ANNEX 1 HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENTHistory of Establishment of ADRC

1990s: International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)At its 42nd General Assembly in December 1987, the United Nations (UN) designated the1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). It adopted aresolution aiming to sharply reduce the damage caused by natural disasters around theworld, particularly in developing countries, through joint international action.

1994: World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction
In May 1994, the UN held the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in Yokohama,Japan, to conduct an interim review of the decade-long IDNDR initiative and to propose anaction plan for the future. At the meeting, the “Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World” wasadopted, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in regions that sharecommon types of disasters and disaster reduction measures. Since then, disaster reduction
activities have been promoted throughout the world based on this strategy.

1995: Ministerial-level Asian Natural Disaster Reduction Conference
As the first step toward regional cooperation under the Yokohama Strategy, the IDNDRSecretariat organized a meeting in Kobe in December 1995 to formulate a policy on disaster
reduction cooperation in Asia. Cabinet members in charge of disaster reduction from 28
countries attended the meeting, which concluded with the adoption of the Kobe Disaster
Reduction Declaration. This declaration consists of ideas for promoting international
Annexescooperation in disaster reduction, including a Japanese proposal to launch a feasibility study
on a system for coordinating disaster reduction efforts in the Asian region.

1996: Asian Natural Disaster Reduction Experts Meeting
The Government of Japan and the IDNDR Secretariat jointly organized an expert meeting inOctober 1996 to thresh out how a central disaster reduction system, as stated in the Kobe
Disaster Reduction Declaration, might be created for the Asian region. The meeting wasattended by key personnel in the disaster reduction bureaus of 30 countries, and they agreed

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to study the creation of the tentatively named “Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)” toserve as a secretariat for promoting activities under the proposed system.

1997: Asian Disaster Reduction Cooperation Promotion Meeting
Again, the Government of Japan and the IDNDR Secretariat jointly organized a meeting inTokyo in June 1997 to discuss activities to be undertaken by the proposed center for disaster
reduction system. Likewise, the key personnel from the disaster reduction bureaus of 23

countries attended the meeting with an overall goal of promoting cooperation in disaster
reduction efforts through specific actions. A proposal was made at the meeting to establish acenter in Japan to serve as the secretariat for the proposed system.

1998: Establishment of ADRC
Gaining momentum from these series of meetings, the Government of Japan discussed theorganization, budget, and other aspects of the proposed office with the other countries
involved. With the cooperation of Hyogo Prefecture, ADRC was officially established in Kobe
on 30 July 1998.

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