ADRC Highlights
Asian Disaster Reduction Center Monthly News
● Promoting Cooperation with Affiliated Institutions
Vol. 348
March2022
TOPICS
Promoting Cooperation
with AffiliatedInstitutions¶ APEC's Emergency
Preparedness WorkingGroup (EPWG)¶ Research on Use
Cases for QZSS-EWS¶ JICA Knowledge CoCreation Program:Comprehensive DisasterRisk Reduction
Participation inInternational
Conferences

APEC's Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG)

Executive Director Nakagawa succeeded former Executive Director Suzuki as a cochair of the APEC Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG). APEC is aframework for economic cooperation among 21 economies in the Asia-Pacificregion. At the Senior Officials Meeting held in February, each organization underthe APEC umbrella outlined its activities for this year. The EPWG co-chairs
outlined how the group conducts its EPWG meetings, promotes individual projects,and works with other organizations. Thailand, this year's host country, presented
the following three priorities under the theme "OPEN, CONNECT, BALANCE."- Openness in all opportunities for trade and investment- Reinvigorating all aspects of collaboration- Promoting balance, sustainability, and inclusiveness on all fronts
Each participating economy also affirmed its commitment to take action torealize the Putrajaya Vision 2040, APEC's long-term action guideline, and its
corresponding Aotearoa Action Plan. The economies then commented on the work.
Among them, the Japanese government specifically expressed support for theactivities of EPWG, specifically in the context of intensifying disaster risks due toclimate change and other factors.

Participation in the 54th
Session of the Typhoon
Committee
Announcement
Personnel Change

EPWG Online Meeting

Asian DisasterReduction Center

Research on Use Cases for QZSS-EWS
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.asia© ADRC 2022

The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Early Warning Service (QZSS-EWS) of Japanutilizes satellites to transmit disaster warning information (Figure 1). It augments
ground-based telecommunication facilities (e.g., TV, radio, mobile phones, andother devices) - particularly in areas with limited network coverage (e.g.,mountainous and island areas) - in disseminating the warning information. Since
Japan will expand the QZSS-EWS in Asia and Pacific region in 2024, the Asian
Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) has been conducting feasibility studies for thispurpose. In a recent study, ADRC investigated the use cases for QZSS-EWS in1

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Vol. 348

Continued

three different local environments with different types of disaster risk, namely: (1) communities in coastal
areas of Bangladesh, who are prone to tropical cyclones; (2) communities of farmers in the downstream
areas of Bhutan Himalayas, who are prone to glacial lake flood outbursts (GLOF); and (3) communities ofherders in the steppe of Mongolia, who are prone to dzud.
Findings of the research indicate that:- Due to limited network coverage, warning information either does not reach communities at risk or,when it does reach those communities, tends to be unclear, distorted, or delayed. Thus, there is real needto augment the early warning systems in these communities.
- In each of the target areas, there are entry points for the operationalization of QZSS-EWS, such as theCyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) in Bangladesh, the GLOF early warning system in Bhutan, andthe Dzud Risk Map in Mongolia.
- Investing in efforts to build capacity and raise awareness among community members is needed, as thiswill provide greater benefits in the long-run.
In the three communities, QZSS-EWS has great potential to save lives and livelihoods through, forexample, direct alerts to individuals who are within the "radius of the disaster event" and notifying them of
the nearest evacuation area; automatic sounding of community sirens activated through the Low Power WideArea Networks; and the direct display of warning messages on electronic community message boards.

Figure 1. Operationalization of QZSS-EWS Overseas (Suzuki, 2021)

JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program: Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction

From 11 January to 15 February 2022, the JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Reduction was held online. The program was organized by ADRC and was attended by five nationaland local disaster management officials from five countries.
In alignment with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), especially target (e)"Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by
2020," the goal of this program was to enable the DRR systems of each country to be upgraded based onnational and local DRR plans and thus to reduce the damage caused by disasters. Over the course of theprogram, each participant was expected to formulate a draft local DRR plan.
During the six-week program, the participants proactively joined lectures on disaster countermeasures andexercises around local DRR plans, and drafted plans for their target municipalities.
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Vol. 348● Participation in International Conferences
Participation in the 54th Session of the Typhoon Committee
Lao PDR hosted the 54th Session of the Typhoon
Committee which was held online on 23-25
February 2022. The event opened with theelection of Madam Outhone Phetluangshy(Director General, Department of Meteorologyand Hydrology, Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment) of Lao PDR and Mr Weng Kun
Leong (Director, Meteorological and GeophysicalBureau) of Macao, China as chair and vice chair,respectively, of the 54th Session. One of theoutcomes of the meeting was the presentation ofthe Committee's Strategic Framework 2022-2026,
which is aimed at achieving two targets: (1)Screenshot of the 54th Session of the Typhoon Committee
substantially reduce total mortality caused bytropical cyclone related disasters of the members for the decade 2021-2030 compared to the period 20052015; and (2) Reduce direct economic losses caused by tropical cyclone-related disasters in relation to thetotal gross domestic product (GDP) of the members for the decade 2021-2030 compared to the period 20052015. Committee members agreed on seven Key Result Areas (KRAs) in implementing the Strategic
Framework:
1. Enhance capacity to monitor the impacts of tropical cyclones
2. Enhance capacity in tropical cyclone forecasting and disaster risk prediction
3. Improve flood mitigation measures
4. Strengthen capacity development activities in meteorology, hydrology, DRR, and civil protection
sectors
5. Promote visibility and enhance the Typhoon Committee's Regional and International collaboration
mechanisms
6. Advance collaborative scientific research
7. Enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities
All working groups of the Typhoon Committee, namely, the Working Group on Meteorology (WGM);
Working Group on Hydrology (WGH), the Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (WGDRR), and theTraining and Research Coordination Group (TRCG), presented how each have integrated the seven KRAs in
their respective Annual Operations Plans (AOPs) for 2022. By the end of the year, all the working groups,including WGDRR in which ADRC is a member, will report on their progress during 17th Integrated
Workshop (IWS) which will be hosted by UN-ESCAP in Bangkok, Thailand. The modalities of the event
will be decided later considering the COVID-19 situation. On the final day of the meeting, members decided
that the 55th Session of the Typhoon Committee will be organized in Macao, China in February 2023.
● Announcement
Personnel Change

Mr KOBORI Kazuyuki, Senior Administrative Manager left his position at ADRC at the end of March 2022.
All of us at ADRC offer our best wishes for his continued success.

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