5 Establishment
the International
Recovery
Platform(IRP)
andits activitiesof   

5-3. IRP Activities in FY 2008
5-3-1. The International Recovery Forum 2009
“Building Back Better and Greener”
The International Recovery Forum 2009, whose theme was “Building Back Better and Greener”
was held on 26-27 January in Kobe, Japan. The Forum was hosted by the International Recovery
Platform (IRP) Secretariat, the Cabinet Office of Japan, Hyogo Prefecture, and ADRC inpartnership with UNISDR, ILO, UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank. The event attractedapproximately 300 participants from 28 countries and 10 international organizations, comprised ofdignitaries, national and local officials, experts on disaster reduction and recovery, and otherstakeholders. The gathering facilitated the compilation of findings, reviews, country experiences,and suggested measures for effective recovery operations that take into account environmental
concerns and climate change.
Opening remarks on the first day were delivered by Mr. Naofumi Taguchi, Deputy Director
General for Disaster Management of the Cabinet Office of Japan, Ms. Helena Molin Valdes,
Deputy Director of UNISDR, and Mr. Toshizo Ido, Governor of Hyogo Prefecture. The remarks
conveyed a common message that gaps in theknowledge management aspect of recovery
operations have to be addressed immediately.
Considering the environmental impacts of disasters,
the need to integrate environmental and climatechange concerns into the recovery processes wasMs.Valdes, UNISDRemphasized. In his keynote speech, Professor
Toshihiko Hayashi, Director of Research of theHyogo Memorial 21st Century Research Institute,
Governor Ido, Hyogo Prefecture
identified three immediate needs to be addressedfor the achievement of environmentally sound recovery. These are (1) the need to develop
methodologies and tools to assess the environmental impacts of disasters, (2) the need to improve
recovery planning by taking into account aspects of environmental restoration, and (3) the need tocreate stable recovery funding, such as through the establishment of an International Disaster
Recovery Fund.
Following the keynote speech, a presentation was given by H.E. Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swefrom Myanmar on the current state of recovery efforts following cyclone Nargis. The afternoon
session included country presentations on Haiti by H.E. Jean Max Bellerive, the Maldives by H.E.
Amin Faisal, Kazakhastan by H.E. Vladimir Bozhko, Ecuador by H.E. Maria Lorena Cajas, andPakistan by Mr. Shaukat Tahir. After the country presentations, a report was given on the current
state of recovery efforts following the Wenchuan earthquake in China by Ms. Constance Thomas ofILO, which highlighted the UN's China recovery efforts. The reports and country presentations
illustrated the challenges faced and lessons learned from the presenters' respective recovery
operations.
Mr. Koji Suzuki of ADRC did the wrapup on the first day by highlighting threemajor points based on the reports andcountry presentations. He noted that (1)there are still several gaps and needs incurrent recovery processes, (2) there aremany lessons that can be drawn from thereports presented, and (3) mechanisms exist
that can facilitate the dissemination andapplication of those lessons. Mr. Suzuki
further pointed out that one of thoseMr. Riznin, Bhutanmechanisms is the redesigned IRP website,which was launched and demonstrated during his presentation. The improved website is moreuser-friendly, participatory, and interactive. It facilitates the IRP’s advocacy, networking, andpartnership functions, and also promotes knowledge management for better recovery.

5 Establishment of the International Recovery Platform (IRP) and its activities

Mr. Alfredo Lazarte Hoyle, Director of ILO/CRISIS and current chair of the IRP Steering
Committee, opened the second day of the Forum. After his opening remarks, country reports onrecovery experiences were given by Col. Mamy Razakanaivo from Madagascar and Mr. Anucha
Mokkhavesa from Thailand. These were followed by the sharing of expert opinions on the baseline
requirements for the effective integration of environmental issues in recovery by Mr. Muralee
Thummarukudy of UNEP and Mr. David Salter of SEACAP.
A panel discussion was held in the afternoon with Ms. Valdes of UNISDR acting as facilitator.
The panelists were Mr. Ola Almgren (UNDP), Ms. Thomas (ILO), Mr. Salter (SEACAP), and Mr.
Thummarukudy (UNEP). Three government representatives were among the resource persons onthe panel. These were Mr. Naoto Tajiri, Director for Disaster Preparedness and International
Cooperation of the Cabinet Office of Japan, Mr. Iswar Raj Regmi, Undersecretary in the Ministryof Home Affairs of Nepal, and Mr. Tshewang Riznin, Governor of Chhukha District in Bhutan. The
discussion focused on identifying key considerations for addressing the barriers to integrated
recovery operations and facing the challenges in assessing the environmental impacts of disasters.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Koji Suzuki of ADRC emphasized the need to continuously sharerecovery experiences and lessons and to create synergies to facilitate more coherent action towards
achieving the goals of the HFA. To ensure the ability of the outcomes of the Forum to benefit thewider community of practice, they were presented at the Global Recovery Platform for DisasterRisk Reduction (GPDRR) meeting in Geneva in June 2009.

5-3-2. Participation in HLWG on Disaster Risk Reduction
A meeting of the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group (HLWG) on Disaster Risk Reduction
was held on 16 September 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. The event attracted approximately 85
participants from various countries and UN organizations.
The IRP gave a presentation on the strategic framework of its activities and knowledge
management, and gave a demonstration of the upgraded IRP website.

5-3-3.Conducting a Recovery Status Investigationin Yogyakarta, Indonesia
The IRP Secretariat sent a mission to Indonesia to prepare an immediate situation report andearly recovery situation report following the Yogyakarta and Central Java Earthquake that struck on
26 May 2006, claiming nearly 6,000 lives and affecting more 200,000 people.
In November 2008 and February 2009, more than two years after the earthquake, with recovery
having progressed at a constant pace, the IRP conducted another follow-up investigation andprepared another recovery status report.
First, the IRP team revisited the villages in which it conducted on-site investigations right after
the earthquake, such as Chanden, Pirin, and Kasongan. Then the team visited villages that provide
good examples of livelihood recovery, such as Imogiri and Giriloyo, where team members tried tolearn directly from local people about perspectives on good practices and lessons learned from thedisaster.
To gain a general understanding of the overall recovery situation, the IRP team also visited thegovernment offices of Yogyakarta State and Buntul Prefecture, where they inquired about therecovery plans and programs that were executed in the region.
The team's investigation showed that the recovery of the housing sector in the region was alreadycomplete and that the government is now shifting its attention to the reconstruction and repair ofpublic buildings.
During the visit, the team learned about the spirit of mutual assistance (Gotong Ryong) among
the local people, which played an important role in recovery efforts, and also learned a great deal
about the current state of the region's disaster prevention strategies and disaster preventioneducation, which are aimed at achieving a resilient recovery.
In addition to above activities, the IRP team visited Gadjah Mada University to collectinformation on good recovery practices. The IRP implemented a joint research project with theuniversity, and conducted a field survey on the role of women in post-earthquake livelihood
recovery in several villages. The results have been posted on the IRP website.

5 Establishment
the International
Recovery
Platform(IRP)
andits activities
of   

5-3-4. Progress in the Area of Knowledge Management(Collecting and Disseminating Knowledge)(1) Compiling and sharing a database of good restoration practices
In the pursuit of recovery from major disasters around the world, various authorities have issued
many different reports, research studies, and compilations of lessons learned based on theirexperiences, and now some of these are being compiled into a database of disaster information.
In most cases, recovery specialists from the UN or other agencies go to the areas affected by thedisaster, analyze both current and previous cases, make overall judgments regarding the situation,and provide advice for moving forward.
This project aims to ensure that the people involved in decision making and recovery planning in
the central and the local governments of disaster-stricken areas have prompt and adequate access to
information on disaster risk reduction and "build back better" information. Efforts have therefore
been made to collect and organize past recovery experiences and lessons, create a database of that
information, and provide a guidebook that explains the main challenges affecting recovery.
The IRP is collecting recovery related reports on about 30 major disasters that have occurredsince 1984, creating a database of good practices and lessons learned, and uploading some of that
information on the redesigned IRP website.
While developing this database, the IRP also created a "Case Study Guidebook" to provide
guidelines for the systematic and effective organization of information, thereby enabling it to obtainappropriate information from many different sources.

(2) IRP Website
The IRP website was redesigned so it could better inform the world about the IRP's activities,
highlight the importance of the "Build Back Better" approach, and promote the participation ofparties involved in disaster prevention and the recovery. The beta version of the website wasreleased at the International Recovery
Forum on 26 January 2009.
The website provides recovery related
information from various countries anddisasters, and categorizes information
into recovery themes, such as shelter,
livelihood, the environment, and public
infrastructure. Users can share their own
information as well, allowing the site toserve as a more attractive and interactive
tool for all users.

