A Background Research Paper (minimum of 10 pages excluding annexes) shall be researched and submitted at least 1-2 months before the Workshop, which will provide inputs, lived experiences from different stakeholders, including governments, academia, experts, businesses, global and regional organizations, especially citizens that frequently suffer from severe natural disasters (by collecting researches, studies, analysis on the issue and possible interview).

The Background Research Paper shall contain tentatively 3 topics:

i. Studies, researches and analysis on the damage caused by natural disasters from APEC economies in recent years; contribution and impact of international relief activities in minimizing damages;

ii. At least three case studies from different APEC economies.

The main focus of the workshop will be on the following key areas:

-  Necessity of Mobilization of International Relief Resources: The workshop will emphasize the importance of mobilizing international resources to provide relief to people affected by natural disasters in the APEC economies. This is crucial for proactive preparedness and mitigation of damages caused by natural disasters.

-  Approaches to Mobilization: The workshop will share various approaches, policies, mechanisms, and partnerships for mobilizing international support for relief activities. This will involve participants from different sectors including governments, NGOs, and both public and private entities.

-  Improving Efficiency: The workshop aims to discuss ways to improve the efficiency of mobilizing support for people affected by natural disasters. This involves seeking the interests of all participants across various sectors.

-  Benefits and Challenges: The workshop will facilitate discussions on the benefits and challenges of current approaches to disaster relief, as well as potential solutions.

-  Cooperative Network Development: The workshop will also discuss ideas for developing a cooperative network focused on disaster relief activities in the area.

A collection of documents and presentations presented by speakers/experts at the Workshop will be shared with participants.

i.  For each day of the Workshop (7-8 hours), there will be three sessions, including “Presentation”, “Exercises” and “Panel Discussion”, assigned with relevant topics.

ii. During the Presentation, participants will be invited to give comments or ask any questions, if any, followed by 5-10 minutes of Q&A time. Practicing Exercises will be for participants to show their understandings of the information or knowledge to be shared through Presentations and to be raising questions, topics for the Panel Discussion.

iii.  An online tool (such as Mentimeter/Survey Monkey/...) is planned to be used that allows participants to raise their questions generated during the presentations, in case participants are willing to ask anonymously. These topics will also be collected as materials for the Panel Discussion session and be key learnings and recommendations that are recapped at the workshop.

iv. Information, experiences and best practices shared in the Workshop will be incorporated in a Workshop Report. 

Following the Workshop, a post-Workshop survey will be conducted to evaluate the success and impact of the workshop:

-  After the Workshop, a survey will be sent out to all participants. This could be done via email and could utilize platforms like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey for ease of use and data collection.

-  Responses to the survey will be collected after the Workshop. This allows participants to reflect on their experience and provide thoughtful feedback

-  The survey will serve as a tool to evaluate if the Workshop has met its objectives: (1) It can help in evaluating the number of participating economies, providing insights into the reach and diversity of the Workshop;

The Workshop Report shall be prepared, and include a summary of key discussions and findings from the Workshop, and policy recommendations for APEC economies. This Report will be submitted to APEC Secretariat and EPWG for review and endorsement and is intended to be published on APEC website. The Report is expected to be minimum of 13 pages excluding annexes.

a.  The summary of the Workshop shall capture the main content of the discussion, shared point of views among participants, as well as key recommendations to participants from APEC member economies including recommendations from survey results.

b. The key policy recommendations shall be on feasible actions for APEC economies, including policy coordination across member economies, capacity-building activities, and multi-stakeholder cooperation. Participants from APEC member economies can consider adopting these new recommendations or adjusting their existing ones to be more effective. After the Workshop, the final draft will be sent via email to the participants for comments with a deadline before endorsement.

The primary beneficiaries are:

- The beneficiaries of this project are policymakers, decision-makers, and officials from government agencies working in the field of disaster risk management. Specifically, at the central level, they are the government officials of the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). By participating in the project, these individuals can enhance their knowledge and capacity in disaster relief activities. This is achieved through learning best practices from member economies, which can help improve their own economies’ approaches to disaster relief. The project also facilitates initial discussions on cooperation mechanisms among APEC economies. This could lead to future support and collaboration in the disaster relief sector, enhancing the collective ability of these economies to respond to natural disasters

- Experts from environmental/climate change/disaster risk management institutes, academies, and other academic institutions, particularly those focused on climate change and related sectors, can also benefit from participating in the project. These individuals can engage in in-depth exchanges with colleagues from other member economies, cultivating knowledge and practical experience to enhance their focus on climate change and disaster response.

- Overall, the project provides numerous benefits for a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers, decision-makers, government officials, representatives from intergovernmental, international and regional organizations, and experts from environmental institutes and academic institutions. By participating in the project, these individuals can share knowledge and best practices, learn from one another, and collaborate to enhance international disaster relief activities to better mitigate natural disaster damages within the APEC community. 

The secondary beneficiaries are:

- All citizens of economies that frequently suffer from severe natural disasters can benefit from the project, as they are the main target to be affected by natural disasters and to be supported with goods or finances by the government or other international organizations. By enhancing international disaster relief activities to proactively prepare and respond to natural disasters, as implemented by the primary beneficiaries mentioned above, citizens can better mitigate damages and losses caused by these events, as well as increase their capacities to recover from the impact of natural disasters and to rebuild their livelihoods. This is one of the important factors that contribute to the resilience of APEC economies to disasters.

- International and regional organizations, such as UN agencies as well as inter- governmental organizations and INGOs working directly in the humanitarian field can also be the secondary beneficiaries as policy harmonization in the future through the policy harmonization which were generated through knowledge sharing in the Workshop and possible adaptation that could encourage the humanitarian activities in the region.