At COP27 in 2022, UN Secretary-Generalcalled for the worldwide dissemination of"early warning systems (EWS)" for disasters.
In June of this year, moreover, the Japanese
government established a public-private
partnership council for the dissemination of
EWS in the Asia-Pacific region, and held its
first meeting.

Issues around the Early Warning
System in JapanThe Early Warning System would not exert
sufficient effect if it exists in isolation. The
Early Warning Initiative for All, spearheadedby the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) and others, requires simultaneousdevelopment and implementation of the fourpillars.

Japan is already one of the top countries
where the EWS is widely used, leading toearly evacuation of many people. However,there are still those who "do not" or "cannot"
evacuate, which leads to claim victims inevery disaster.

❶ Disaster risk knowledge❷ Detection, observation, monitoring,analysis, and forecasting❸ Warning dissemination andcommunication

The Japan CSO Coalition for Disaster Risk
Reduction (JCC-DRR) conducted research,focusing on the issue, and has compiled a listof recommendations for more effective global
dissemination of the EWS.

❹ Preparedness and response
capabilities

In Japan, along with various initiatives alreadybeen implemented, there are still challenges
as well.

Initiatives

Challenges

Identification of disaster risks, andcreation and dissemination of
hazard maps based on thisinformation

The maps are not fully understoodor utilized at the local level.

Installation and dissemination ofwater level gauges and otherobservation equipment,enhancement of DRR radio, area
mail, and various information sites

The elderly, people with various disabilities, shutins, and foreign nationals do not receive adequateevacuation information.

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In a super-aged society, a list ofpeople in need of assistance and aplan to support such people isbeing developed.

Elderly care facilities/group homes also exist inareas with disaster risks. Some of the residents are
not on the roster of their neighborhood
associations, which makes it difficult to assign care
workers, especially at night, and there is insufficient
cooperation with the local community.

Based on the Disaster
Countermeasures Basic Act,"disaster management" isdesignated as a municipal task.

Due in part to frequent personnel changes, there isoften insufficient cooperation with the genderequality and social welfare departments.
In addition, the percentage of women in disastermanagement councils, which oversee suchpolicies, remains low. The percentage of women inlocal disaster management councils is around 16%
in 2021.

Development of voluntary disastermanagement organizations suchas fire brigades

In some cases, the aging and decreasing
population of the community makes it difficult forsuch organizations to sustain.

Conducting evacuation drills at
various units such as schools,
workplaces, and communities

People with disabilities and foreign nationals tend
to be left behind in the evacuation drills.

Progress in improving theenvironment of evacuation shelters
and increasing the number ofwelfare shelters

Many are hesitant to evacuate to shelters becauseof concerns about toilets, sleeping conditions, foodrationing, and inactivity (disuse syndrome).
The number of welfare shelters also needs to be
increased for pregnant and nursing mothers.

2Lessons learned and recommendations for countries that areintroducing or improving EWS
1. EWS is not a panacea
EWS functions more effectively when linked toother disaster prevention and mitigation
measures, and therefore needs to becomprehensively developed. Specifically, it isimportant to develop emergency evacuation
shelters and related facilities, safe evacuationroutes, means of evacuation (cars, trucks,microbuses, etc.), and local cooperation
systems.

4. Prepare for dealing with those who"don't" or "can’t" evacuate"
Due to various circumstances or with normality
bias, such people always exist. If something
happens to them, it is difficult, or not right, tosimply conclude as "self-responsibility". There
are also many "people who want to evacuate
but can’t" for various reasons. It is necessary toestablish rules that are appropriate with local
culture and values of the residents, before
disaster strikes.

2. Full consideration should be given
to the diversity of the information
recipients

Multiple methods need to be established so that 5. Development and dissemination
diverse recipients can easily access warning of EWS should be done throughinformation. Since developing countries arecollaboration with local
often multilingual societies and have certaincommunities, not top-down
percentage of people with disabilities, themeans of information dissemination must be Without community involvement at thedevelopment stage, residents will not have aadapted accordingly.
sense of ownership to the EWS, and diverse
needs in the community cannot be considered.
3. EWS does not always work
Hence, the outreach and effectiveness of theas expected
warning will be limited.
Residents have unique needs based on a
Various situations can arise, such as disastersirens not being heard sufficiently due to heavy combination of various sociodemographicrain or strong winds, sirens and other devices attributes, including gender, age, disability
not functioning adequately due to electricity status, class, ethnicity, economic status, andfailure, and the government offices that operate citizenship status. It is important to build EWS
them being confused and unable to utilize while involving diverse populations in thediscussion.
them.
It is better to simultaneously transmit various
types of information through community-based
networks, TV, radio, social media, as well as
DRR radio and area mails.

https://jcc-drr.net/en/3