4. Human Resource Development

4-2. Seminars and Training Course
4-2-1. JICA Training Course: “Comprehensive Disaster
Management for Central Asia and Caucasus”
From 24 June to 3 August 2013, the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) conducted atraining course for disaster management officials from Central Asia and the Caucasus incooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Kansai InternationalCenter.
The course was conducted in Russian and attended by a total of 13 central and local
government officials representing five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan inCentral Asia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus.
The training was designed to convey basic knowledge and experiences related to natural
disaster management, and to further promote the implementation of the Hyogo Framework forAction (HFA) in the participants' countries. During the training, participants were asked toidentify a major problem in their own countries and to formulate an action plan for addressing it.
They attended lectures and visited central and municipal government agencies, research
institutes, a meteorological organization, a broadcasting company, a disaster management base,private companies, UN offices, and an NPO in order to comprehensively enhance theirunderstanding of Japan's disaster management system. They also participated in “TownWatching” activities for hazard map making, and went on an excursion to the Shikoku
Mountain Range where landslide and erosion control countermeasures are being implemented.
Central Asia and the Caucasus frequently experience disasters such as floods, droughts,
landslides, and earthquakes, some of which extend across several countries. Also, heavy
snowfall in the winter can lead to flooding when mountain glaciers thaw in the warmer seasons.
Thus, these regions have common concerns in terms of disaster risk management. It is hopedthat the participants will make good use of the knowledge, technologies, and methods theylearned from the training course to implement various projects and help strengthen the disastermanagement systems in their home countries.
This course also allowed participants to reinforce their relationships with one another, and isexpected to strengthen disaster management
information networks in the region.
In addition to the training held in Japan,
the ADRC participated in the JICA
Follow-Up Seminar "Comprehensive DisasterManagement" held at the Center ofEmergency Situations and Disaster RiskReduction (CESDRR) in Almaty, Kazakhstan
on 14-15 August 2013. This seminar was held
as a follow-up to the JICA training course

33Fig. 4-2-1 Lecture at the Cabinet Officeentitled “Comprehensive Disaster Management for Central Asia and the Caucasus” that ADRC
has been conducting together with JICA Kansai. To facilitate the transfer of Japan’s experienceand expertise regarding disaster risk management, this seminar focused on a few themes ofinterest to the Kazakh government, namely the seismic safety of buildings, community-based
disaster risk management (CBDRM), and the operation of regional disaster managementcenters.
Approximately 40 people participated, including the deputy mayor of Almaty City, national
and local government officials from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Almaty City, andresearchers from KazNIISA (Agency for Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Republic ofKazakhstan) and other institutions. During the seminar, ADRC introduced CBDRM efforts thathave been undertaken in Japan, including the activities of volunteer organizations specializingin disaster prevention, and efforts to promote disaster education and raise disaster awareness.
Given the agreement reached between the governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in May
2013 regarding the establishment of the CESDRR, ADRC shared information on its own
activities since it was first formed in 1998, in hopes that this might serve as useful information
for the management of the CESDRR going forward. ADRC also learned a lot about the Kazakh
DRR experience through this seminar. We look forward to working with JICA and the Ministryof Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, as well as the CESDRR, in the near future.

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4. Human Resource Development

4-2-2. JICA Training Course: “Comprehensive Disaster RiskManagement Course”
From 7 January to 21 February 2014, ADRC, in collaboration with JICA conducted the JICA
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Course for 8 countries, namely Afghanistan, Fiji,Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Tanzania, Vanuatu, and Yemen. Fifteen government officials incharge of disaster management took part in the training. This course aimed to help participants
formulate and further develop disaster management plans in their own countries based on theconcept of total disaster risk management, by enhancing their understanding of the disastermanagement systems adopted by the central and local governments of Japan.
During the training, participants attended a series of lectures on such topics as the Japanesedisaster management system at the central and local levels, Japanese measures against
earthquake, flooding, landslides and volcanic eruptions, school disaster education,community-based disaster risk management, the role of the media in disaster risk reduction, andrecovery from natural disasters. They participated in a drill conducted by a Disaster Prevention
Welfare Community in Kobe, the ADRC’s town watching exercise, and the Memorial Walk of
the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, in addition to visiting disaster-affected areas of the Great
East Japan Earthquake and Mt. Unzen Fugen’s volcanic eruption.
The trainees showed great interest in Japanese disaster management systems and efforts at
disaster risk reduction and were keen to learn from every lecture and exercise offered during
this training course. It is hoped that the participants will make good use of the knowledge andmethods they learned during this training course to help strengthen the disaster management
systems in their home countries.

Fig. 4-2-2-1 Memorial Walk on 17 January 201435

Fig. 4-2-2-2 Visit to the affected area ofMt. Unzen Fugen’s volcanic eruption

4-2-3. JICA Training Course: “Raising Awareness of DisasterReduction”
From 7 January to 7 February 2014, ADRC, in collaboration with JICA, conducted a JICA
training course on “Raising Awareness of Disaster Reduction” for government officials incharge of disaster risk reduction at the central and local government levels. Representatives
from the countries of Brazil, Chili, Honduras, Myanmar, Viet Nam, PNG, Philippines, Samoa,and Turkey took part in this training (19 trainees from 9 countries). The primary objective ofthe training was to establish concrete disaster reduction measures tailored to each participant’scountry, utilizing knowledge and methods gained from the training.
During the training, participants learned
the roles to be played by the various relevantorganizations, such as local authorities,
academicorganizations,

theJapanMeteorological Agency, mass media, andNPOs,

whileattending

lecturesandoccasionally visiting related facilities andorganizations. The training included thefollowing specific activities:(1) town watching and hazard map
creation, in which the trainees explored a certain area of downtown, identified risks, andcame up with solutions,(2) a visit to the disaster-stricken area of the Great East Japan Earthquake(3) lectures on the formation of action plans, during which the trainees developed their own
action plans.
The trainees are expected not only to carry out their action plans upon returning home, butalso to apply the knowledge and methods they learned during their training and to promote
efforts to raise awareness of disaster risk reduction measures.

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