1 . A si a n D i sa ster R ed u c ti on Center ( A D R C)

1. Asian Disaster Reduction
Foreword Center (ADRC)
1-1. History of the Establishment of ADRCIn The
2018,
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) opened its office in K obe, Japan, on July 30,
celebrated
20th steps
anniversary.
To tocommemorate
this milestone,
1998. Theitsmajor
leading up
formation of ADRC
are described below.
the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction (ACDR) 2018 was( 1 ) onI n t Awaji
ern a t i onIslanda l D ec ina def or N a Japan,t u ra l D fromi s a s t er30R edu
c t i on to( I D 1N D R )heldHyogo,October

At its 42nd General Assembly in December 1987, the U nited Nations designated the 1990s asNovember 2018. It brought together 118 participants, including
the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and adopted a resolution aiming torepresentatives of 25 member countries and one advisory
sharply reduce the damage caused by natural disasters around the world, particularly incountry,
as well countries,
as other observers
and international
partners, to takestock ofaction.
developing
through joint

ADRC’s achievements and strategize future programs and( 2 ) W orl d C on f eren c e on N a t u ra l D i s a s t er R edu c t i onactivities.

In May 1994, the U N held the W orld Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction inY okohama, Japan, to conduct an interim review of the decade-long IDNDR initiative and toIn addition, ADRC and its member countries welcomed Turkey as a new member in 2018.
propose an action plan for the future. At the meeting, the “ Y okohama Strategy for a Safer W orld”
Turkeyprone tohighlighting
various natural
disasters, asofare
other Asiancooperation
countries, suchas earthquakes,wasisadopted,
the importanceinternationalin regionsthat sharecommontypes of disasters
and disastermeasures.
Disaster reduction
activities
havefloods,and landslides.
In its recent
history, reductiona magnitude
7.4 earthquake
struck Izmit,
locatedinsince beenTurkey,
promotedthetheworld
based
on this strategy.
northwesternandthroughout
devastating
local
community
and the region’s economy. I believethat Turkey’s experiences in managing natural disasters will contribute further to creating a safer( 3 ) M i n i s t eri a l - l ev el A s i a n N a t u ra l D i s a s t er R edu c t i on C on f eren c e
Asia with ADRC and its member countries.
As the first step toward regional cooperation under the Y okohama Strategy, the IDNDRSecretariat organized a meeting in K obe in December 1995 to formulate a policy on disasterADRC
has been
promotingactivities
in thefield of
human resource
reduction
cooperationin Asia.
Cabinetmembers
in information-sharing,
charge of disaster reduction
from 28
countries community
attended thecapacity-building,meeting, which concluded
withthe adoptionof Asian
the K obe
Disasterdevelopment,and regional
cooperationin theregion
sinceReduction Declaration. This declaration consists of ideas for promoting international
its establishment and we will further contribute to these activities going forward. In 2019, wecooperation in disaster reduction, including a Japanese proposal to launch a feasibility study on
will continue to encourage and focus attention on efforts such as GLIDE, to support our worka system for coordinating disaster reduction efforts in the Asian region.
monitoring the Sendai Framework and the SDGs, the Visiting Researcher program, to improve

public-privatedisaster( 4 ) A s i risk
a n N reductiona t u ra l D i s (DRR)a s t er R capacity,
edu c t i on andE x p ert
s M eet i n g partnerships to improve cooperation
The effective
governmentof Japan andIDNDR Secretariat
organized
expert meeting inin utilizing
technologies
andtheaffordablesolutions injointlyaddressing
DRRanissues.
October 1996 to hash out how a central disaster reduction system, as stated in the K obe Disaster
Reduction Declaration, might be created for the Asian region. The meeting was attended by key
As natural disasters have no boundaries, I sincerely appreciate your active cooperation acrosspersonnel in the disaster reduction bureaus of 30 countries, and they agreed to study theboundaries
borders
to advanceworkDisasteron DRRReduction
now and Center”
into the tofuture.
creationandof thetentatively
namedour“ Asianserve as a secretariat for
promoting activities under the proposed system.

March 2019( 5 ) A s i a n D i s a s t er R edu c t i on C oop era t i on P rom ot i on M eet i n g

Masanori Hamada, Chairman
The government of Japan and the IDNDR Secretariat jointly organized a meeting in Tokyo in
Asian Disaster Reduction Center

11June 1997 to discuss activities to be undertaken by the proposed center for disaster

Foreword

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 disasterspecificactions. CenterA proposal
was made at the meeting to establish aIn reduction
2018, efforts
Asian throughDisasterReduction(ADRC)
center itsin Japanto serve as thefor thethis
proposedsystem.
celebrated
20th anniversary.
Tosecretariat
commemorate
milestone,

the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction (ACDR) 2018 was( 6 ) E s t a b l i s h m en t of A D R C
held on Awaji Island in Hyogo, Japan, from 30 October to 1
W ith momentum gathering from this series of meetings, the government of Japan discussed
November
2018. It brought
118aspects
participants,
the organization,budget,together
and otherof theincluding
proposed office with the other countries
involved. W ithof Hyogo andP refecture,
the Asian Disaster Reduction Center wasrepresentativesof the25 cooperation
member countries
one advisory
officiallyestablishedin K obe onand
Julypartners,
30, 1998.
country,
as wellas other observers
to take stock of

ADRC’s achievements and strategize future programs and1-2 . Comp osition

activities.
ADRC was established in K obe, Hyogo prefecture, in 1998, with mission to enhance disaster
resilience of the member countries, to build safe communities, and to create a society whereIn addition, ADRC and its member countries welcomed Turkey as a new member in 2018.
sustainable development is possible. ADRC works to build disaster resilient communities and toTurkey is prone to various natural disasters, as are other Asian countries, such as earthquakes,
establish networks among countries through many programs including personnel exchanges in thisfloods,field. and landslides. In its recent history, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Izmit, located innorthwestern
Turkey,and thisdevastating
thea local
the region’swith
economy.
I believe
The Centeraddresses
issue fromglobalcommunity
perspectiveandin cooperationa varietyof U N
agencies
andexperiencesinternationalinorganizations/
initiatives,
suchwillas theU nited Nationsfor Disaster
thatTurkey’s
managing naturaldisasters
contribute
further Officeto creatinga safer
Risk Reduction (U NDRR), the U nited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Asia with ADRC and its member countries.
Affairs (U NOCHA), the U nited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(U NESCO), the U nited Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the P acifichas ).been promoting activities in the field of information-sharing, human resource(UADRCNESCAPdevelopment,
communityandmember
regionalcountries,
cooperation
the AsianregionandsinceAt the outset,
ADRC capacity-building,
was comprised of 22
four inadvisor
countries,anjoinedcontributelater, in August
2000,
followedby theK yrgyzInRepublic
inorganization.
itsobserver
establishment
and weArmenia
will furtherto theseactivities
goingforward.
2019, weJuly 2002, P akistan in July 2005, and Y emen and B hutan in December 2007, Azerbaijan in 2009,
will continue to encourage and focus attention on efforts such as GLIDE, to support our work
the Maldives in 2010, the Republic of Iran in 2012, and Turkey in 2018 bringing the number ofmonitoring the Sendai Framework and the SDGs, the Visiting Researcher program, to improve
member countries to 31. In March 2004, the U S joined as the fifth advisor country to ADRC.
disaster risk reduction (DRR) capacity, and public-private partnerships to improve cooperationin utilizing
and affordable
in addressing
DRR issues.
3 1 M emeffective
b er C outechnologies
n t ri es : Armenia,Azerbaijan,solutions
B angladesh,B hutan, Cambodia,
China, India,Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, K azakhstan, Republic of K orea, K yrgyz Republic,
Lao P DR,
Malaysia
Maldives,
Mongolia,
Myanmar,
Nepal, P akistan,
P apuaNew Guinea,
As natural
disasters
have
no boundaries,
I sincerely
appreciate
your active
cooperation
acrossP hilippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey,
boundaries
and borders to advance our work on DRR now and into the future.
U zbekistan, Viet Nam, Y emen

5 A dv i s or C ou n t ri es : Australia, France, New Z ealand, Switzerland, U nited States of America
O b s erv er: Asian Disaster P reparedness Center (ADP C)

March 2019

Masanori Hamada, Chairman
Asian Disaster Reduction Center22