ADRC Highlights
Asian Disaster Reduction Center Monthly NewsNew Year’s Greetings from ADRC
Vol. 358
January
2023
TOPICSNew Year’s Greetingsfrom ADRC
HAMADA Masanori,Chairman, Asian Disaster
Reduction Center
Announcement¶ Asian Conference on

Disaster Reduction 2022
¶ World BOSAI Forum

2023 (WBF2023)
Promoting Cooperation
with AffiliatedInstitutions
JICA Knowledge CoCreation Program:
Promotion ofMainstreaming Disaster
Risk Reduction

Asian Disaster
Reduction Center
Higashikan 5F, 1-5-2
Wakinohamakaigan-dori,Chuo-ku, Kobe
651-0073 Japan
Tel: 078-262-5540
Fax: 078-262-5546
editor@adrc.asia
https://www.adrc.asiaWe hope the year 2023 will be a year of hope,peace, and tranquility for all governments andrelevant organizations in the member countriesof the Asian Disaster Reduction Center(ADRC). We thank you for your support andcooperation in promoting the activities of theAsian Disaster Reduction Center.
Since the world's first confirmed case of
COVID-19 infection in December 2019, newwaves of this infectious disease have hit theworld one after another, resulting in a
catastrophe unprecedented in human history.
By early January 2023, approximately 660
million people had been infected and 6.7
million had died as a result of this disease.
Vaccination has helped to control the disease tosome extent, but there is still no end in sight. In
some areas, measures are inadequate and many
people continue to die as a result of the spread of COVID-19.
In addition to the disasters caused by COVID-19, the year 2022 also saw serious
disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, including volcanic eruptions in the Kingdom ofTonga, earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, andflooding in Pakistan. Climate hazards such as severe storms, heavy rainfall, floods,and droughts are on the rise, and these are believed to be caused by global
warming. This trend is more pronounced in the Asian region. These naturaldisasters, compounded by the pandemic, have caused difficulties the world has
never experienced before.
It is against the backdrop of this challenging global situation that the Asian
Conference on Disaster Reduction 2022 (ACDR2022) will be held in Sendai, Japanin March 2023. The main themes of the conference will be countermeasures forlarge-scale disasters, the sharing and utilization of disaster data, and crisis
management using satellite data.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake which
occurred in 1923. The Kanto Earthquake is the largest and worst disaster in modern
Japanese history, impacting more than 100,000 victims and resulting in 700,000
collapsed buildings and houses. A special session to be held during ACDR2022
will review the lessons that the Great Kanto Earthquake taught Japan and the entire
world, and will review the history of the development of knowledge andtechnology for earthquake disaster risk reduction. The outcomes of the conference
are expected to provide useful insights and information to member countries forfuture disaster risk management planning.
ADRC, in cooperation and collaboration with its 31 member countries, willcontinue to make every effort to reduce the risks of disasters, such as earthquakes,
tsunamis, storms, and floods, and to protect the peaceful and tranquil lives ofpeople around the world in 2023. Your support for our endeavors is greatlyappreciated.
HAMADA Masanori
Chairman
Asian Disaster Reduction Center© ADRC 2023

1ADRC Highlights

Vol. 358● Announcement
Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2022

As announced previously, ADRC will hold the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2022 (ACDR2022)
in a hybrid format (in-person and online) this year, after having conducted it in an online format only for thepast two years. The ACDR is held annually in Japan or another ADRC member country and aims to provide
a forum for discussing challenges in promoting DRR in Asian countries among stakeholders from member
countries and DRR-related organizations. ACDR2022 is scheduled to be held in Sendai, Japan with a focus
on the theme: "WHAT IS NEXT? - Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future."
An outline of the conference is as follows.
Date and time
10-12 March 2023
The meeting on 10 March is for member countries only. The event will be open to public starting on 11March.
Venue
Sendai International Centre
http://www.aobayama.jp/
https://goo.gl/maps/wLDr6wLoKBHFN18u5
Draft Programme
11 March (Saturday)
OpeningSpecial Session on the Centennial Commemoration of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923
Session 1: Large-Scale Disasters and Countermeasures
12 March (Sunday)
Session 2: Broaden Our Horizons for Disaster Data Linkage in SFDRR Implementation: Application ofGLIDE (GLobal IDEntifier Number)
Session 3: The Provision of Information via Satellite for Disaster and Crisis Management
Those wishing to participate in this conference in person and online can register on theACDR2022 website: https://acdr.adrc.asia/meeting/home/acdr2022.
Any conference updates will be provided on that website and in the next issue of this newsletter. We lookforward to your participation.

ACDR2022 Website

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ADRC Highlights

Vol. 358

World BOSAI Forum 2023 (WBF2023)

WBF2023 will be held at the Sendai International Center inSendai, Japan from 10-12 March 2023. The World BOSAI
Forum is Japan’s first international civic forum to bring
together representatives of international organizations,
governments, academia, and the private sector from Japan andabroad in conjunction with the International Disaster Risk
Conference in Davos, Switzerland (IDRC Davos).
WBF2023 will focus on (1) encouraging more active
participation by the private sector and younger people, and (2)increasing participation and interaction by holding highly
planned sessions on several themes, especially those related tointegrated and interdisciplinary approaches.
We hope to see you there!
Date: 10-12 March 2023
Venue: Sendai International CenterWBF2023 Website: https://worldbosaiforum.com/2023/en/● Promoting Cooperation with Affiliated Institutions
JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program: Promotion of Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction

ADRC conducted the JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program entitled “Promotion of Mainstreaming
Disaster Risk Reduction” from 12-24 December 2022, in cooperation with JICA Kansai. It was attended by
five management-level DRR agency officials from 3 countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Mexico.
This program aims to share the concept of mainstreaming DRR, that is, incorporating DRR indevelopment policies, and the methods of promoting the mainstreaming of DRR at the policy level. It also
aims to share the various experiences of Japan and to examine the strategies and approaches for promoting
the mainstreaming of DRR in participants' countries. During the two-week program, participants attend
lectures, site visits, and discussions on disaster countermeasures in Japan. They are expected to actively
engage in DRR measures to reduce humanitarian and economic losses due to disasters.
ADRC would like to express its sincerest gratitude to all the organizations and universities that
contributed to the success of this program.

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