5. International Disaster Relief
Whenever a major catastrophe strikes in a developing country or region, Japan stands ready to provide assistance to the affected country in a variety of forms: dispatching Japanese disaster relief teams to assist with rescue activities, provide medical care, and to engage in activities to address the emergency situation and the restoration effort; providing emergency aid materials such as tents, blankets and medical supplies; or furnishing grant aid for disaster relief (for further details, see earlier chapter entitled Grant Aid).
Japan disaster relief teams comprise rescue teams for victim search and rescue activities, medical teams for providing emergency medical care, expert teams for offering advice to officials of the afflicted country's government on disaster response strategies and the rebuilding effort, and Self-Defense Force troops that may be involved in medical care, water-purification and drinking water supply, or transport activities. These teams and troops are dispatched to affected areas either singly or in combination with others. Since a swift and flexible response to calls for help is mandated when disaster strikes, Japan maintains a standby roster for rescue team personnel and a registration system for medical teams, to ensure that relief teams are ready for dispatch within 24 hours of receipt of a request for assistance, and that medical teams can be ready to move within 48 hours.
To achieve a more effective and rapid framework for emergency relief, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established Survey Missions for Emergency Assistance in fiscal 1997. The duties of these groups entail gathering timely disaster information and ascertaining relief needs, explaining Japan's disaster relief system and capabilities to the governments of affected countries, and coordinating the activities of Japanese disaster relief teams.
In a bid to ensure that emergency aid materials are ready to be provided to areas of need in the fastest possible time, Japan maintains five warehouses for storing emergency supplies: one in Japan at Narita Airport, and four in well-positioned overseas locations with excellent air links, Singapore, London, Washington, and Mexico. If extra supplies are found to be needed after the emergency stocks have been shipped out, JICA may launch its Transportation of Emergency Relief Supplies Contributed by the Private Sector Project, under which donations of relief supplies are solicited from local governments, NGOs, or individuals, for shipment to the disaster-stricken country.
Recent examples of Japan's commitment to international disaster relief include the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces for the first time under the Law concerning Dispatch of Japan Disaster Relief Teams to Honduras in the wake of the November 1998 hurricane catastrophe, a medical team to Papua New Guinea in July 1998 to provide medical care to the victims of a tsunami disaster, and an expert team to Bangladesh in October 1998 to help address the country's flood problems.
Emergency supplies have also been sent to many affected areas in recent times, examples being the flood catastrophe in China during July to October 1998. JICA also initiated its Transportation of Emergency Relief Supplies Contributed by the Private Sector Project to respond to the China flood, providing about 11,000 donated blankets to the government of China.
Chart 13 summarizes Japan's performance in the arena of emergency disaster relief, beginning in 1987, the year in which the relevant legislative framework came into effect.
International Disaster Relief Efforts
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