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1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

1-1. History of the Establishment of the ADRC
The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) opened its office in Kobe, Japan, on July 30, 1998.
The major steps leading up to formation of the ADRC are described below.

(1) International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)At its 42nd General Assembly in December 1987, the United Nations designated the 1990s as theInternational Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and adopted a resolution aiming to sharply
reduce the damage caused by natural disasters around the world, particularly in developing countries,
through joint international action.

(2) 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 an action
plan for the future. At the meeting, the “Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World” was adopted,
highlighting the importance of international cooperation in regions that share common types ofdisasters and disaster reduction measures. Disaster reduction activities have since been promoted
throughout the world based on this strategy.

(3) Ministerial-level Asian Natural Disaster Reduction Conference
As a first step toward regional cooperation under the Yokohama Strategy, the IDNDR Secretariatorganized 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 themeeting, which concluded with the adoption of the Kobe Disaster Reduction Declaration. Thisdeclaration consists of ideas for promoting international cooperation in disaster reduction, including aJapanese proposal to launch a feasibility study on a system for coordinating disaster reduction efforts
in the Asian region.

(4) Asian Natural Disaster Reduction Experts Meeting
The government of Japan and the IDNDR Secretariat jointly organized an experts meeting inOctober 1996 to hash out how a central disaster reduction system, as stated in the Kobe Disaster
Reduction Declaration, might be created for the Asian region. The meeting was attended by key
personnel in the disaster reduction bureaus of 30 countries, and they agreed to study the creation ofthe tentatively named “Asian Disaster Reduction Center” to serve as a secretariat for promoting
activities under the proposed system.

(5) Asian Disaster Reduction Cooperation Promotion Meeting
The government of Japan and the IDNDR Secretariat jointly organized a meeting in Tokyo in June
1997 to discuss the specific activities of the proposed central disaster reduction system. Once again,
key personnel from the disaster reduction bureaus of 23 countries attended the meeting, whoseoverall goal was to promote cooperation in disaster reduction efforts through specific actions. A
proposal was made at the meeting to establish an office in Japan to serve as the secretariat for theproposed system.

(6) Establishment of the ADRC
With momentum gathering from this series of meetings, the Japanese government discussed theorganization, budget, and other aspects of the proposed office with the other countries involved. With
the cooperation of Hyogo Prefecture, the Asian Disaster Reduction Center was officially establishedin Kobe on July 30, 1998.

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