1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center
1-1. History of the Establishment of ADRC
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) opened its office in Kobe, Japan, on July 30, 1998.
The major steps leading up to formation of 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
the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and adopted a resolution aiming tosharply reduce the damage caused by natural disasters around the world, particularly indeveloping 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 inYokohama, Japan, to conduct an interim review of the decade-long IDNDR initiative and topropose 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 sharecommon types of disasters and disaster reduction measures. Disaster reduction activities havesince been promoted throughout the world based on this strategy.
(3) 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
cooperation in disaster reduction, including a Japanese proposal to launch a feasibility study ona 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 expert 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 thecreation of the 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 in1

June 1997 to discuss activities to be undertaken by the proposed center for disaster
reduction system. Once again, key personnel from the disaster reduction bureaus of 23
countries attended the meeting, whose overall goal was to promote cooperation in disaster
reduction efforts through specific actions. A proposal was made at the meeting to establish ancenter in Japan to serve as the secretariat for the proposed system.
(6) Establishment of ADRC
With momentum gathering from this series of meetings, the government of Japan discussed
the organization, budget, and other aspects of the proposed office with the other countries
involved. With the cooperation of Hyogo Prefecture, the Asian Disaster Reduction Center wasofficially established in Kobe on July 30, 1998.

1-2. Composition
ADRC was established in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, in 1998, with mission to enhance disaster
resilience of the member countries, to build safe communities, and to create a society wheresustainable development is possible. ADRC works to build disaster resilient communities and toestablish networks among countries through many programs including personnel exchanges in thisfield.
The Center addresses this issue from a global perspective in cooperation with a variety of UNagencies and international organizations/initiatives, such as the United Nations Secretariat forInternational Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asiaand the Pacific (UNESCAP).
At the outset, ADRC was comprised of 22 member countries, four advisor countries, and anobserver organization. Armenia joined later, in August 2000, followed by the Kyrgyz Republic inJuly 2002, Pakistan in July 2005, and Yemen and Bhutan in December 2007, Azerbaijan in 2009,
Maldives in 2010, and the Republic of Iran in 2012 bringing the number of member countries to30. In March 2004, the US joined as the fifth advisor country to ADRC.

30 Member Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India,Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyz, Lao PDR,Malaysia Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,Russian Federation, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen
5 Advisor Countries: Australia, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, United States of America
Observer: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

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