2. Information Sharing

2. Information Sharing
2-1. International Meeting and Public Forum2-1-1. The 7 th ADRC International Meeting-Public Forum; Sharing of Experiences for Safer Asia
“TDRM and its Good Practices”-

In the context of the WCDR's public forum and ADRC's annual meeting, the ADRC held
the 7th ADRC International Meeting; Sharing of Experiences for Safer Asia TDRM and its
Good Practices, co-organized by Hyogo Prefectural government and UN/OCHA Kobe. The
meeting had a great significance for Asian countries to further promote Total Disaster RiskManagement (TDRM) and identify specitic measures and actions effective in reducing risk
and vulnerability to disasters in Asia. Facilitated by Mr. Emmanuel de Guzman, Consultant tothe ADRC, government officials from Bangladesh, Philippines, Laos, and China, as well as
Tajikistan, made presentations on their good practices.
In addition, a special report on the situation of damage caused by the Earthquake and Tsunami
in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 was delivered by Mr. Sugeng Triutomo, Director, Dept.
of Disaster Mitigation, National Disaster Management Coordinating Board, Indonesia.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of long-standing
cooperative ties in the area of natural disaster reduction was also exchanged between theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and theADRC.
2-1-1-1. Outline of the Meeting
The outline of the 7th ADRC International Meeting is as follows:(1) Date: January 19 (Wed), 2005
(2) Organizer: Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Hyogo Prefectural Government and UN/OCHAKobe.
(3) Participants: 210 (government officials from ADRC member countries, representatives ofinternational and regional organizations and others)(4) Venue: International Conference Center Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
2-1-1-2. Summary of the Meeting<Opening address>
The forum was opened by a congratulatory remark by Mr. Tadashi Harada, Deputy Director
General for Disaster Management, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. First of all, heexpressed his deepest condolences to those who perished and his sincerest sympathies to all of
the nations and people who had been affected. Then, he described the efforts of the ADRC,OCHA Kobe, and Hyogo prefecture for reducing the negative impacts of disasters in Asian
countries, and hoped they would provide long-term contribution and support to Asian countries
for further disaster reduction in the future. He also mentioned that the Cabinet Office of Japan
had been supporting their activities.
<Keynote speech>
Mr. Masayuki Kitamoto, Executive Director, ADRC, delivered the keynote speech titled“Promotion of TDRM in Asia. After a brief explanation about the basic concept of TDRM as aholistic approach to disaster reduction, he stressed the importance of the promotion of TDRM
in member countries. He also introduced the recent publication by the ADRC, including theexplanation about the TDRM approach and the good practices in Asia for promoting effective
disaster reduction survey through this approach. Then, he explained the activities of three
ADRC survey teams in the areas affected by the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia.

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He extended his deepest appreciation to the kind cooperation of the counterpart organizationsof the ADRC and former visiting researchers for facilitating the surveys by the ADRC Teams.

<MOU between UNESCO and ADRC>
The signing ceremony of the MOU between UNESCO and the ADRC, aimed at strengthening
the cooperative ties between the two organizations for reducing the negative impacts ofdisasters. Following the signing of the MOU and shaking hands with Prof. Shigeru Itoh,
Chairman, ADRC, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, expressed hisintentions to promote mutual exchange of information, as well as theorethical and practicalexperiences in natural disaster reduction between the two organizations. In response, Mr. Ito
expressed his expectations to further strengthen the friendly ties between the two organizations
for contribution to disaster reduction in their respective member countries.

Fig. 2-1-1-2-1 Signing ceremony of Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) between UNESCO and ADRC
<Special Report “The Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster”>
Mr. Sugeng Triutomo, Director, Department of Disaster Mitigation, National Disaster
Management Coordinating Board, Indonesia, firstly provided an overview of damage in theaffected area with statistics and some pictures. There were more than 215 thousand dead ormissing, and approximately half a million people displaced. Then he mentioned theunprecedented response from about 30 countries and more than 45 international organizations.
He emphasized the importance of the proper coordination among the involved organizations.
Furhter, he introduced the records and analyses on the past earthquakes and tsunamis inIndonesia. He described the tendency of cyclic occurrences of earthquakes, and stressed theimportance of increased preparedness for future earthquakes through TDRM approach.
(During the break of the reporting session, a video was played to show the situation in theaffected area.)<Reporting Session on TDRM Good Practices: Summary of Proceedings>
Mr. Emmanuel de Guzman, Consultant to the ADRC, opened the session as the facilitatorwith a comment on the importance of sharing of good practices for promoting effective disasterreduction.
H.E. Mr. Choudhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Food andDisaster Management, Bangladesh, explained the paradigm shift in disaster management
planning from the conventional relief & response approach to TDRM approach in Bangladesh
following the establishment of the Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) in 1992 and theadoption of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP) in 2003. He citedseveral activities of the CDMP, including the mainstreaming of disaster management and risk
reduction into national policies and institutional and development processes in the country, andthe enhancement of community capacity. He also introduced their efforts in enhancing humancapabilities as well as in improving food security status of poor people in the country throughthe Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP), which led to the drastic reduction of the death tollfrom 300,000 in 1970 to 107 in 1999.

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In her presentation, Col. Elma Aldea, Administrator, Office of Civil Defense, Department ofNational Defense, Philippines, highlighted the successful and sustained collaboration andpartnership facilitated by the Provincial Disaster Management Team among the government,
NGOS and communities in the province of Negros Occidental. She stressed the importance andbenefits of building alliances, enhancing information systems, training volunteers,strengthening local coordinating councils, and ensuring active community involvement indisaster management.
Mr. Vilayphong Sisomvang, Training Manager, Department of Social Welfare and National
Disaster Management, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Lao PDR cited thecommunity-based disaster management project in Champasak District aimed at reducing thevulnerability of the community to floods and droughts by improving early warning systems.
This can be achieved through collaboration with the media, increasing community awareness ofrisks and options for response by establishing an awareness campaign unit, developing acommunity-based hazard mapping program, incorporating disaster management education into
school curricula and promoting more appropriate agricultural practices that ensure foodsecurity at the village level.
Ms. Yuan Yi, Program Officer, China National Center for Disaster Reduction, reported on thecase of Typhoon Rananim in August 2004, whose impact was the worst since 1956. She citedthe countermeasures taken by the government for strengthening the preparedness, response andreconstruction capabilities including an early warning system. She made an historicalcomparison of responses and cited the importance of emergency plans including establishmentof command systems, preparation of emergency materials and funds, strengthening of local
capacity for prevention capabilities through trainings and drills, and enhancement of publicawareness and knowledge on disaster risks.
Mr. Abdurahim Rajabov, First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense,
Tajikistan and Mr. Khusrav Sharifov, Programme Officer, UNDP Tajikistan explained thegood practices concerning the Lake Sarez Disaster Mitigation Project (LSRMP), which
included flood early warning systems. They also introduced a strong and effective partnershipand coodination mechanism called REACT (Rapid Emergency Assessment and CoordinationTeam), which facilitates inter-agency contingency planning, coordinated and joint response todisasters, and serves as an information sharing platform.
The comments from the floor (participants from Kyrgyz, Nepal, EU, JICA, and India) pointed
out the importance of enhanced preparedness, advocacy for prevention, improved coordination,
research, volunteerism, early warning systems, and psychosocial care for disaster victims,
especially children. Mr. de Guzman concluded the session by emphasizing the importance of
the involvement of all the stakeholders for effective disaster reduction.

<Closing Remarks>
The Forum was closed with a comment by Mr. Kitamoto that emphasized the urgent need topromote TDRM for effective reduction of disaster risks to ensure sustainable development inAsia.

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2-1-2. Public Forum “Recovery from Catastrophic Disasters- towards a safer world for all –“On the occasion of the Disaster Prevention Day (September 1) and the Disaster Prevention Week(August 30- September 5), the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) co-organized a Public
Forum titled “Recovery from Catastrophic Disasters - towards a safer world for all-”with the Cabinet
Office of Japan, the United Nations University (UNU), and the United Nations Inter-Agency
Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) at the UNU, Tokyo, Japan on August 24, 2004. Supported byUSAID, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and Hyogo Prefectural Government, the forum
gathered over 250 participants. The organizers had the honor to receive H.I.H. the Crown Prince ofJapan.
The main objective of the forum was to discuss and propose how we could reduce disaster risk
with a view to ensuring sustainable development through experiences of Iran, India and Japan as wellas other countries prone to disasters.
The forum started with the keynote speech of Ms. Helena Molin-Valdes, Deputy Director,
UN/ISDR, titled “World Conference on Disaster Reduction - A new milestone event for reducingdisasters”. It was followed by four presentations; 1) “Disaster Recovery: Faster, Better, or Safer? ” byDr. Patricia Bolton, Senior Research Scientist, Battelle Seattle Research Center, USA, 2) “Challengeof Bam Earthquake - road map for safer communities” by Mr. Kamal Kishore, Regional DisasterReduction Advisor for South and Southwest Asia, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery(BCPR), UNDP, 3) “Recovery and Reconstruction towards Disaster Resilient Communities - fromLessons Learnt in Japan -” by Mr. Tadashi Harada, Deputy Director General for Disaster
Management, Cabinet Office, Japan, and 4) “Sustainable Post-Disaster Recovery -Turning Disasters
into Opportunities for Development” by Mr. Andrew Maskrey, Chief, Disaster Reduction Unit,BCPR, UNDP.
Subsequently, a panel discussion by the five experts was held. In conclusion, the coordinator of
the panel discussion, Prof. Kishie Shigekawa, Fuji-Tokoha University, Japan, pointed out thatdevelopment of a mechanism for sharing lessons and experiences of disasters, especially in the phaseof recovery and reconstruction, should be pursued in order to develop safe communities and effective
disaster risk management frameworks.

Fig.2-1-2-1 Presence of H.I.H. the Crown
Prince of Japan

Fig. 2-1-2-2 Panel discussion