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

5-3. Promoting Cooperation with International &Regional Organizations and NGOs
The ADRC places high priority on the development of institutional and personal network toshare disaster information in the Asia region. Developing personal networks between
professionals and their counterparts in member countries, adviser countries, and observerorganizations is vital to promoting cooperation on disaster reduction efforts in Asia. Therefore,
ADRC invites management level officials, including deputy directors, directors, and managers,
to its annual ADRC International Meeting to encourage interpersonal exchanges.
On the other hand, ADRC has been hosting Visiting Researchers (VR) from member
countries since 1999. (see 4-1 for details) ADRC updates VR-network contact list annually..

(1) ISDR Asia Partnership
The ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP) is an informal network of agencies that facilitate regional
disaster risk reduction efforts in Asia and Pacific, especially in promoting national activities
of HFA implementation and supporting biennial Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction (AMCDRR).
Established in 2003, the IAP has now over 30 members including UN, international,regional/sub-regional organizations, donor agencies, NGOs and academia in the region.
Since its conception, the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) has served as a core
member of the IAP along with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)
and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), the United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA), United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific(UNESCAP).
In 2009, the IAP, as a conference partner, held several meetings in order to promote andsupport the fourth AMCDRR in Korea scheduled in October 2010, where the ADRC willcontribute to organizing several events in collaboration with the IAP members and thecountries in the region. During the meetings in Incheon in September 2009, in Bangkok inDecember 2009 and March 2010, discussions were made over such issues as preparatory
process and documentation of the coming ministerial conference.

71Fig.5-3-2-(1) IAP meeting in Incheon in September 2009

(2) Collaboration with the ADRRN
Today, NGOs as well as governments and international organizations play active roles indisaster response and risk reduction in Asia. In addition to conducting rescue activities
immediately after a disaster, NGOs work in close cooperation with local communities toprovide support for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, and to promote disaster
preparedness activities, such as disaster education and disaster awareness efforts during
non-critical times. However, the limited resources that individual NGOs have for dealing withdisasters require them to further enhance their capabilities and strengthen their ties withrelevant authorities.
The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) co-organized the “Regional Workshop on
Networking and Collaboration among Non-Governmental Organizations of Asian Countries
in Disaster Risk Reduction and Responses” with the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Kobe, in February 2002. The workshop, which was held in
Kobe, aimed to facilitate international networking and collaboration among NGOs involved indisaster prevention and rescue operations in the Asian region, and attracted 35 participantsfrom disaster-related NGOs in 16 Asian countries. A consensus was reached among theworkshop participants regarding the establishment of the Asian Disaster Reduction andResponse Network (ADRRN) to promote cooperation among related NGOs. ADRC as well as
OCHA Kobe were granted observer status for supporting the network's activities.
Especially since the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004, the ADRRN has been
increasing its presence in Asia and actively conducting various disaster response, recovery,and mitigation activities in tsunami-affected countries.
ADRC

conducted

a project in Malaysia in 2007, 2008, and 2009, which targeted

ADRRN-member NGOs (see 4-2-1

for details).

72

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

(3) Japan-SAARC Symposium on Disaster Prevention
Realizing the need for vulnerability maps in decision making related to disaster risk
education in South Asia, ADRC and the SAARC Disaster Management Center (SDMC), withthe support of the Japan-SAARC Special Fund, held a Symposium on the Framework for
Regional Disaster Prevention in the SAARC Region (Japan-SAARC Symposium on Disaster
Prevention) on 19-20 January, 2010 in Kobe, Japan.
Twelve delegates from eight SAARC member countries, including H. E. Mr. Minjur Dorji,
Honorable Minster of Home and Cultural Affairs, Bhutan, and H.E. Mr. Abudulla Shahid,Minister, National Disaster Management Center, Maldives, participated in the symposium,along with national and local government officials from Japan, expert scientists, andrepresentatives of international and regional organizations .
During the symposium, the participants examined the current status of efforts to develop
hazard, vulnerability, and risk maps in the SAARC countries and discussed how to make thebest use of those maps in disaster risk reduction activities as well as urban public policy
development efforts, such as land use planning. The participants also discussed ways use
these maps to raise risk awareness at the community level.
Based on their intensive discussions, the symposium participants ultimately issued arecommendation to the SAARC member countries and their development partners that hazard,vulnerability, and risk maps be created.

Fig. 5-3-2(3)-1

Symposium participants.

73

(4) Collaboration and Cooperation with Central Asia
The Central Asia territory is highly susceptible to the natural disasters. The complex natural
climatic conditions of the region account for the high probability of the trans-boundary impactsof the potential natural disasters. Different conditions and paces of development of the Central
Asian countries lead to the vulnerability of the population to various disaster risks.
Therefore, it is indispensable to share information, promote cooperation, and coordinate theactions among the countries in the region to enhance their capacity in disaster risk reduction
and disaster preparedness for response. Significant progress towards the collaboration has been
made in the region since the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in 2005, andnow vigorous consultations have continued for establishing the Central-Asian Disaster
Preparedness and Response Coordination Center in response to the gain of momentum.
The ADRC has supported the initiative as a regional organization and participated actively inthe consultations and discussion by taking various opportunities.
In fiscal year 2009, the ADRC participatedin the 2nd Consultative Meeting on
Establishment of Regional Disaster
Preparedness and Response Coordination
Centre in Central Asia which was organized
by Kazakhstan government and UN OCHA inAlmaty, Kazakhstan on 15-16 April 2009.
In the meeting, the participants including
representatives from Republic of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyz Republic, and Republic of Tajikistan
discussed specific conditions and definition

Fig. 5-3-2(4)-1 2nd consultative Meeting in
Kazakhstan, April 2009

towards establishing of the Coordination
Centre which has been agreed through several meetings on mutual cooperation for disaster risk
reduction in the Central Asia. The delegates from the Central Asian countries were activelyinvolved in the discussion. The documents for establishment of the Centre were gone throughone article by one article for reaching consensus. Further, through the discussion, the Centre's
name has been changed as "the Central Asia Coordination Centre on Disaster Response andRisk Reduction" in consideration of the aspect that the Centre would also play important rolefor disaster risk reduction in the area.
Further, the ADRC organized a Central Asia and Caucasus Regional Cooperation Meeting on
Disaster Risk Reduction on 20 January 2010 in Kobe as a side meeting of the Asian Conference
on Disaster Reduction 2010. The meeting was attended by the delegations from Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and the representatives fromJICA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, UNOCHA, and UNISDR. The meeting was aimedat further promoting of the collaboration of the region in disaster risk reduction and introducing
the current initiatives for creating a regional coordination center to the participants.

74

5. Promoting Cooperation with Member Countries, International Organizations and NGOs
In the meeting, the following points were highlighted: 1) High level engagement andcommitment to cooperation in the sub-region should be encouraged, 2) Number of initiatives
and partners in disaster risk reduction in thesub-region has been increased, and 3)
Institutionalized cooperation and coordinationof disaster risk management activities arerequired and the Central Asia Coordination
Centre for Disaster Response and Risk
Reduction is recognized as a means toachieve this. Further, the participants took
note of the invitation to join the initiative forFig. 5-3-2 (4)Central Asia and Caucasus
Regional Cooperation Meeting, January 2010

establishment of the Center, and wereexpected to extend it to other interestedparties.

75

(5) The Typhoon Committee
The Typhoon Committee (TC) is an inter-governmental body that was organized in 1968
under the joint auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia andthe Pacific (UNESCAP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in order topromote and coordinate the planning and implementation of measures required forminimizing the loss of life and material damage caused by typhoons in Asia and the Pacific.
The founding members of the TC were China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Thailand. These were followed by Cambodia (1972),
Malaysia (1976), Viet Nam (1979), Macao, China (1993), People’s Democratic Republic ofKorea (1993), Singapore (1997), and the US (1998), bringing the present membership to 14.
In recent years, ADRC has been involved in TC activities as an adviser, promoting andestablishing the GLIDE (Global unique disaster Identifier) system that it developed. In 2009,ADRC attended the Workshop of the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Working Group(DPP-WG) held in South Korea, and the 42nd Session of the TC, which was held in Thailand.
ADRC participated in the fourth meeting of the Working-Group on Disaster Prevention andPreparedness which was jointly organized by UNESCAP, the WMO Typhoon Committee
Secretariat, and the National Emergency Management Agency of the Republic of Korea inSeoul on 8-29 April 2009. The 22 participants who attended the meeting included
representatives from China, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic ofKorea, Thailand, the US, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, and the Macao Special AdministrativeRegions, as well as representatives from the three organizing institutions.
During the meeting, participants discussed future activities of the working group, such as
upgrades to the Typhoon Committee Disaster Information System (TCDIS), which is expected
to be a useful typhoon- related disaster database for Asia. ADRC gave a presentation on therole of GLIDE numbers, which are to be assigned to disasters contained in the individual
databases of different organizations, and on the ADRC's contributions to the working groupthis year. The next meeting scheduled is the Integrated Workshop of the Typhoon Committee,
to be held in the third week of September in the Philippines.
The Typhoon Committee has two other working groups on meteorology and hydrology, inaddition to the working group on disaster prevention and preparedness.
The 42nd Session of the TC, held in Singapore from 25-29 January 2010, was jointly
organized by UNESCAP, the WMO, and the government of Singapore. In attendance were 83
people from seven countries, including representatives of several international and regionalorganizations and Mr. Koresawa, ADRC Executive Director. During the session, participants
discussed the TC's activities in 2009,the typhoons that occurred in 2009, and the activities
planned for 2010.

76