(2) Mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Risk Reduction and Post-Disaster Recovery Measures
Disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, droughts, debris flows, etc. that occur frequently around the world do not merely take human lives and property. In developing countries that are vulnerable to disasters, the poor are more likely to be significantly affected and displaced. In addition, protracted secondary damage, such as the deterioration of sanitary conditions and food shortages increases the severity of the issue, having a significant impact on the overall social and economic systems in developing countries.
Against this backdrop, it is necessary to build a disasterresilient society to protect human lives from disasters, as well as to promote the “mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction,” aiming at sustainable development, by incorporating disaster risk reduction measures into every phase of every sector of development, based on assumptions of disasters of various scales.
<Japan’s Efforts>
| Cooperation in disaster risk reduction
A Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer, Mr. Koji Yamamoto teaches children to hide under desks as part of Japanese-style earthquake drill at an elementary school in Syangja District in the central region of Nepal. (Photo: Marie Konari)
Participants of the training program for “Enhancement of Earthquakeresistant Technology for Buildings in Latin American Countries” conduct an earthquake resistance experiment using the experiment facility at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) installed as a part of the “Enhancement of the Construction Technology and Dissemination System of the Earthquake-Resistant ‘Vivienda Social’.” (Photo: Ernesto Manzano / JICA)
Japan utilizes its enriched knowledge and technology acquired through the past experiences of responding to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons to provide proactive support for disaster risk reduction and post-disaster recovery measures, alongside emergency assistance.
In 2005, at the Second UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe City, Hyogo prefecture, the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 was adopted as a basic guideline for disaster risk reduction activities in the international community, which affirmed the importance of effectively incorporating disaster risk reduction aspects into initiatives for sustainable development.
At this conference, Japan also announced the Initiative for Disaster Reduction, which represents Japan’s basic policy on disaster risk reduction cooperation through ODA. In this policy, Japan expressed its intention to continue proactively supporting the self-help efforts by developing countries towards “building a disasterresilient society” through the building of systems, human resources development, development of socio-economic infrastructure, and other measures.
In July 2012, Japan hosted the World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku in three prefectures affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. During the conference, Japan affirmed the following aspects: the necessity of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and building resilient societies; the importance of human security; the need to maximize disaster risk reduction capabilities combining both physical and nonphysical aspects; the necessity of collaboration beyond the roles of various stakeholders; and the importance of responding to newly emerging disaster risks such as climate change and urbanization. At the same time, Japan proposed to the world the necessity of “Disaster Reduction in the 21st Century” which comprehensively promotes aforesaid aspects. Participants in the conference also confirmed the position of disaster risk reduction in the 2030 Agenda, as well as the need for formulating the post- Hyogo Framework for Action that incorporates the results of this conference, in order to actually promote “Disaster Reduction in the 21st Century.”
The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai City from March 14 to 18, 2015. This conference organized by the UN is held in order to discuss international disaster risk reduction strategies. Since Japan proactively promotes international disaster risk reduction cooperation utilizing its expertise and experiences in disaster risk reduction, Japan was once again the host country for the third conference, following its hosting of the first conference in 1994 in Yokohama and the second conference in 2005 in Kobe. The third conference was attended by more than 6,500 people and 185 UN member states. When including related events a total of more than 150,000 people from Japan and other countries took part, making it one of the largest-ever international conferences held in Japan.
In hosting this conference, Japan aimed to achieve the following three goals; (i) To introduce the perspective of disaster risk reduction in the planning and implementation of various policies (mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction) (ii) To transmit Japan’s expertise and technology concerning disaster risk reduction, and (iii) To provide information regarding the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and to contribute to the recovery of the disaster-affected areas.
The conference resulted in the adoption of the Sendai Declaration as well as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework), which is the successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action, the international guiding principle for disaster risk reduction adopted at the second conference. The Sendai Framework incorporated Japan’s declarations on the importance of investment in disaster risk reduction, the involvement of diverse stakeholders, the concept of “Build Back Better,” the importance of women’s leadership, etc.
Prime Minister Abe announced the Sendai Cooperation Initiative for Disaster Risk Reduction as Japan’s new contribution plan that would become Japan’s future basic policy for cooperation in the field of disaster risk reduction. Japan announced that in the four years from 2015 to 2018, it will provide $4 billion in total to the area related to disaster risk reduction and train 40,000 people to play the leading roles in national efforts for disaster risk reduction and post-disaster reconstruction. Through this initiative, Japan demonstrated its attitude to further contribute to the international community by utilizing its advanced expertise and technology in the field of disaster risk reduction.
At the UN summit that adopted the 2030 Agenda in September 2015, Prime Minister Abe expressed Japan’s commitment to lead the implementation of the Sendai Framework, and encouraged other countries to adopt the resolution on the UN’s World Tsunami Awareness Day as a means of raising awareness about tsunami. As a result, a resolution was adopted at the UN General Assembly held on December 23, 2015 (local time) to establish November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day. Accordingly, Japan implemented educational activities to raise awareness of tsunamis and strengthen tsunami countermeasures, etc. around the world, including the “High School Students Summit on ‘World Tsunami Awareness Day’ in Kuroshio” and evacuation drills held in 2016.
The banner of the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai in March 2015 (Photo: UNISDR)
•Chile
Research Project on Enhancement of Technology to Develop Tsunami-Resilient Community
Scientific and technical cooperation (January 2012 – March 2016)
An inspection by the mayor, researchers and others at Talcahuano Port (Photo: JICA)
Chile, like Japan, is a country located on the circum-Pacific orogenic belt where many earthquakes and tsunamis occur. In 1960 and 2010 huge earthquakes and tsunamis occurred, causing enormous damage in Chile, and the tsunami even crossed the Pacific and caused damage in Japan. In the 2010 Chile earthquake the damage caused by the tsunami in particular was severe, which revealed issues such as delays in the issuing of warnings and delays in securing marine support routes due to the damage to the port.
In order to solve the issues that came to the surface due to the damage from the Chile earthquake and to avoid repetition of the tragedy due to the tsunami, Chile called on Japan for support for strengthening disaster risk reduction capabilities with respect to tsunamis. Research into tsunamis along the coast of Chile is an important theme for the tsunami disaster risk reduction in Japan too, so the two countries cooperated to implement the Research Project on Enhancement of Technology to Develop Tsunami- Resilient Community which conducts tsunami research in Chile.
Under this project Japan and Chile carried out (i) development of a numerical simulation model for estimating tsunami damage, (ii) preparation of guidelines pertaining to tsunami damage forecast and damage alleviation, (iii) development of a high-precision Integrated System of Tsunami Prediction and Warning (SIPAT) and (iv) proposal and dissemination of an evacuation plan, and collaboratively worked together to strengthen the disaster risk reduction capabilities of Chile with respect to tsunami disasters.
Dissemination of the project outcomes has contributed to alleviating earthquake and tsunami damage in Chile in recent years. At the time of the Iquique earthquake off the coast of Chile in 2014, the project made a large contribution to the speedy evacuation of the residents, and at the time of the September 2015 earthquake information provided from SIPAT was utilized in the tsunami warning of the Government of Chile.
Furthermore, the Chilean researchers who worked together with Japan in this project participated as lecturers in the training for a technical cooperation project currently being implemented in Chile, the Disaster Risk Reduction Training Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (commonly known as the KIZUNA project), and communicated the research outcomes and technologies to people involved in disaster risk reduction in other Latin American countries. The objectives of this technical cooperation project are to disseminate the disaster risk reduction technologies and knowledge of Chile within the Latin America region and support the centralization of fostering the disaster risk reduction experts in Chile.
Strengthening disaster risk reduction capabilities with respect to tsunamis is necessary not only for Japan and Chile but also for the other Latin American countries located on the Pacific coast. In December 2015 the World Tsunami Awareness Day (November 5) jointly proposed by 142 countries including Japan and Chile was established by the United Nations General Assembly. Japan will cooperate with Chile to promote the building of a tsunami-resilient region in Latin America.
•The Philippines
The Project on Rehabilitation and Recovery from Typhoon Yolanda
Grant aid (May 2014 – )
Chemical firefighting trucks provided to Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport which is also known as the Tacloban City Airport (Photo: JICA)
In November 2013, Typhoon Yolanda, described as having “unprecedented scale in recorded history,” caused enormous damage throughout the Philippines. In the Eastern Visayas region where the damage was the greatest, 5,895 valuable lives were lost, which is more than 90% of the victims in the Philippines overall, due to the high tide and windstorms with a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 87.5m/s. Furthermore, many public facilities such as hospitals and schools became unusable, and the fishing industry and agriculture, the bread and butter job of the people, suffered devastating blows.
Japan implemented emergency assistance such as first aid and medical care for the victims immediately after the disaster occurred, and in order to implement seamless cooperation covering everything from the emergency response to reconstruction, built a reconstruction support project for the Leyte Gulf in the Eastern Visayas region and implemented this project quickly.
In line with the goal of “Build Back Better (aiming to not merely restore but also reconstruct local communities with better disaster-resilience),” this grant aid adopts a design that strengthens wind-resistance and quake resistance capabilities, and supports the reconstruction of facilities such as the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, regional dispensaries, elementary schools.
Specifically, Japan has taken measures such as relocating buildings to land where there is no danger from high tides, designing buildings with a high floor structure which enables high tides to pass through the ground floor of the building and installation of large central corridors that will serve as evacuation sites for people at the time of disasters.
Japan also granted equipment to governmental organizations and institutions for restoring their respective normal operations after disaster. The organizations and institutions include: Department of Public Works and Highways, which is responsible for disposing of debris and implementing reconstruction projects; the National Maritime Polytechnic, which is responsible for training of the sailors of the Philippines — a country which produces many sailors for the world; the Fisheries Development Center, which produces young fish for the aquaculture of the region; the Tacloban airport — the hub airport for the Eastern Visayas region; the National Power Corporation, which will restore the fallen utility poles and power lines that were cut in the windstorms; and the Philippines Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), which manages the Guiuan Meteorological Radar damaged by the typhoon.
In September 2016 all the equipment was handed over to the Philippines. The National Maritime Polytechnic resumed all of the training programs that were in place before the disaster and the Fisheries Development Center resumed the production of young fish.
Reconstruction work for the facilities has proceeded at a very fast pace at the sites and the facilities are expected to be handed over to the Philippines by 2017. (As of September 2016)
•Viet Nam
Project for Building Disaster Resilient Societies in Viet Nam (Phase 2)
Technical cooperation project (August 2013 – August 2016)
Experts and officials of Hue Province discuss a comprehensive flood management plan for Hue Province. (Photo: JICA)
Viet Nam is one of the Southeast Asian countries suffering from big storm and flood damage. In particular the coastal areas of the central region are greatly affected by tropical cyclones including typhoons. In this region heavy rain frequently occurs due to the effect of the mountain range running along the border with Laos. Due to these meteorological and terrain conditions, the central region of Viet Nam suffers from damage such as flooding, virtually every year. Improving disaster response capacity in the central region, and in particular measures to combat flooding, is an important issue.
From 2009 to 2012 through implementation of the Project for Building Disaster Resilient Societies in Viet Nam (Phase 1) Japan supported the establishment of comprehensive flood management plans, the strengthening of disaster risk reduction structures at the local government and community level, and the countermeasures for riverbank erosion primarily in Hue province in the central region of Viet Nam.
As a result, there were outcomes such as establishment of comprehensive flood management plans and the development of various manuals in Hue province.
Since 2013 Japan has provided support under the Project for Building Disaster Resilient Societies in Viet Nam (Phase 2) for the provinces in the central region (Nghe An province, Ha Tinh province, Quang Binh province and Hue province included in Phase 1) and the central government where the flood damage had been serious in order to strengthen comprehensive flood management structures as conducted in Phase 1.
Specifically, Japanese experts in flood management were dispatched to Viet Nam to give instruction in technologies for analyzing flooding to the related people in Viet Nam, and to work together with them to create comprehensive flood management plans. As a result, comprehensive flood management plans were prepared in Quang Binh province. Furthermore, in Nghe An province and Ha Tinh province, instruction in inundation analysis technologies was given as planned, and studies are being advanced in each province aimed at the preparation of comprehensive flood management plans.
Through such support, Viet Nam is progressing towards creating a disaster-resilient society by preparing comprehensive flood management plans that take into account disaster risk.