5. The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction

5-7. International Symposium“Living with Risk – disaster reduction for futuregenerations –”１）

Purpose:Despite the efforts made by countries and relevant organizations, natural disasters
continue to be a great threat to people and their social lives, hampering the achievement ofsustainable development, especially in developing countries. Being held on the occasion of
the tenth anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Symposium aims toprovide an opportunity to enhance the understanding of the importance of disaster riskreduction and of the need to further strengthen capacities by promoting cooperation andcollaboration for reducing risks at various stakeholders, such as local and central
governments, UN agencies, international organizations, academia, NGOs, andcommunities.

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Date/Time:
January 17, 2005 (Mon) 15:30-17:40

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Venue
Kobe Portopia Hall (Minatojima-nakamachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan)

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Organized by:
Cabinet Office (Government of Japan), United Nations Inter-Agency Secretariat of theInternational Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), United Nations University(UNU), Hyogo Prefectural Government, United Nations Office for the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA) Kobe, and Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)

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In cooperation with:Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan Broadcasting Corporation(NHK) Kobe Broadcasting Center, International Federation of Red Cross and Red CrescentSocieties (IFRC), and World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

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Programme
1. Opening remarks- H.E. Mr. Yoshitaka Murata, Minister of State for Disaster Management, Japan- Mr. Tatsuo Yada, Mayor of Kobe City
2. Keynote Speech-H.E. Mr. Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, MP, Minister for Food and DisasterManagement, People's Republic of Bangladesh

Challenges for Disaster Management in Bangladesh“Due to its peculiar and unique geographical location and topography,
Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and other naturaldisasters, every year causing serious damage on people and economy. Relief has
been given for years to the people in Bangladesh and as a result they have become
relief-oriented. There are millions of poor people in disaster-prone areas inBangladesh. No amount of relief and response would help, because they are trappedin a vicious circle of poverty and disaster. In order to break this circle, it is necessary
to reduce vulnerabilities to disaster risks and enhance capacities of the poor forestablishing sustainable livelihood. In this regard, Bangladesh has initiated a projectcalled “Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Programme”, which includes publicawareness programme, training for community leaders, management of livelihood

5. The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction

outcomes in a planned way, resulting in a great reduction of disaster risks andcontributing to poverty eradication. The future tasks will be the changing of themindset of the key policymakers, empowerment of the poor to cope with disasters,
and mainstreaming of disaster risk management into development planning andinstitutions.”-Ms. Sadako Ogata, President of JICA

Integration of disaster risk reduction in broader context of 'governance' issues“Governance has two meaning: top-down governance (governance bygovernments) and self-governance of people. Having both of them, you can truly
have the governance. In case of developing nations, administrative organizations
are rather vulnerable and there are too many of them involved in disaster reduction
without any cooperation and coordination among them. In addition, people who areoften affected by disasters are disadvantageous people such as the poor, and theyfall into a vicious circle, failing to rebuild their livelihood and deteriorating poverty
conditions. And information and knowledge on disaster risks and disaster reduction
are not fully communicated to local people, who often have a low awareness of
disaster reduction at the same time.
In order to confront these current conditions, it is crucial to be aware of disasterrisks by use of hazard maps and early warning systems, establish overall rules for
information sharing at the time of disasters, reduce disaster risks, and educate
people on how to respond to disasters utilizing the information obtained, from thestandpoint of human security. Furthermore, it is important to reaffirm that disasterrisks are one of the major impediments to poverty programmes and should beintegrated into socio-economic development.”
3. Special report
Report on the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami-Ms. Sumedha Ghunawathie Jayasena, Minister of Women Empowerment and Social
Welfare, Sri Lanka“Sri Lanka has experienced few natural calamities in the past, however,landslides and droughts have inflicted heavy damage on the country in this coupleof years. The devastating tsunami disaster brought the worst damage on the country
in its history, with 90% of the coastal buildings destroyed, 30,833 dead, 192,920
families affected, and 482,531 people displaced (as of January 10th). I would like toexpress my sincere appreciation to the international community for their kindassistance extended to us.”-Mr. Nimal Hettiarachchi, Director of National Disaster Management Centre, SriLanka“The Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster caused a great catastrophe to Sri Lanka.
About 131,700 houses were destroyed by the tsunami, about 90,000 houses
completely collapsed and 40,000 houses partially collapsed. There were great
impacts on educational facilities.
Sri Lanka needs further international assistance, or an estimated amount of
US$ 853 million, for recovery.”

4. Panel Discussion-Mr. Katsuji Ebisawa, President of NHK“We learned from this devastating tsunami disaster that broadcasters have agreat responsibility for the minimization of the impact of disasters, even at their

5. The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction

earliest stage. It is important to have bird's eye view of disasters.
In Japan, there is the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, which stipulates
that governmental organizations for disaster reduction and designated publicorganizations, such as NHK, should work in close cooperation to protect the lives
and assets of the general public. NHK has been closely working with the River
Bureau of the Ministry for Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, as well as with theJapan Meteorological Agency. In addition, it is crucial to conduct field exercises afew times a year.”-Mr. Jan Egeland, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs andEmergency Relief Coordinator“It is crucial to prepare for disasters, establish early warning systems, andimplement development programmes, in order to build a disaster-resilient society,as well as to respond to disasters. One dollar or one yen spent on prevention cangenerate a ten-fold yield in terms of money not having to be spent on recovery
works later.
We cannot prevent natural hazards from occurring, but we can make societies
more resistant to face these natural hazards. The Red Cross and Red CrescentSocieties, local authorities, local schools, local hospitals, local churches or local
mosque will be the first line of defense. Then, countries should have nationalplatforms, where the organizations cooperate to meet future challenges. In addition,
it is important to invest in local communities and early warning systems.”-Mr. Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of WMO“About80-90%ofall
naturaldisastereventsareofmeteorological/hydrological origin, or are aggravated by such phenomena. Inaddition, over 85% of people killed are through such disasters. This explains why
the WMO is involved in disaster prevention activities, and at the same time, it canbe said that damage could be reduced since these prevention activities have beenconducted.
A wide variety of actors are involved in disaster management, such as theproviders of services for monitoring assets and providing early warnings, various
disaster preparedness coalition groups, civil defence authorities, risk managers,
decision makers, governments, etc. Moreover, it is important to transmit
information to, raise awareness of, and educate people who respond to disasters. Itis not a matter of meteorology alone, but climatology, hydrology, oceanography,
every other earth science you can think of. In this regards, we cannot treat theproblem in isolation.”-Mr. Markku Niskala, Secretary-General of IFRC
“We know from experiences that there cannot be an effective risk reduction
programme based heavily on external resources. The base must be local, for that iswhere the people at risk live and where preparedness must be active. Our member
national Red Cross Societies are all constitutionally required to becommunity-based and to have a diverse membership, which respects and protects
the most vulnerable without any form of discrimination. This is why we are so
determined to underline, at every opportunity, our belief that effective programs
aimed at preparing for and responding to disasters, must be designed, implemented
and monitored by the communities themselves. As another part of preparedness, weplan to establish an international disaster response law, rule or principle.”-Mr. Shigeru Ito, Chairman of ADRC
“It is important to think about how we transfer our experiences of disasters to5. The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction

the future generation, and also convey what kind of actions to take at the time of adisaster, in order to transmit a set of valuable messages. I think it is important toincorporate disaster reduction into the education curriculum for school children.
Children usually talk about what they learnt at school to their parents at home. If
disaster reduction education lasts in the next long history, it would be possible fornext generations after them to cope with disasters that would occur in the next 100years.
Another point I would like to stress is that Japan has accumulated aconsiderable amount of knowledge and resources for coping with natural disasters.
Such great expertise of Japan should be utilized for further contribution to theworld.”-Moderator: Mr. Lyuji Miyamoto, Executive Broadcaster of NHK

5. Closing remarks- Mr. Salvano Briceno, Director of UN/ISDR- Mr. Toshizo Ido, Governor of Hyogo Prefecture

Fig. 5-7-1 Kenote speechFig. 5-7-2 Panel discussion