1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

1-2. Organization
At the onset, ADRC consisted of 22 member countries, 4 advisor countries and 1 observerorganization. Later Armenia joined in August 2000 and Kyrgyz Republic in July 2002 bringing
the number of member countries to 24. In March 2004, USA joined ADRC as the 5th advisor
country.

1-3. Policy and Past Activities
1-3-1. Policy
ADRC operates as a center for sharing disaster reduction information in the Asian region.
With this as the fundamental purpose, the following five activities were adopted at the pastinternational meetings.
□ Collection and dissemination of disaster reduction information□ Research into ways to promote cooperation in disaster reduction efforts□ Collection of information on emergency aid that differing countries can make available ina disaster situation□ Development of publications and programs to increase awareness and knowledge ofdisaster reduction□ Planning of educational and practical programs in disaster reduction
ADRC has pursued the following basic goals since its inception.
(1) Information Sharing① ADRC provides the following information through its website.
□ Disaster information□ Disaster reduction initiatives□ Insights gained from disasters, education in disaster reduction and emergency drills□ Disaster reduction technology② ADRC holds regular meetings for personnel in charge of disaster reduction in member
countries and works to build trust amongst members as a means for promotinginternational cooperation in disaster reduction efforts.
③ ADRC welcomes a limited number of researchers from member countries every year.
(2) Capacity Building in Member Countries
In order for member countries to build disaster reduction capacity, ADRC imparts
awareness, education and training programs with member countries and internationalorganizations.
(3) Cooperative Projects
ADRC takes part in joint projects with member countries targeted at building disaster
reduction capacity.

1-3-2. Past Activities
It is of utmost importance to establish cooperative relationships with concerned nations andorganizations. The purpose of this is to gather extensive and accurate data on disaster reduction
and to disseminate it in the Asian region.
With this in mind, the center has actively attended relevant international conferences, visited
various countries to conduct surveys, and welcomed organizations and individuals for tours andstudy programs. Since 1999, the center has held an ADRC international meeting every year for
member countries, advisor countries and international organizations such as the UN. With
cooperation of the Japanese Government and the United Nations Secretariat of the International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2003 washeld in Kobe in January 2003 (described later).
ADRC has also been enhancing its information services that were launched in the year of２

1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

ADRC's inception to provide accurate and evtensive information on disasters around the world.
It continues to build a database of disaster reduction systems and other relevant information(described later) provided by member countries through past international meetings and makes
the information available.
Through these activities, ADRC has gained recognition in international circles. In fact,
ADRC was named one of the ten success stories at the IDNDR Programme Forum held as theconclusion to the 10-year international disaster reduction effort in Geneva, Switzerland, in July
1999.
Furthermore, in February 2000, ADRC launched a joint international project in cooperation
with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), aimed at reinforcing
disaster management in the Asian region by building a cooperative framework for disaster
response. As part of this initiative, OCHA opened the Asian Disaster Response Unit within theoffices of ADRC and assigned an advisor on disaster response to head up that office. The twoorganizations are sharing information and working closely together to promote activities.
ADRC promoted human resource development to improve capacity to respond to disasters in
the Asian region by jointly sponsoring with OCHA the Asian Meeting for “Total Disaster Risk
Management (TDRM)” (held in Kobe, August, 2002) and the “UN Disaster Assessment andCoordination (UNDAC) Asia Induction Course” (March, 2003).
In August 2001 OCHA's Relief Web was brought to Japan with their operations for providing
humanitarian and disaster relief information to the world over the Internet. Their activities topromote information sharing in the Asian-Pacific region have contributed to strengthening
disaster management, emergency aid and humanitarian support.
At the Canberra Conference of the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) held inMarch 2001, ADRC made a proposal to introduce a standardized ID number for disasters
worldwide (GLIDE), which is now being jointly developed and promoted with Relief Web andthe Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters of Louvain Catholic University(CRED) in Brussels, Belgium, as a means to effectively utilize disaster information archived
around the world. ADRC continues to contribute to sharing disaster reduction information on a
global basis.
Since 2002 when ADRC was appointed as an Inter-Agency Task Force member of the United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), it has been actively supporting
ISDR activities. ADRC attended the preparation meetings for the “World Summit on
Sustainable Development” held in Cambodia (November, 2001) and Indonesia (May, 2002)
and contributed to the effort to include an item concerning “disaster reduction” in the politicaldeclaration of the Johannesburg Summit.
At the “3rd World Water Forum (March, 2003)” ADRC jointly convened a session with the
ISDR Secretariat under the theme “Living with Risk - towards effective disaster reduction,”
which illustrates close coordination with the ISDR Secretariat in contributions toward theimplementation of the international disaster reduction strategy.
Moreover, in October 2003 and March 2004, ADRC together with the United Nation
University, the Japanese Government, and UN/ISDR co-organized the Public Forums on
International Cooperration in Disaster under the themes of earthquake disaster risk reduction
and “Catastrophic flood disaster mitigation.”
In addition to all of the above, ADRC has accepted 19 visiting researchers from member
countries to provide knowledge and training on disaster reduction and cooperation with a viewto enhance disaster reduction capacity of the Asian region.

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1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

Table 1-3-2-1 ＜Major Activities＞

Jul. 30, 1998

Opening ceremony at IHD Center Bldg. Attended by approx. 150 individuals.

Sep. 1, 1998

Launched worldwide disaster Information. <Issued 156 bulletins as of March 25,
2001.>

Oct. 1998

Visited member countries. (Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore,
Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea andChina)

Nov. 7, 1998

Visit by Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdus Samad Azad.

Nov. 9-13, 1998

Participated in WHO international workshop for intensified emergency response,in the Western Pacific Region (Manila, Philippines). <Announced start of ADRC.
>

Dec. 1, 1998

Launched database of disaster reduction human resources. <Approx. 1,400
individuals from 51 countries are registered. >Feb. 15, 1999

ADRC International Symposium at Hyogo Prefectural Hall. <Attended byapprox. 250 individuals, from 21 countries. >Feb. 16-18, 1999

Held ADRC International Meeting at IHD Center Bldg, Kobe, Japan. <Attended
by approx. 30 individuals from 21 countries and 1 organization. >Feb. 23-26, 1999

Attended ESCAP-IDNDR Regional Meeting for Asia (Bangkok, Thailand).
<Introduced activities of ADRC. >Mar. 18, 1999

Visit by Director of IDNDR Secretariat, Mr. Philippe L. Boullé.

May-Jul. 1999

Databases of Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, disaster reduction training, disasterreduction systems and comprehensive information on disaster reduction bycountries available on the Internet.

Jul. 5-9, 1999

Participated in IDNDR Programme Forum (Geneva, Switzerland). <Introductionof ADRC’s establishment and activities as an example of a Success Story, andcoordinated a session on “Information Technology for Assessment and
Simulation Capacities.”>Jul. 12-16, 1999

VisitedGovernments of Switzerland and France, UN OCHA, Center for
Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Louvain Catholic University,
Brussels, etc.

Jul. 23, 1999

Launched program for accepting researchers from member countries. <From
Korea, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia. >Sep. 23, 1999

Launched joint project with government of Papua New Guinea <To raiseawareness of damage from tsunamis>

Sep. 29-Oct. 4,
1999

Participation in relief team sent to Taiwan

Nov. 5, 1999

Signed Memorandum of Understanding in disaster information collection with
the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Louvain Catholic
University.

Dec. 6-8, 1999

2nd ADRC International Meeting at IHD Center Bldg Kobe, Japan. <Attended byapprox. 36 individuals from 24 countries. >Jan. 13, 2000

Participated in the World Bank meeting (Paris, France).

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1. Asian Disaster Reduction CenterFeb. 7, 2000

Opening ceremony for Asian Disaster Response Unit of OCHA.

Apr. 26-29, 2000

Participated in 3rd International GDIN Conference (Ankara). <Introduction of
ADRC activities, VENTEN system. >May. 3-4, 2000

Visited Republic of Armenia NSSP. <Received intentions to join ADRC. >Aug. 31-Sep. 4,
2000

Participated in Disaster Prevention Fair 2000 in Kobe

Oct. 24-27, 2000

Participated in SAGIP 2000 (Manila, Philippines). <Reported on sharing disaster
reduction information amongst ADRC member countries. >Dec. 5-7, 2000

3rd ADRC International Meeting at IHD Center Bldg Kobe, Japan. <Attended byapprox. 40 individuals from 26 countries and 6 organizations. >Dec. 8, 2000

Jointly organized Asian Regional Forum on Disaster Reduction in Tokyo with
Cabinet Office, Japan.

Jan. 2001

Participated in Disaster Prevention Technology Exhibition in Kobe.

Feb. 5-6, 2001

Organized World Disaster Reduction Conference 2001 at Awaji Yume Butai
International Hall with Cabinet Office, Japan.

Mar. 20-23, 2001

Participated in GDIN 2001 (Canberra, Australia). <Reported on VENTEN andproposed Unique ID Project which was approved. >Apr. 14-27, 2001

Participated in Japanese government mission to survey earthquake damage. <In
Gujarat, India>

Jun. 4-8, 2001

Co-organized multinational mission (ADRC member countries) with Indian
government to assess earthquake damage in Gujarat, India.

Participated in international conference on disaster reduction sponsored by WHO
Jun. 18-23, 2001 Western Pacific Regional Office. <Launched joint project with WHO Health
Mapper and ADRC VENTEN. >Jun. 28-29, 2001 Participated in APDIN Working Group Meeting (Bangkok, Thailand).
Jun. 28, 2001

Signed Memorandum of Understanding with ADPC（Bangkok, Thailand）.

Jul. 4-6, 2001

Co-organized Consultative Meeting on Regional Cooperation in Natural
Disasters with OCHA in Katmandu, Nepal.

Aug. 16, 2001

Opening of OCHA ReliefWeb office.

Aug. 16, 2001

Visit by UN Under Secretary-General, Mr. Kenzo Oshima.

Aug. 28, 2001

Visit by Philippine Chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council andSecretary of National Defense, Mr. Angelo T.Reyes.

Aug. 27, 2001

International Symposium on GIS in Kobe, Japan.

Oct. 4-5, 2001

Participated in meeting for the development of ISDR global review of disaster
reduction initiatives (Geneva, Switzerland).

Oct. 6-20, 2001

Co-hosted urban search and rescue training in cooperation with Singapore Civil
Defence Force５1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

Nov. 6, 2001

Participated in the 1st International Seminar on Disaster Prevention (Seoul,
Korea). <Keynote address delivered by Deputy Executive Director, Satoru
Nishikawa. >Nov. 13-15, 2001 Attended JUSTSAP (Hawaii, USA).
Participated in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Cambodia).
Nov. 27-29, 2001 <Statement included disaster reduction as key element of sustainable
development. >Participated in the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee meeting (Hawaii, USA).
Nov. 29-30, 2001 <Proposed use of the ADRC website to provide typhoon information. Motion
was adopted. >Dec. 1-17, 2001

Co-hosted training on disaster reduction for Educational Officials in cooperation
with Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, UNESCO and UNU.

Jan. 9, 2002

Visit by Indian Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Disaster
Management, Mr. Sharad Pawar

Jan. 17, 2002

Visit by Japanese Minister for Disaster Management, Mr. Murai.

Jan. 22-23, 2002

Organized 4th ADRC International Meeting (Delhi, India). Attended by 80
individuals from 22 countries and 10 organizations.

Jan. 24, 2002

Co-organized ISDR Asian Meeting (Delhi, India). Attended by 80 individuals
from 22 countries and 10 organizations.

Jan. 21-Feb. 22,
2002

JICA seminar on Disaster Management. <Implemented approx. 1 month oftraining to 14 individuals from 12 countries. >Feb. 5-7, 2002

Attended OCHA Symposium (Geneva, Switzerland). <Reported on ADRC
activities and Unique ID GLIDE Project. >Feb. 14-15, 2002 Exhibited at 6th Earthquake Technology Expo in Kobe, Japan.
Co-organized Regional Workshop on Networking and Collaboration among
NGOs of Asian Countries in Disaster Reduction and Response with OCHA
Feb. 20-22, 2002 Kobe, Japan. <Attended by approx. 80 individuals from NGOs in 16 countries,
UN organizations, Japanese Cabinet office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Hyogo Prefecture. >Feb. 21, 2002

Visit by ISDR Director, Mr. Salvano Briceno.

Feb. 24-28, 2002 Participated in Japanese government mission to WTC in New York, USA.
Feb. 27-Mar. 1,
2002

Participated in International Expo in Kazakhstan. <Introduction of ADRC
activities and internet disaster reduction gallery>.

Mar. 12-13, 2002

Attended Tropical Cyclone Panel meeting co-organized by WMO and ESCAP.
(Myanmar)Mar. 15, 2002

Tested use of satellites in disaster reduction in cooperation with NASDA and
Cabinet Office of Japan

Apr. 25-26, 2002

Participated in the Task Force meeting of International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR) as a Task Force member of ISDR.

Participated as a resource in “International Emergency Response Workshop”
May. 20-23, 2002 organized by Kyrgyz Republic.
<Reported cases of emergency responses in Asia>

６1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

May. 27-Jun. 8,
2002

Participated as a resource in “Disaster and Sustainable Development”(coordinated by ISDR) of the final Prep-Com for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (Bali, Indonesia).

Jun. 12-14, 2002

Co-organized with ADPC (Bangkok, Thailand) the “Second Consultative
Meeting on Total Disaster Risk Management in Asia” (Bangkok, Thailand).

June. 19-21, 2002

Participated as a resource in GDIN ROMA 2002 (Rome, Italy).
<Introduced the GLIDE system. >Jun. 24-25, 2002

Participated as a Task Force member of the ISDR Working Group 2 in ISDR
Early Warning Workshop (Potsdam, Germany).

Aug. 7-9, 2002

Organized jointly with OCHA Kobe the “Regional Workshop on Total Disaster
Risk Management (TDRM)” (Kobe, Japan)

Aug. 9, 2002

Launched jointly with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)“Living With Risk- a global review of disaster reduction initiatives”.

Aug. 29-Sep. 2,
2002

Participated in Disaster Prevention Fair 2002 (organized by the Cabinet Office ofJapan and Fukuoka City in Fukuoka, Japan)

Aug. 2002

Published the 20th Century Data Book Asian Natural Disasters.

Participated as a resource in the “Expert Group Meeting on the Role of Regional
Sep. 25-27, 2002 Organizations and Networks in Strengthening Capacities for Disaster Reduction”(organized by UNDP in Geneva).
Participated in the ASEAN Experts Group Meeting on Disaster Management
Sep. 15-17, 2002 (organized by ASEAN and Viet Nam) as a regional observer.
<Introduced an approach to TDRM>
Attended the “Second Humanitarian Relief Conference in Singapore” (held bySep. 13-14, 2002 the Singapore International Foundation in Singapore) to deliver a keynote
speech.

Oct. 28, 2002

Participated as a resource in the “International Symposium on New Technologies
for Urban Safety in Asian Mega Cities” (organized by the Asian Institute ofTechnology and supported by the Government of Thailand and the Cabinet
Office of the Government of Japan)

Oct. 29, 2002

Participated as a resource in the “Symposium on the Indian National Day for
Disaster Reduction” and as an observer in the “meeting of the Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC) on Disaster Management” (Delhi, India)

Nov. 7, 2002

Participated as a resource in the “Second International Disaster Mitigation
Cooperation Seminar” (organized by the National Institute for Disaster
Prevention (NIDP) of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home
Affairs (MOGAHA) of the Republic of Korea)

Participated as a resource in the “ESCAP/OOSA Workshop on the Use of SpaceTechnology for Disaster Management”
Nov. 15-15, 2002
<Introduced the satellite application experiment for disaster management
collaborated between ADRC and NASDA>
Participated as a resource in the “JUSTSAP (Japan-US Science, Technology andSpace Applications Program) Workshop”
Nov. 11-15, 2002
<Received a request to collaborate on a project of satellite based disaster
information sharing in relation to a large oil spill >Participated as a resource in the “Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting of theNov. 11-13, 2002 International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG)” held in
Shanghai.

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1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

Nov. 11-22, 2002

Imparted urban relief training to operatives from member countries incooperation with the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Attended the “ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee Meeting (Chiang Mai,
Nov. 18-25, 2002 Thailand)” <Proposed an Internet link collection of committee member nations
and regions for disaster reduction>“The International Seminar on Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation 2002”
co-hosted by the Government of India and the United Nations Development
Nov. 21-23, 2002
Programme (UNDP) India. <Provided a presentation on the “Risk, Vulnerability,and Hazard Analysis and Information Systems”>
Nov. 24-28, 2002

Presented a keynote speech at the “Asia & Pacific Conference of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)” held in Manila.

Participated as a resource in the “Asian Seismological Commission 2002
Nov. 24-26, 2002 (Kathmandu, Nepal)” <Delivered a presentation on “Seismic Risk Analysis on
the Portfolio of Building in JAPAN”>
Dec. 4-6, 2002

Presented a keynote speech at the “ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Seminar.”Dec. 19-24, 2002

Organized jointly with the Government of Bangladesh the “Seminar on
Improvement of Early Warning Systems and Responses.”

Co-sponsored the “Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2003” (Kobe, Japan)
Jan. 15-17, 2003 with the Japanese Government, the ISDR Secretariat, and Hyogo Prefecture.
Attended by 250 individuals from 24 countries and 26 organizations.
Jan. 19-Mar. 1,
2003

Organized the “JICA seminar for Disaster Management” (Kobe, Japan).

Jan. 30-31 andFeb. 6-7, 2003

Exhibited at the 7th Earthquake Technology Expo in Kobe and Yokohama, Japan.
<e.g. Joint experiment with NASDA>

Feb. 4-7, 2003

Co-organized the “Workshop on Disaster Management for Media” with theGovernment of Lao PDR (Vientiane Province, Lao PDR).

Mar. 4-10, 2003

Attended the meeting of the “WMO/ESCAP panel on Tropical Cyclones(Islamabad, Pakistan)”

Attended the “3rd World Water Forum” and made presentations at three sessions.
Jointly held a session with UN/ISDR under the theme of “Living with Risk Mar. 16-23, 2003
towards effective disaster reduction" within the theme "Water and Poverty”
coordinated by ADB
Mar. 16-28, 2003

Co-organized the “United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination(UNDAC) Asia Induction Course” with UN OCHA (Kobe, Japan)

Apr. 10-11, 2003

Participated in the 7th Task Force meeting of International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR) as a Task Force member (Geneva, Switzerland).

Apr. 22-24, 2003

Co-organized the “Workshop on Disaster Prevention for Local Governmental
Staff” with the Cambodian Government (Kampong Cham, Cambodia).

Apr. 24, 2003

Visit by Japanese Minister for Disaster Management, Mr. Konoike. Opening of
Human Renovation Museum.

May 6-8, 2003

Co-organized the “Workshop on Disaster Prevention for Local Government
Staff” with the Cambodian Government (Kratie, Cambodia).

June 2003

Published the “The Natural Disaster Data Book in the 20th Century.”June 10-13, 2003

Co-organized the “Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management (TDRM)
Policy” with UN OCHA Kobe (Kobe, Japan).

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1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center

June 16-25, 2003

Dispatched an investigation mission to Turkish gavernment (Istanbul, etc.,
Turkey).

July 14-15, 2003

Co-organized the “GLobal unique disaster IDEntifier number (GLIDE)” meetingwith ISDR, OCHA Reliefweb, (Geneva, Switzerland).

Aug. 4-11, 2003 Participated in the disaster prevention research mission to Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka).
Sept. 9-28, 2003

Dispatched a mission to centrel Asia and the Coucasus to investigate the need fortraining in Russian. (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan)

Oct. 1-9, 2003

Hosted a disaster prevention administration seminar in Turkey (Ankara, Turkey).

Oct. 4, 2003

Co-organized the Public Forum under the theme of “Living with Risk-are we
prepared for the next big one?-” with UNU the Cabinet Office of Japan,
UN/ISDR, and WSSI (Tokyo, Japan).

Oct. 16-18, 2003

Participated in the second International Conference on Early Warning (Bonn,
Germany).

Oct. 20-24, 2003

Co-organized the SUMA Project with the Government of the Philippines(Manila, Philippines).

Nov. 17-20, 2003

Co-organized the Flood Management Training in Vietnam with the Vietnamese
Government (Hanoi, Vietnam).

Dec. 2-4, 2003

Co-organized the “Intenetional conference on Total Disaster Risk Management(TDRM)” with U.N. OCHA Kobe (Kobe, Japan).

Jan. 12-14, 2004

Co-organized an urban search and rescue training in cooperation with
Singaporean Civil Defence Force, and trained the personnel of the member states.

Jan. 17, 2004

Visit by Japanese Minister for Disaster Management, Mr. Inoue.

Jan. 18- Feb. 2,
2004

Held the “JICA Seminar on Disaster Management” (Kobe, Japan).

Feb. 4-6, 2004

Co-organized the “Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2004” with theGovernments of Japan and Cambodia, and ISDR Secretariat, attracting anattendance of 138 people from 23 countries (Siem Reap, Cambodia).

Feb. 23-25, 2004

Co-organized a regional consultative meeting with WHO West Pacific Office and
ADPC (Manila, Philippines).

Feb. 26-28, 2004

Co-organized a preparatory meeting for “Typhoon Workshop” with UN/ESCAP(Seoul, Republic of Korea).

Mar. 9-17, 2004

Organized a disaster management seminar in Turkey (Ankara, Turkey).

Mar. 20-23, 2004

Co-organized the “Earthguake Disaster Management Seminar” with the
Mongolian Government (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

Mar. 23, 2004

Co-organized a public forum under the theme of “Earthguake risk reduction”
with UNU, the Cabinet Office of Japan, and UN/ISDR (Tokyo, Japan).

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