scenarios.
The workshop is really useful and practical for all the participants. We will share the information with our colleagues. I would like to attend more workshops in the future.
– Workshop participant
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