5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs

5-4 Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries,
International Organizations and NGOs
ADRC places high priority on the development of institutional and human networks to sharedisaster information in Asia. Developing networks between professionals and their counterpartsin member countries, adviser countries, and observer organizations is vital to promoting
cooperation on disaster reduction efforts in Asia. Therefore, ADRC invites high level andmanagement level officials, including deputy directors, directors, and managers, to its annual
ADRC International Meeting to encourage interpersonal exchanges.

(1)Multilateral Cooperation on Disaster Reduction and Recovery
through participation in the Indian Ocean Rim Association(IORA)-led International Conference in Tanzania
An International Conference entitled “IORA Sustainable Development ProgrammeWorkshop: Exploring Preemptive Disaster Risk Management Measures to Ensure Community
Resilience”, organized and hosted by the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and co-hosted
by the Prime Minister's Office of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, washeld in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on 20-21 April 2015.
Upon invitation and request, ADRC sent one Japanese representative from International
Recovery Platform (IRP) to the conference, which attracted over 50 participants including
government officials from the Indian Ocean Rim countries. As Japan is one of the IORA's
Dialogue Partners, delegations from the Embassy of Japan in Tanzania, JICA Office inTanzania, and IRP based in Hyogo, Japan were also invited.
Considered as the first international gathering of over 20 countries associated with IORA
since the Sendai conference in March 2015, the IORA Conference provided participants withvital opportunity to exchanging their views on “How Can We Explore Preemptive Disaster
Risk Management Measures to ensuring Community Resilience?”
During the opening session titled “Disaster Risk Management and Community Resilience:
Sharing Japan's Experience”, Mr. Shingo Kochi, ADRC Senior Expert as well as IRP Senior
Recovery Expert, valued the high ability of Governments in the Indian Ocean Rim Association
to promote recovery and reconstruction efforts since the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Indian
Ocean Tsunami disasters. Mr. Kochi also noted that ADRC and IRP have long been promoting
and implementing multilateral cooperation on disaster reduction and recovery by sharing
Japan's technologies, experiences, and lessons as well as knowledge management. Among
those are “IRP Guidance Notes for Recovery”, and “ADRC's Visiting Researcher (VR)Program”.

51Fig. 5-4-1

Participants in Conference“Although the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami waves reached Tanzania and other east coast of
African countries 18 hours after the occurrence of the earthquake, still, some 100 causalities
were accounted in Somalia. This triggered the following questions: What can we learn? How
can we build back better? How can we incorporate disaster management into sustainable
development?” To shed light, Mr. Kochi emphasized the importance of everyday preparedness
by citizens and private sector, in addition to the government efforts when a massive disasterstrikes. In this connection, the upcoming big event in late May 2015: “IRP Workshop on
Disaster Recovery Planning” to be held in Dhaka, People's Republic of Bangladesh, one of
IORA member countries, will showcase another evidence of Bangladesh's continuous efforts
on disaster reduction, disaster preparedness, and recovery. This event illustrates how
ADRC/IRP will seek possibilities of providing further technical assistance for the IORA
member countries' preparation efforts toward

future disasters.

(2) Workshop on Disaster Recovery Planning in Dhaka
The need to mainstream and articulate “build back better in recovery, rehabilitation, andreconstruction” was expressed during the Stakeholders' Consultation, 9-10 December 2014 inDhaka. In response to this, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR ), theInstitute of Strategic Recovery Studies for Disaster Resilience and Research (ISRSDRR), theUnited Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh (UNDP), and the International
Recovery Platform / Asian Disaster Reduction Center (IRP / ADRC) had jointly organized athree-day workshop on disaster recovery planning, 25-27 May 2015 at CIRDAP Auditorium,
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The event gathered over 50 high level and technical delegations from various ministries of
the government, universities, development partner organizations, NGOs, and private sector toachieve to discuss recovery agenda in the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction. The event was inaugurated by Mr. Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya Bir
Bikram, Minister for Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) of the People's Republic of52

5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs
Bangladesh, who expressed commitment to pursue effective disaster management programs byincorporating 'build back better'. At the closing, Mr. Hasanul Haq Inu, Minister for
Information, assured the participants that build back better efforts in recovery, rehabilitation,and reconstruction will be advocated in Bangladesh through the support of the ministry andmedia organizations.

Fig. 5-4-2-1

Participants of the Conference

One of the workshop outcomes was the identification of recovery issues, where theparticipants came up with initial strategies and actions to be integrated in the Pre-Disaster
Recovery Plan of Bangladesh. On the bases of the workshop outcomes, the following next
steps were identified. Firstly, a parliamentary meeting on 'build back better' will be organizedon June 16, 2015 at the Bangladesh Parliament to discuss disaster risk reduction and recovery
issues that require legal support and legislation. Secondly, the MoDMR through the support of
UNDP Bangladesh will take forward the initial strategies and actions for Pre-Disaster
Recovery Plan by organizing a writeshop on the first week of August 2015. Thirdly, throughcoordination between MoDMR and BBBF, the list of recovery agendas shall be advocated inexisting policy and planning instruments in Bangladesh, including the Delta Plan that is
facilitated by the Ministry of Planning. Fourthly, under the auspices of MoDMR, the BBBF
shall take further steps to advocate in linking up key stakeholders in Bangladesh so that theInter-Ministerial Disaster Coordinating Council (IMDCC) is convened and recovery agenda is
integrated in the plans. Finally, new programs and projects to promote build back better shallbe proposed by BBBF in collaboration with MoDMR and other relevant stakeholders. The
initial proposals include building critical mass of local recovery experts and volunteers andpartnership between local universities and international knowledge hubs to promote recovery
agenda in school curricula as well as facilitate knowledge-sharing and exchange.

53

(3)East Asia Summit (EAS) & ASEAN Workshop in Hangzhou China
ADRC participated to East Asia Summit (EAS) workshop on ‘Applications of Space
Information Technology in Major Natural Disaster Monitoring and Assessment’ and 2nd
ASEAN workshop on ‘Development of mechanisms for acquisition and utilization of
space-based information during emergency response’ held on 2-5 June 2015 in Hangzhou,
China.
There were approximately 45 participants from NDRCC, Asian satellite and remote-sensing
organizations, DRR organizations, and private space companies at EAS. The recent situations
on disaster monitoring and assessment, and current challenges are reported. Participants
understood to promote the implementation of SFDRR by further utilization of spacetechnology.
In the ASEAN workshop, there were approximately 25 participants from ESCAP, Asiansatellite and remote-sensing organizations, DRR organizations, and private space companies.
Participants discussed for the guideline of emergency observation, disaster scale, and rapid
mapping. Participants also committed for further utilization of the Sentinel Asia as follows;

Due to less human resource, making time of EOR is slow



Duration between EOR and satellite observation is long.

Duration between EOR and receiving products is also long,

Data amount is so large to receive.

Less human resource for data processing

Welcoming for strengthen of WG and SC

Hoping establishment of SOP

Fig. 5-4-3-1

Participants of the Conference54

5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs

(4) ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP) 1st meeting
On 3-5 June in Bangkok, Thailand Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) participated in
the IAP meeting which was attended by around 90 participants from 17 Asian countries and 33
international institutions. The main focus of this IAP was to discuss the way forward from the
3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the implementation of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR) in the Asian Region.
At first, the Secretariat of UNISDR explained the background of this meeting; the 1st Asian
Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) after SFDRR will be hosted
by the Government of India in November 2016, and its intended outcome of this AMCDRR in
India will be to an “Asian Regional Implementation Plan of the SFDRR”. Then, theGovernment of India showed the process of preparation toward the next AMCDRR.
In this meeting, considering the importance of involving the wide-range stakeholders, asession specially devoted to the public private partnership was held and the various
participants such as ADPC and Japan Bosai Platform introduced their activities. ADRC
Executive Director, who is also one of co-chairperson of APEC Emergency Preparedness
Working Group, introduced ADRC's activities like as the research on the dissemination of
BCP among small / medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the APEC member economies andthe editing guideline on BCP for SMEs, and declared support to PPP activities by UNISDR.

Fig. 5-4-4-1

Participants of the Conference1) Asian Leaders' meeting toward implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction in Asia”, and the “2nd ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP) meeting of 2015”
ADRC participated in the “Asian Leaders’ meeting toward implementation of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia”, and the “2nd ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP)
meeting of 2015”, 17-19 November 2015, New Delhi, India On the first day in the morning,the “Asian Leaders’ meeting toward implementation of the SFDRR in Asia”, a senior levelmeeting took place, which was attended many political leaders in Asia.
Shri Kiren Rijiju, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of55

India opened and set the context of the meeting in his welcome remark, followed by akeynote address by Ms. Margareta Wahlstrom, UN Special Representative of the Secretary.
Senior level representatives from seven countries including AMCDRR host countries in thepast and in the future, had then delivered their statement on their experience and way
forward; People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Royal Thai
Government, Mongolia, Japan and Afghanistan.
Mr. F. Matsumoto, State Minister of Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, hosting the
3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, expressed their gratitude to the wide
participation in the Conference in Sendai and their strong will to support the international
community in implementing the SFDRR, in particular, by providing know-how to develop
indicators and to strengthen governance. Minister Matsumoto stressed also further
collaboration with ADRC and other regional organizations by highlighting the ACDR2016
in Phuket in February 2016. He also encouraged supporting the UN resolution designating
the World Tsunami Day by referring to their projects of awareness raising to reduce thedamages of Tsunami in Asia. Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Union Home Minister of the hostcountry, India also attended the meeting and expressed his strong hope that the meeting
would set the policy directions toward the AMCDRR in 2016.
In the afternoon, the first session of the IAP meeting focused on the AMCDRR in 2016.
After the introduction of the agenda by Ms. Kan, Head, UNISDR Asia Pacific office, Ms.
Wahlstrom gave her key note, encouraging political commitment to implementing SFDRR
in Asia, followed by an update from the host country, presentations by member countries,
and those by regional organizations. ADRC reported about its major activities after Sendai
and encouraged a wide participation in the ACDR 2016.
Morning session of the second day was focused on the Asian regional plan. A series ofpresentations to facilitate regional planning was made including those on monitoring of the
SFDRR, and indicator. In the afternoon, participants discussed in one of the three groups
aiming to provide inputs to develop the Regional Plan. Sector by sector implementation of
SFDRR was also spotlighted as well after the coffee break.
The last day started with a panel discussion on local implementation of SFDRR attended
by the participants from subnational governments including Ms. Yukimoto Ito, Vice Mayorof Sendai city, Japan. Three parallel sessions in the afternoon continued to discuss local
implementation by focusing on assessment of local risk and resilience, local DRR strategies
and plans, and inclusive and community-managed approaches, the outcome of which wasshared at the final plenary.

56

5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs

(5)The 8th GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium
ADRC participated to WG1: GEOSS Asia-Pacific Major Natural Disaster Monitoring(AP-MaNDM) of 8th Global Earth Observation system of systems (GEOSS) Asia-PacificSymposium held at 9-11 September in Beijing, China.
In the first session of WG1, current situation of space-based monitoring for natural disasterrisk reduction in each country was reported. Then, the global/regional cooperation of spacetechnology for disaster management session was held. In this session, ADRC made apresentation of the Sentinel Asia, which has been promoting the cooperation of disastermanagement organizations and space agencies. Furthermore, Mr. Suzuki, former executive
director proposed to develop more resilient platform for the collaboration with DRR andSpace technology, and WG1 agreed to a cooperation for the realization of the platform.

Fig. 5-4-5-1 Participants of the Conference(6)Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT)
According to request of JICA, ADRC made some advice and cooperation for establishment
of Disaster Management Master Course of MJIIT at September and November in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. Principal items are as follows.
Confirmation of whole schedule, evaluation and input for the curriculum.



Recommendations to include about stream of international cooperation for DRR such as
HFA and SFDRR, and the role of international cooperation agency (UNISDR, AHA
center, etc.) in the master course ware accepted.



Due to the high interest of MJIIT side for Sentinel Asia, which is conducted by ADRC,
JAXA, etc., ADRC invited MJIIT to participate as one of the Disaster Analysis Node
(DAN).

Confirmed the intention of the announcement in the Asian Conference on Disaster
Reduction (ACDR2016) to be held in Thailand in February next year for the Dean.

For the Disaster Management Master course to be started in February 2016, ADRC hopes tocontinue cooperation include to utilize it as an opportunity to strengthen staffs of ADRC
member countries, of the staff capacity.

57

(7) Conferences of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
ADRC participated in APEC's Emergency Preparedness Working Group, EPWG, as a
co-chair. Emergency preparedness is one of the key elements of the majority of APEC
economies, as natural disasters that affect one member economy could have significant
spill-over effects in other economies. EPWG in cooperation of many other WGs andinternational organizations and private sector as well as the member economies plays aconstructive role in enabling the APEC region to better prepare for and respond to
emergencies and disasters by helping to reduce the risk of disasters and building business andcommunity resilience. In the fiscal year 2015, ADRC attended the following meetings.
1) APEC Workshop on community-based disaster risk management in response to
climate change
The workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
and the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee as one of the initiatives by Vietnam in
preparation for the country’s hosting of the 25th APEC Summit in 2017.
The workshop, attended by around 100 participants from member economies, focused oncommunity-based disaster management efforts of member economies as well as those ofinternational organizations and adopted a summary report, the essence of which was presented at
the 9TH Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum, held 22-23 September 2015 in Iloilo City,
Philippines.
ADRC made a presentation in the Session 2 titled “Innovative approaches to investment
and technology” chaired by USAID and raised some steps after Sendai, including thosetowardWorld Tsunami Day, Community-based DM well adapted to the ageing andurbanizing Asia, and better bridging of scientific and locally based knowledge. ADRC alsodelivered a closing remark of the workshop.

Fig. 1-2-2-7-1

Participants of the Conference2) APEC the 9tH Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum
ADRC attended an APEC senior level meeting on disaster management, as a co-chair of
EPWG. The meeting was hosted by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management58

5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs
Council (NDRRMC) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Philippines. The Forum will
be attended by APEC economies, private sector, non-government organizations and so on.
The meeting raised diverse topics on DRR and contributed to sharing of best practices ofthe various member-economies. From Japan, Mr.Yoshiyasu HYOTANI, Deputy
Director-General for Disaster Management Bureau, Cabinet Office, made a presentation
titled “ Protecting the Economic Interests from the Disasters” focusing mainly on theeconomic impacts by the Great East Japan earthquake and the recovery from it.
As an output of the Forum, the ‘APEC Disaster Risk Reduction Framework’, a policy
document to address disasters and the “new normal” to be faced with the member
economies, was discussed, which was endorsed in mid-October and presented to theConcluding Senior Official’s Meeting (CSOM) for information and submitted to the APEC
Ministerial Meeting (AMM).
3) APEC Workshop on Application of Big Data and Open Data to Emergency
Preparedness Phase 1 (EPWG 01 2014A)
ADRC participated in an APEC workshop focusing on big data and open data application
to emergency preparedness, as a co-chair of Emergency Preparedness Working Group,
EPWG. The workshop was attended by more than 20 participants from APEC economies,
universities and research organizations including Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
The workshop was opened by a statement by Mr. Chung-Liang Chien, Deputy Ministerof Ministry of Science and Technology of Chinese Taipei, followed by a keynote by Mr.
Roger Stone, Assistant Administrator for National Continuity Programs, Federal Emergency
Management Agency U.S. Department of Homeland Security, focusing on “Best Practices
for Alert and Warning Systems, Leveraging Public Private Partnership”. Another keynote
was then delivered by Dr. Wei-Sen Li, Co-Chair of EPWG and Secretary General, National
Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction on topic of Enhancing Regional
Digital Preparedness on Natural Hazards - The Application of Science and Technology in
DRR Decision-Making.”
ADRC attended the first two sessions on the 1st day. Session 1: “Big datasets for disasterrisk reduction” highlighted some best practices of the digital emergency preparedness, in
preparing and collecting big dataset to mitigate adverse impacts brought by disasters. In thesession 2: “Regional projects to improve digital emergency preparedness”, ADRC reported ,after summarizing recent government policy development on big data and open data ingeneral, about diverse efforts in Japan to strengthen institutional information sharing among
the relevant ministries regarding disaster relief activities.
Three sessions as follows took place as well: (3) Practical applications of big data or open
data, (4) Synergies with industry, private sector and crowd sourcing, and (5) Challenges toembrace the new trend. Data collections are the basic digital emergency preparedness tomitigate adverse impacts brought by disasters.

59