Press Releases
Courtesy call on Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs MATSUMOTO Hisashi by trainees from the “Program on Rapid Response to Climate Crisis through Early Warning Systems” hosted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
On November 21, commencing at 11:15 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. MATSUMOTO Hisashi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call by the 29 trainees from the Pacific Island countries who were in Japan to participate in the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) training program, “Program on Rapid Response to Climate Crisis through Early Warning Systems.” The training program is implemented by UNITAR with support from the Japanese Government.
- At the outset, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Matsumoto mentioned that, since Japan was surrounded by the sea and was a disaster-prone country that had experienced numerous disasters including tsunamis like the Pacific Island countries, Japan had been implementing disaster prevention and mitigation measures, such as the development of early warning systems and awareness-raising activities related to World Tsunami Awareness Day. He expressed his hope that the trainees who visited Japan this time would bring back to their respective countries and make use of the outcomes of the training program in Japan, especially the know-how that Japan possessed, and that this was an important policy for Japan's diplomacy and international cooperation.
- After a brief explanation of the training program and an expression of gratitude to the Government of Japan by Ms. Mikami, the Head of UNITAR Hiroshima Office, three representatives of the trainees introduced the outcomes of the training program, focusing on community involvement in disaster response, resilience enhancement, disaster risk management and sustainable development, and Japan's tangible and intangible efforts and human-centered approaches to disaster risk management.
- Finally, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Matsumoto stated that he was glad to hear directly from the trainees about the feedbacks of the training program, and although we could not fight against natural disasters, it was important to have the resilience to face and recover from disasters and to create local communities for disaster response. He ended his remarks by saying that Japan's international cooperation emphasized the development of human resources, and he hoped the trainees would play an active role in disaster management in their countries in the future.
Established in 1963, UNITAR's main duties are to provide training for government officials from developing countries and to conduct research related to the functions and objectives of the United Nations. Its headquarter is located in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2003, the Hiroshima Office was established as the only international organization office in Japan located in Hiroshima.
This is a capacity-building support program for Pacific Island countries on the need for early warning of the impact of disasters caused by climate change, and is being implemented by the UNITAR Hiroshima Office with financial support from the Japanese government. For this visit to Japan, 29 trainees who achieved particularly good results in the online course (Phase 1) have been selected, and the aim is to gain a deeper understanding of the early warning systems studied in Phase 1, including on-site training.