Activity Report

Participation in DRR Talk

27 June 2023 (Online)

Upon invitation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Senior Researcher Dr Gerry Potutan of ADRC participated as panelist in the Online DRR Talk on the theme, "APEC in an Increasingly Complex Disaster Landscape: Preparing Asia-Pacific Economies for Extreme Conditions" on 27 June 2023. The panel tackled concerns of extreme weather events and the widespread impacts of climate change to communities across the Asia-Pacific region.

At the outset, all panelists recognized the contributions of the APEC Disaster Risk Reduction Framework in advancing climate resilience through shared-interventions, such as better risk mapping strategies, expanded regional and global investment in early warning systems, innovation in resilient infrastructure, and nature-based solutions.

ADRC shared related activities, including: the advanced climate change impact projection study, the GLIDE number system, and the training program on "developing local DRR strategies" where information on emerging climate risks are integrated. ADRC also mentioned some initiatives in Japan that the government, the private sector, and the communities are promoting to proactively adapt to climate change risks. Among those mentioned were: 1) Japan International Public-Private Association for Disaster Risk Reduction (JIPAD), where private companies promote their DRR/CCA technologies; 2) National Resilience Promotion, an initiative that contributes in preventing and mitigating disasters; 3) Joint Strategy between the Cabinet Office (Disaster Management) and Ministry of Environment to mainstream synergy between Climate Action and DRR; 4) Amendments of Basic Act on Disaster Management highlighting the importance of the Local Disaster Management Plans to reflect lessons from local conditions in updating the policies related to DRR-CCA; and 5) Public-Private Partnerships in promoting innovative early warning tools (e.g., SPECTEE that utilizes artificial intelligences or "AI").

All these initiatives are aimed at enhancing synergy in implementing large-scale disaster countermeasures to minimize silos among related agencies, providing practical knowledge and skills of people at the community level, and applying new tools and technologies to proactively reduce disaster risks as well as adapt to the emerging climate risks.

2023/07/04 15:00

The JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program "Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction for Central Asia and Caucasus"

16 June - 8 August 2023 (Online + Japan)

ADRC conducted a JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program "Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction for Central Asia and Caucasus" from 16 June to 8 August 2023, with the cooperation of JICA Kansai. Eight government officials from five countries: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, participated in this course, learning how to formulate and implement local DRR plans to promote DRR measures in their respective home countries.

The first four weeks of the course consisted of online lectures and exercises. In the latter three weeks, face-to-face programs were conducted in Japan, including site observations and lectures in Hyogo, Niigata, Gunma, and Ibaraki prefectures to learn about Japanese experiences and countermeasures of DRR. At the end of the course, the participants presented a draft of a local DRR plan, which they formulated through the programs and adapted to challenges present in their own home countries. Moreover, through active discussions and sparring on their respective DRR plans, the participants shared knowledge and addressed challenges they had in disaster reduction measures in their home regions.

(2023/08/15 15:00)

The 5th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) + Japan Meeting

15-16 June 2023 (Da Nang, Viet Nam)

On 15-16 June 2023, the 5th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) + Japan meeting was held in Da Nang, Viet Nam. As part of the programme, Mr SASAHARA, executive director of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) gave two presentations entitled "Promotion of Database Linkage and Capacity Enhancement through Utilization of GLIDE" and "Pilot Project on Utilization of State-of-Art Communication Technologies for CBDRM and Disaster Emergency Management". AHA Center as well as the representative of Malaysia and some others expressed their interest in these projects. Other activities at the meeting included a report on the progress of each activity under the ASEAN-Japan Work Plan on Disaster Management 2021-2025.

ADRC also participated in the site visit held on the last day of the ACDM meeting. In the morning, the participants observed a disaster management drill carried out by the residents of Binh Hai Commune, Quang Nham Province. Based on the scenario that an early warning for an approaching typhoon was given, the exercise included the provision of pre-response funds and equipment and reinforcement of roofs of vulnerable houses conducted by a youth disaster management team. In the afternoon, the delegation visited a site where mangrove conservation and reforestation project are being implemented by the Green Climate Fund in Bau Ca Cai region, Quang Ngai Province.

2023/06/22 15:00

Participation in the 18th WGDRR Annual Meeting

13-16 June 2023 (Ulsan, Republic of Korea)

As a member of the Typhoon Committee's Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (TC/WGDRR), ADRC participated in the 18th Annual Meeting held on 13-16 June 2023 at the Lotte Hotel in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. The National Disaster Management Research Institute (NDMI), chair of the WGDRR, hosted the meeting on the theme, "Future of the Disaster Risk Reduction: Leveraging Technology to Adapt Climate Change".

Mr SUZUKI Koji, Project Director at ADRC, delivered a technical presentation entitled, "QZSS Technology Application to Early Warning Message Platform" and Dr Gerry Potutan, Senior Researcher at ADRC, presented on the ADRC activities in line with TC/WGDRR. Both presentations highlighted ADRC's contributions in achieving the TC/WGDRR objectives to reduce the number of deaths and minimize the economic impacts of typhoon disasters in the Asia-Pacific region.

One of the recommendations brought up by this meeting was to explore the linkage between the Typhoon Committee's Disaster Information System (TC-DIS) and the ADRC's GLobal Unique Disaster IDEntifier number (GLIDE) system. Under this proposed linkage, ADRC may be requested to provide an orientation to the 14 TC/WGDRR member countries on how to input the disaster information to the GLIDE system, focusing on tropical cyclone, storm surge, flood, and landslide. The progress of this potential linkage will be reported at the 18th Integrated Workshops (18th IWS) of the Typhoon Committee to be held on 27-30 November 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand.

2023/06/20 15:00

Participation in the 4th Conference of the Society for Disaster Education

10 June 2023 (Anagasaki, Japan)

At the panel discussion "Towards Recovery from the Turkey-Syria Earthquake" held in the 4th Conference of the Society for Disaster Education on 10 June 2023 from 13:00 to 15:00, ADRC presented the current status of disaster education in Turkish schools and ADRC's activities relevant to earthquake and DRR education in Turkey along with an overview of the Turkey-Syria earthquake. Under the coordination of Mr SUWA Seiji, President of the Society for Disaster Education, the role of disaster education in recovery from the Turkey-Syria earthquake was discussed with Mr Emin Ozdamar, Vice-President of the Turkish Japanese Foundation, and Mr YOSHITSUBAKI Masamichi, Secretary General of Citizens towards Overseas Disaster Emergency (CODE).

(2023/06/17 15:00)

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