6 Planning of Materials for Dissemination of Knowledge
on Disaster Reduction, and Enhancement of Awareness
6-1 Background and Policy

In the planning of materials for disseminating knowledge on disaster reduction and enhancing awareness, the ADRC
will meet specific needs in Asian countries. The ADRC will also collect dissemination materials, such as tools and PR
materials for enhancing awareness and educational materials. A database will be created based on the results, andthe information will be shared on the ADRC homepage.
In addition, we will develop materials such as guidelines and manuals, etc., which will serve as references for member
countries to compile materials to spread disaster reduction knowledge. We will be involved in the process
independently from the planning stage, and effectively use the above resources.

6-2
Informationon
Awareness
Raising
Materials
forDisasterfor
Disaster
Reduction Gathered by ADRC
The ADRC therefore conducted a survey on the situation of each country regarding the spread of disaster
reduction knowledge and enhancement of disaster reduction awareness by the following methods, in order to meetthe needs of each country.
*Collection and analysis of existing materials*Interview of disaster reduction personnel in each country*Country report*Expert meeting
Table 6-2-1 shows the situation of each country that has grasped its situation, based on these results.
Country

Bangladesh

China

Descriptions
1.Public information about cyclone/tidal bore
2.Public information about flood
3.Outline of Thana Disaster Action Plan
4.Outline of Union/Pourashava Disaster Action Plan
5.Publishing Bengali Calendar/Posters each year depicting disaster points
6.Procurement and distribution of Thana coloured base maps
7.Publishing Newsletters on Disaster Management.
We have utilized such multi-media as TM broadcasting and newspapers and periodicals
to make a timely report in the forms loved by the people of the calamities alreadyoccurred and the appropriate activities to reduce disasters and give various courses
on the knowledge and special programs and items on disaster reduction. Charity
shows, scientific summer camps for middle school students and knowledge competition
on disaster reduction nationwide were held throughout the country. According to thesubject of International Disaster Reduction Day, various activities of extensive
publicity on disaster reduction were held, thus giving rise to the upsurge of publicity on
disaster reduction once every year.
The educational department has added new contents to curriculum relating todisaster reduction in the middle and primary schools, thus enabling teenagers tounderstand the cause and universal law governing the occurrence of disasters and thepreventives taken when disasters occur. Institutions of higher education have carriedout education on disaster reduction at all levels, all these education combined withdisaster reduction, and brought up a number of backbones in disaster reduction.
The local governments at all levels and the various professional departments havealso run training courses of disaster reduction at various levels according to their own
specific circumstances and conditions, for instance, Changyang county of Hubei
Province has conducted seven terms of training courses on geological disasterprevention in the past few years, with the participation of more than 150 people andcarried out over 120 activities in the publicity of scientific popularization with 18
thousand people being educated. We have also cooperated with UNDP, countries
concerned and international organizations in running a whole series of training courses
on disaster reduction, for instance, from 1993 to 1999, various training courses on
disasters management had been held successively in Beijing, Hefei of Anhui Province,
Jinhong of Yunnan Province, Changsha of Hunan Province and Jinan of Shandong

Province etc, thus heightening the level of disaster management of cadres at alllevels.
A Central Sector Scheme on Natural Disaster Management Programmes (NDMP) is
being implemented for the first time from December 1993. The main objective of the
programme is to enhance the national capability for disaster reduction, preparedness
and mitigation. The programme is also expected to enhance the level of awareness ofthe community about disasters they are likely to face and prepare them adequately
to face the crisis situation.
The components of the programme are:i) Human resource development,ii) Activities under IDNDR,iii) Research and consultancy services,iv) Documentation of major events,v) strengthening of NDM Division,vi) Establishment of National Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) at theCentre and the Natural Disaster Management Faculties in States.
India

Indonesia

Japan

Kazakhstan

The major achievements of the programme so far are :i) Setting up of the National Centre for Disaster Management in the Indian Instituteof Public Administration , New Delhi, in 1995.
ii) Setting up of separate Disaster Management Faculties in Training Institutes in 16
out of 25 States in the country,iii) Documentation of major events like Uttarkashi and Latur earthquakes, researchstudies on land-slides in Kerala and Sikkim, droughts in Rajasthan and cyclone
mitigation in Andhra Pradesh.
iv) Preparation of source book for use of trainees of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration,v) Organising/Sponsoring of about training programmes/seminars on various aspectsof natural disaster management,vi) Public education and community awareness campaign through Newspapers, postal
stationery, observation of World Disaster Reduction Day and films,vii) Reprinting of 45000 copies of IDNDR publication for children in English and Hindi
for distribution among school children.
1.All members of BAKORNAS can organize themselves education activity such as
training staff, people participation training or public awareness campaign.
2.Education activities in connection with floods, drought and land slides done by
Department of public work with Provincial/District level staff and other Institution
such as Universities.
3.Geological disasters education done by Department of Energy and Mines,
Meteorology and Geophysics Board, Universities etc.
4.Forest fire/haze education, in connection with operation/ activity done by
Department of Forestry and monitoring, early detection, advocation done by State
Minister of Environment together with Universities.
5.In 1999 BAKORNAS Secretariat organize Forest Fire Awareness Campaign andTraining of Trainers "Quick Response Team” (QRT). The task of QRT is to Formulize
need assessment and act as search and rescue team, just after disaster occurred.
1.For people to be able to protect themselves from disaster they must, as individuals,
have a greater awareness of disasters before they happen, and must master correctdisaster-prevention knowledge and skills.
2.To accomplish this, Japan has declared September 1 to be “Disaster Prevention
Day,” August 30 to September 5 to be “Disaster Prevention Week,” and January 1521 to be “Disaster Prevention and Volunteers Week.” During these times in particular,a series of events is held in cooperation with disaster organizations and local
governments.
3.Japan also has about 88,000 voluntary disaster-preparedness organizations (as ofApril 1999) around the country through which local residents engage in disasterpreparedness activities in conjunction with related institutions. Roughly 53.3% of allhouseholds in Japan belong to these organizations.
1.Special attention is paid within the overall system of measures on reduction ofdanger, prevention and reduction of consequences of natural disasters in Kazakhstan
to the training of the general population in actions required during emergency events.
Dissemination of information and awareness about natural hazards specific toparticular regions of the country is also being carried out. Training and re-training of
emergency management staff and associated personnel is also conducted.
2.Republic's 27 training centers have trained more than 50 thousand trainees annually.

Among these people are officials from different levels.
3.Practical instruction and realistic exercises form the basis of Civil Defense training.
The main effort has been directed towards the preparation of rescue, engineering,reconnaissance, and other specialized formations. Training has focused on practicalactions to be taken in the event of emergencies.

Malaysia

Mongolia

Korea

4.For the training of school children and students in different institutes, a special
course was designed. It is called "Protection of Critical Life Support". Specialized
schools and colleges follow another course called "Basics of Life Support".
5.The mass media is actively involved in the training of the population. Hundreds ofannouncements and short topical advisories are presented by specialists from the
Agency on radio and TV annually. Ongoing dialogue with the population is carried out
through booklets, videofilms and pamphlets.
6.Specialized training is conducted for headquarters staff. Also military training andexercises are ongoing. These measures are undertaken to train the emergency rescue
teams and other related personnel.
1. In order to enhance disaster preparedness, the Malaysian Government hascontinuously carried out public education on disaster prevention to the people living inflood prone areas with the ultimate objective of protecting of human lives andproperty, as well as avoiding or minimising social disruption and economic losses. Public
education and awareness programmes are carried out through the various media
including TV and radio broadcast, aimed at enhancing public awareness of the dangers
of natural disasters. Civic education and practical training in life saving techniques arealso conducted in the natural disaster prone areas. In addition, presentations on lifesaving during floods have been made and pamphlets on disaster prevention targetedat children in flood prone areas during the monsoon season were also circulated.
2. Agencies such the Malaysian Red Crescent Society and Civil Defence Department
have also played their part in educating the public especially children on how toprotect themselves against floods. Therefore, public education and awareness on
disaster reduction in Malaysia is aimed at creating a higher level of community
awareness including the ability of putting into place appropriate emergency measures,
so that they could withstand the impact of natural disasters and prepare for andsurvive disasters.
There are insufficient activities organized for public awareness of natural hazards.
Warnings and alarms for all types of natural disaster are transmitted through radio
and television over the entire territory of the country. But, there is no activity forincreasing public, awareness among the peop1e in non-disaster times. Unfortunately,
radio, television and newspapers provide special programs only after a natural disasterhas already occurred. No propaganda is provided on natural disaster-related
problems. No books and brochures for public awareness have been produced. Warningand alarm systems can effectively work in big cities and settlement areas, but due toscarce population density and inadequate communication systems, people in the
countryside sometimes cannot be informed in time.
1. 42,984 staff members were educated from March 29 to May 14 of 1999 to enhancetheir ability to cope with natural disasters. The program included planning, managing
critical situations, reporting damage, working on recovery plans, and studying relevant
laws.
2. In order to enhance the prevention and rapid response to disasters, exercises
under computer-simulated disaster conditions, a comprehensive exercise for disasterprevention, and emergency drills specific to each region were carried out with
community residents and related organizations during the period from May 12 to May
14 in 1999.
3. To develop the ability for managing disasters, the exercise under computersimulated disaster conditions by various related was carried out from May 12 to 14 in
1999.
4. On May 25, 1999, a comprehensive exercise for disaster management was carriedout at the Sumjin River basin under a simulated condition of a hit by a typhoon with
the intensity of Typhoon YANNY (July 1998). The program of drills included life saving,
emergency relief, recover measures, etc.
5. Local governments carried out their own emergency drills for conditions that are
specific to their own regions on May 15, 1999.
6. To cope with earthquakes effectively, the government carried out an exercise
under computer-simulated earthquake conditions on April 15, May 14, and September
15, 1999.
7. Korea has designated May 25 as "National Disaster Prevention Day" to promote
the public participation and awareness of disaster prevention.
8. The main events for the "National Disaster Prevention Day" are inspection ofdisaster prevention facilities and equipment, drills, a campaign for disaster prevention,
photo display of disaster stricken areas and their recovery processes, and a contest
for disaster prevention posters

Nepal

PNG
Philippines

RussiaDisaster management actors, teachers, students, social workers and the public wereinvolved in the IDNDR day programme. Each year various public awareness raisingprograms are being launched in radio and television. Besides, posters, pamphlets andnotification in the media during the hazardous season are being given to raise publicawareness. Public media are contributing to raise public awareness in association withvarious Governmental, Non-Governmental and Social Organizations.
1. Booklet on Mt Ulawun Volcanic Cone collapse and Tsunami
2. Tsunami awareness poster.
3. In September 1999, PNG and ADRO jointly undertook the Tsunami AwarenessProject to be known as the “PNG Tsunami Awareness Raising Literature Project”.
Conducts natural disaster reduction drills. Has active communities and NGOs.
One of the principal directions of EMERCOM of Russia’s activities is thefamiliarisation of the population with the rules of behaviour in extreme situations. Thistask lays within the mainstream of the state measures system to protect the
population and the territories against emergency situations.
Several years ago, a new training programme was introduced for the high-schooland professional education. It was called “Life-support safety basics and aimed at thedevelopment of “human being self-protection skills. Logically, this type of training
proceeds with three following stages:
・definition of the threatening situation; measures to avoid it;・sequence of actions in case of personal involvement occurrence.
The similar programme has been included into the educational process of the higher
education facilities, where the plan of training might be diversified according to thefacility’s speciality. Great attention in this programme is concentrated on theprevention of emergency situations, considering the degree of the professional
necessity of it for the different groups of the students. For example, the would-be
engineers should be aware of the kind of the situations which might happen in thechemically endangered facility and what should be done in order to prevent suchoccurrence.
EMERCOM of Russia is working in close contact with mass-media agencies. In
accordance with the Ministry's request a special radio programme called “Survival
school and a TV-programme named “TV-guard” have been produced and aired
regularly. These programmes explain the correct behaviour of a person in the extreme
situation. Besides, the Ministry supports printed publications aimed at increasing
population’s awareness of the proper actions in emergency situations. Its own
illustrated magazine, having wide experience and proved traditions, is serving the same
purpose.
1. Drills and Exercises
To ensure that the contingency plans are comprehensive and effective, drills andexercises are conducted by the various emergency authorities. Such exercises anddrills also involve the owners and occupants of the building premises as well as thegeneral public. An example is the weekly Monday Morning Fire Exercise conducted by
the Singapore Civil Defence Force for various commercial high-rise buildings. In
addition, the Singapore Civil Defence Force also conducts regular twining exercises tohone the operational readiness and capability of the emergency response personnel.

Singapore

Sri Lanka

2. Public Awareness. Education & ParticiDation(1) An effective emergency preparedness programme should involve the population.
Since Its inception in 1982, the Singapore Civil Defence Force has been implementing
community relations programmes for emergency preparedness. The public is regularly
kept informed and reminded on the need for and importance of emergency
preparedness through various communications tools e.g. news and press
advertisements, posters, leaflets etc. The underlying message to the public Is“Readiness is your only protection”.
(2) Public education programmes covering fire prevention and safety, evacuation,
rescue, first aid, etc. have been developed for different target groups. These target
groups include children, housewives, senior citizens, schools, factories and commercial
premises. The long-term goal is to have at least one person in each household to be
educated or trained in emergency preparedness.
(3) An extensive community and grassroots network has also been established by theSingapore Civil Defence Force to promote civil defence and Involve the population in
emergency preparedness activities, especially exercises, (e.g. rescue, water rationing
and blood collecting exercises).
1. To assist the Council in promoting public awareness in the areas of Preparedness,
Prevention, Mitigation and Risk Reduction related to Disaster Management leading toThailand

Viet Nam
Switzerland

enhanced community self-reliance.
2. To assist the Council in ensuring that adequate publicity is given to the policies andprogrammes formulated relating to Disaster Preparedness, Prevention, Mitigation andRisk Reduction through a variety of sources including the media.
Historically, most of Thai people have hardly faced with any calamities. As aconsequence, they ignore any disaster prevention measures for protecting theircommunities. Habitually, they seem to lack culture of safety, tending to do even their
daily activities without carefulness. These lead to alarming increase in major
accidents, particularly vehicle accidents. However, disaster-related courses operated
by the Civil Defence Secretariat. are available to governmental officers and civil
defence volunteers. Moreover, many institutes of disaster management, together withdisaster-related curriculums, were recently established, Serving to the request ofboth governmental and non-governmental agencies concerned. Some courses are as
follows:● Basic and advanced firemen courses for governmental officers from municipalities
and sanitary districts.
● Basic rescue courses for students, the youth, and civil defence volunteers.
● Fire-fighting instructor courses for municipal firemen and sanitary district officers.
● Other disaster-related training courses and seminars.
In addition, the Civil Defence Secretariat always campaigns disaster reduction by
non-structural measures, raises awareness of disaster threats, disseminates theknowledge of natural disasters through radios, televisions, newspapers, pamphlets,
brochures and booklets and promotes help-self communities for dealing with disasters.
Floods and rainstorm forecasts/warning broadcasts on the mass media (TV, radio).
Organizes various training seminars.
Organizes a range of training seminars.

Table 6-2-1 Awareness Raising for Disaster Reduction in Member/Advisory Countries

6-3
PlanningofMaterials
for
Dissemination
andEnhancementof
Awareness
6-3-1 Materials for Spreading Information on Papua New Guinea Tsunami

As mentioned in the section "4. Identification of Needs and Resources concerning the Promotion of Cooperation on
Disaster Reduction," the ADRC agreed to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government's request for ADRC's
cooperation in its tsunami disaster reduction awareness project, and has compiled and distributed pamphlets andbooklets to residents and students living in coastal areas in addition to each layer of the PNG government. The
following is an outline and plan of this project, and how it will be implemented.

1) Background of project
On July 17, 1998 at about 7 in the evening, an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale with the epicenter 30
km north-west off the coast of Papua New Guinea occurred, immediately followed by a massive tidal wave which
struck coastal villages on a range of 40 to 50 km to the west of the Aitape region, claiming at least 2,200 lives. Since
then, the Papua New Guinea government has been providing support to those injured or those who lost families andhomes in the disaster, and has also started efforts to establish a disaster reduction system to prepare for similardisasters in the future.
Among these efforts, the National Disaster Reduction Awareness Committee (chaired by Professor Hugh Davies,
Papua New Guinea University Geology Laboratory) centering around the government, university, etc. has decided toplan and implement a tsunami awareness program to spread correct information on tsunamis to the people, in order
to contribute to the disaster reduction efforts.

2) Issues
In the planning of the tsunami disaster reduction awareness program for the people by the National Disaster
Reduction Awareness Committee, the following issues were brought to light:
First, the aim of the program was to compile tsunami awareness videos, posters, pamphlets, and booklets. However,upon finding that it lacked the resources and ability to compile all of these materials, the government was faced with
the need to seek the cooperation of overseas related organizations.
The ADRC, on receiving the request, agreed to cooperate with Papua New Guinea to compile the required tsunami
disaster reduction pamphlets and booklets in order to spread tsunami awareness to the people extensively, in the
belief that the planning and compilation of such materials serves the mission of the ADRC; in other words, topromote disaster reduction cooperation in the Asian region through the sharing of disaster reduction information.
At the same time, the ADRC participated in the Papua New Guinea Tsunami Disaster Reduction Meeting (PARTIC)
held to reinforce the tsunami disaster reduction system in the country. The purpose was to obtain further details of
the Aitape tsunami disaster, understand the efforts of each organization or group working in Papua New Guinea, as
well as to convey the experiences and lessons learnt by Japan and the rest of the world in tsunami disasters.
Details of the meeting are described at "4. Identification of Needs and Resources concerning the Promotion of
Cooperation on Disaster Reduction".

3) Tsunami Disaster Reduction Pamphlets and Booklets
The ADRC agreed to implement a joint tsunami disaster reduction awareness material project with the PNG
government, and signed the memorandum on September 23, 1999. (See Photograph).

Main Contents of Tsunami Disaster Reduction Pamphlet
The following is an outline of the pamphlet's contents:*Past tsunami disasters (Papua New Guinea is a tsunami-prone country)*The mechanisms of tsunami (Why do tsunamis occur?)*Disaster reduction knowledge (Protecting yourself from tsunamis)*Disaster reduction knowledge; who to call in emergencies, etc.

4) Future Challenges

Through the cooperation between the ADRC and PNG National Disaster Reduction Awareness Committee, abrochure including the information on the Tsunami disaster reduction has for the most part been completed and is
now ready for printing.
200,000 copies in English and 100,000 copies in Tok Pisin, the native language of PNG, will be printed. 150,000 of the
English version will be distributed to junior high schools (grades 6 to 8) while the remaining 50,000 will be distributedwith newspapers. The pamphlet will also be distributed to residents of each province with the help of thegovernment disaster reduction management division. Distribution is planned around May and June.
A more detailed tsunami disaster reduction booklet will be compiled during the year 2000 and 20,000 copies will be
distributed to schools, regional communities, leaders, and specialists of the country.
The PNG National Disaster Reduction Awareness Committee focuses utmost importance on developing the tsunami
disaster reduction program around schools, with support from the Department of Education. The Department of
Education has agreed to introduce a tsunami disaster prevention awareness program into the school curriculum. It
is hoped that the knowledge acquired by children on tsunamis at schools will also be conveyed to their families andthe regional communities. The repetition of this transmission of knowledge should help spread awareness of tsunami
disaster reduction even to the next generation as a culture of the regional community. A sort of Tsunami culture is
expected to spread in Papua New Guinea in the not too distant future, as did in Japan.
The ADRC is committed to supporting the spread and enhancement disaster reduction awareness by providing thecooperation required for such activities, with the understanding and cooperation of related organizations.
The following shows the Tsunami Disaster Reduction Poster compiled, as well as the Okushirito Disaster Reduction
Handbook, and Earth Science Magazine "TSUNAMI-PNG 1998" as examples of materials which were referred to in
the compilation of the brochure.

Tsunami Disaster Reduction PosterOkushirito Disaster Reduction Handbook

TSUNAMI-PNG 1998

6-4 Gathering of Information on Workshops and International Conferences
In order to enhance knowledge and awareness concerning disaster reduction, the ADRC is also collecting information
on disaster reduction via another indirect route: workshops, international conferences, and other events that deal
with disaster reduction. This section describes the method of gathering information, information collection,dissemination on the web site, and the future challenges.

6-4-1 Gathering Method and Information Collection
Facts and information were collected from material obtained on the web site, material referred to in e-mail orwriting such as newsletters, and material that was included in academic journals and related magazines, etc. before
it was stored in the database. These facts and information, retrieved both in English and Japanese, should be
disseminated according to the convention schedules. In fiscal 1999, 50 sets of data were collected.

6-4-2 Disseminating Information on the Web site
The web site is used to disseminate the information, which will allow every user to retrieve the data. Every time theserver receives a request of retrieval, a list of conferences is created based on the contents of the database. A
sample of such a list is showed in Fig. 6-4-2-1. The list of conferences, indexed in the reverse order of the dates ofconferences, includes the name of conference/workshop, date and time, venue, and contact information . These areaccompanied by links if the original web site for information is in operation (text is displayed in blue with underline).
Clicking on that portion will lead the user to the original information source page on the web site.
To exclude the information on the conferences that was already held, a comparison is made between the current
date and the starting date of meetings. An option button is, however, provided to display all the information including
on the past meetings when clicking the button.

Fig. 6-4-2-1 Dissemination of Information on Workshop and International Conferences via the Web.

6-5 Future Policies
At the expert meeting, a resolution was reached that member countries and other organizations would provide theADRC with materials that include the spreading of knowledge and awareness about disaster reduction. The ADRC
intends to construct a database of such facts collected and to provide the information on its internet homepage.
Now that the above needs have been identified, we will provide support, if necessary, to promote multilateral
cooperation for disaster reduction among nations. This includes collaboration and workshops between experts,
residents, and member countries that are facing common challenges.
For instance, it is necessary to consider a communication method by using picture writing or oral transmission, inorder to enhance knowledge and awareness of less literate residents about disaster reduction. For remote residents,
consideration should be made to strengthen the local capacity to respond to a disaster by holding local meetingsand going round together with local volunteers.
In general, it is important to identify the needs and available resources of each country, and to make certain thatappropriate planning and coordination are in accordance with the specific demands from interested countries. To
this extent, the ADRC will be involved in planning of educational materials that deal with the individual needs of eachmember country.