Time indeed passes by quickly. It will soon be 3 years shortly since
the establishment of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) in July
1998.
During this time, the ADRC has been enthusiastically pursuing its
activities with the cooperation and encouragement of member countries,
advisory countries, etc; visiting our 16 member countries, and holding
three expert meetings to promote exchanges between those involved in
disaster reduction in different countries.
We also have databases on the most recent disasters, disaster
reduction systems of different countries, disaster professionals,
disaster reduction technologies, disaster-related training courses, and
the Great-Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, which is available for use on the
ADRC website.
This fiscal year, we also started a newsletter "ADRC
Highlights" to provide information on our activities. Under our
Visiting Researcher Program agreed at the 1st Expert Meeting, we have
received seven visiting researchers from member countries to promote
exchange and disaster reduction cooperation with their respective
countries.
Looking back on 2000, one of the most devastating disasters that hit
during the year was the Gujarat Earthquake of West India. It has been
reported that more than 20,000 lives were lost, the debris has yet to be
cleared in many of the stricken areas, and tons of victims are
struggling to find an effective approach to recovery. In 2001, we will
conduct activities related to the Gujarat Earthquake through field
surveys and workshops. Climate changes from global warming in recent
years continue to cause increasingly large-scale meteorological
disasters such as floods, rainstorms, and droughts. There is growing
concern for the damages brought about by droughts in Central Asia,
India, and Pakistan.
Though we have entered the new millennium, we are not necessarily in
a situation where we can hold optimistic views on these natural
disasters. Still, the ADRC will dedicate itself to reducing the damage
caused by natural disasters, and disaster damage on a global scale by
promoting the necessary disaster reduction cooperation including the
sharing of disaster reduction information, as a solution to the
expectations and needs of the United Nations, ADRC member countries, and
Hyogo Prefecture where we are based. We look forward to your continued
cooperation, support, and active use of the ADRC and its services.
March 2001
Shigeru Itoh
Chairman
Asian Disaster Reduction Center