March 2015 | Vol. XII - No.1 Japan International Cooperation Agency Grant Agreement & Record of Discussions Signed for Reconstruction of Bridges on Primary National Highway No 1 & Support to Citizens’ Engagement on Local Governance The 4th meeting of Flood Hazard Map Working Group for Capacity Development of GLOF & Rainstrom Flood Forecasting & Early Warning JICA Bhutan Newsletter is a monthly newsletter published by the JICA Bhutan Office and updated electronically on the JICA Bhutan website. It serves to better link all JICA Bhutan partners by offering briefs and current news on different sectors of JICA and the RGoB. It is for information purposes only and is not an official document. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of JICA. To join our e-mail based subscription, please contact at <[email protected]>. Your comments and feedback are welcome. On 31st March Yumiko Asakuma, Chief Representative of JICA Bhutan Office & Sonam Wangchuk, Secretary, Gross National Happiness Commission signed an agreement for Grant Aid to reconstruct bridges on Primary National Highway No. 1. The agreement includes the reconstruction of three bridges along the Primary National High No.1 which are Chuzomsa Zam, Nikachu Zam and Zalamchu Zam. On the same day, the Record of Discussion for the Technical Cooperation Project on “ Support for Community Engagement in Local Governance” was also signed between the Chief Representative, JICA Bhutan Office and Secretary , Gross National Happiness Commission. The 3D walk through of the rendering of the proposed bridges are available at our youtube channel Chuzomsa Zam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXUoU3B2GBc Nikachu Zam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-j_kFVvW3A Zamalchu Zam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-zuO68gpFU JICA schemes Grant Aid ODA Loan Technical Cooperation Projects Training Programmes Development Studies Emergency Disaster Relief Follow-up Cooperation Volunteers Program JICA target areas in Bhutan Agriculture and rural development Infrastructure development Local governance Social services development (health, education and IT) JICA members in Bhutan as of Dec 2014 JICA office staff: 18 (8 Internationals; 10 Nationals) Experts: 2 Senior Volunteers: 21 JOCVs: 14 The Project for Capacity Development of GLOF and Rainstorm Flood Forecasting and Early Warning, held the 4th meeting of Flood Hazard Map Working Group (FHMWG) with participation of Department of Hydro-Met Services (DHMS), Department of Disaster Management (DDM) and Department of Geology and Mines (DGM) to explain the final output of the FHMWG on 25th February 2015. The members recognized the vulnerable area in the project target basins of Mangdechhu and Chamkharchhu under the several scenarios of GLOF and rainstorms. Mr. Karma Tsering, Director of DHMS addressed that the prepared maps can be utilized not only for community evacuation plan but also for damage assessment in order to propose the effective countermeasures and development plans in the target basins.