swiftly supplied to disaster-affected countries in case of a large-scale disaster. Specifically, warehouses located at four overseas points stockpile goods necessary for victims' livelihoods, such as tents, power generators, and blankets.

## ● The Major Earthquake in Haiti

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 13, 2010 dealt a devastating blow to the capital city of Port-au-Prince, resulting in a massive disaster that left as many as more than 220,000 people dead or missing. Upon the request from the Government of Haiti, the Government of Japan decided to dispatch a Japan Disaster Relief Team and supply emergency relief goods by January 15. The Japan Self-Defense Force units

## ☑ Collaboration with International Agencies

Japan provides cooperation for the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery established in the World Bank in 2006. This facility aims at supporting efforts like improving capacity for disaster prevention planning, policy, as well as damage rehabilitation. Its targets are low and middle-income countries which are vulnerable to disasters.

Under the increasing recognition of the importance of disaster risk reduction, it was agreed in the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 to establish the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction to facilitate discussions on this issue, with participation from international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank and their member countries. This led to the first meeting of the Global Platform in July 2007. Japan actively supports the activities of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN/ISDR), which assumes the role as the secretariat of this Global Platform. In October 2007, the Hyogo Office of the UN/ISDR opened.

In FY2009 a total of seven Japan Disaster Relief Teams were dispatched to Indonesia, Haiti, Chile, and Taiwan. Emergency relief goods were supplied in a total of 14 cases to 14 countries, including Mexico, the Philippines, and Chile.

that were dispatched in succession carried out activities by taking over the site of a medical team's activities in the city of Leyogàn. Afterwards, a Japanese Red Cross Society medical team over the same site, and effective assistance was provided by carrying out public-private cooperation suited to the support needs.

>> See Section 3. Assistance for Each Region, Latin America and the Caribbean regarding the support for Haiti.

The second meeting of the Global Platform was held in June 2009 with the participation of more than 1,800 people from 169 countries from around the world and about 300 international agencies, disaster prevention agencies, NGOs, and other such organizations. It was attended by the Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Relief Namiki Masayoshi as the representative from Japan. The secretary announced Japan’s policy of proactively working to address international disaster relief cooperation based upon Japan’s experience with enhancing and strengthening disaster countermeasures as a country frequently struck by earthquakes.

Five years have elapsed since the United Nations’ World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), and so Japan is proactively working on a follow-up to the Hyogo Framework for Action, which serves as a basic guideline for disaster risk reduction activities in the international community, by making use of the forums provided by from the Global Platform meetings.