Japan Disaster Relief Team (JDRT) carrying out rescue activities (Source: Jiji)

Recently, on May 2 and 3, 2008, a cyclone hit southern Myanmar, resulting in unprecedented damages (84,537 dead, 19,359 injured, 53,836 missing according to the press release by Myanmar’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 24). Japan decided to offer initial emergency assistance up to US$10 million on May 9. In addition, upon a request from the government of Myanmar, Japan decided to dispatch Japan’s Disaster Relief Team from a humanitarian viewpoint. The Medical Team consisting of 23 personnel was sent to Labutta, Aeyyarwady Division in south Myanmar from May 29 to June 11. As for material aid, emergency relief goods worth approximately ¥108 million in total were provided on three different occasions. The leaders of Myanmar including Prime Minister General Thein Sein visited Japan’s Medical Team in service at the site, giving words of encouragement and appreciation. As the activities of Japan’s Medical Team went on, more patients who heard the high reputation of the team came to seek medical treatment from considerable distances.

See Column 10 on page 88 on Japan's Medical Team activities in Myanmar.

A violent earthquake of magnitude 8.0 shook the Sichuan Province of China on May 12, 2008, causing the devastating loss of around 70,000 lives. On the following day, May 13, Japan decided the provision of grant aid and emergency relief goods equivalent to ¥500 million as assistance for the time being. The government of Japan then responded to the Chinese government's request by sending a Search and Rescue Team of 61 personnel (May 15 – 21) and a Medical Team of 23 personnel (May 20 – June 2) to Sichuan Province. In addition, emergency relief goods worth about ¥60 million were provided. The Search and Rescue Team was engaged in search and rescue operations in Qingchuan County and Beichuan County of Sichuan Province, recovering the remains of 16 people. The Medical Team, along with Chinese medical staff, offered medical services at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, giving treatment to 253 emergency outpatients and 283 inpatients. As the first-ever Search and Rescue Teams accepted by China in its history, Japan's Rescue and Medical Team were featured by Chinese and Japanese media. In addition to these, Japan decided to extend additional aid up to ¥500 million on May 30, based on Chinese requests for relief materials such as tents. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi respectively came to see the activities of Japan's Medical Team, offering words of encouragement and thanks. Moreover, President Hu Jintao, who visited Japan to attend the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, directly thanked Japan's Disaster Relief Team for its efforts.

See page 104 on relations with China.

## ☑ Collaboration with International Agencies

Japan provides cooperation for the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery established 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. Japan has made financial contributions of US$6.0 million to the facility during a three year period.

Against a backdrop of intensifying recognition of the importance of disaster reduction, the establishment of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was approved at the UN General Assembly in 2006, and the first meeting was held in June 2007. Japan has been actively supporting the activities of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) Secretariat, which acts as the secretariat for the platform, and the Hyogo Office of the ISDF was set up in October 2007.

Japan also makes theme maps of disaster-hit areas, using Global Map data. The theme maps have been provided to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in the case of large-scale disasters. These maps enable geographic features to be identified across disaster-hit areas at the early stage of disaster outbreak for the use in disaster countermeasures, even in regions without sufficient maps such as developing countries. In FY2008, Japan supplied the maps of areas hit by disasters including the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China. The supplied maps combined geographical information on roads, railways, land use, altitude and other relevant elements from the Global Map data.