Activity Report

25-28 June 2024 (Seoul, Republic of Korea )

This year's annual meeting of the Typhoon Committee's Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (WGDRR) was held on 25-28 June 2024 in Seoul, Republic of Korea on the theme "EW4All: Bridging Gaps for Effective Disaster Risk Reduction." ADRC participated in this event on behalf of the Cabinet Office Japan with the following contributions and outcomes:

1) Presented Japan's member report highlighting the milestones on disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities implemented by ADRC in 2023 (e.g., GLIDE, Sentinel Asia, QZSS, training, webinars, ACDR, website, and other information-sharing activities)
2) Announced the host, theme, dates, and venue of the next Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction (ACDR2024) to the members of the WGDRR
3) Noted the key technical presentations related to the theme of ACDR2024, particularly the "Urban inundation response technology using deep learning and sensor data" by the National Disaster Management Research Institute (NDMI)/Republic of Korea and the "Role of Impact-Based Forecasting in Early Warnings for All initiative" by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)
4) Affirmed a continuing collaboration with WGDRR in information sharing through GLIDE, the website, and online databases to be reflected in the working group's Annual Operations Plans (AOPs)
5) Discussed with the participant from Vietnam regarding ADRC's engagement in the forthcoming APEC Vietnam Online Workshop on "Improving the Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Communities to Climate Change," 24-25 July 2024.

The WGDRR is one of the working groups under the UN-ESCAP/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Typhoon Committee, comprising 14 members (i.e., 12 countries and 2 regions) in Asia-Pacific region.

(2024/07/05 15:00)

24-25 June 2024 (Da Nang, Vietnam )

The EPWG Workshop on Strengthening Early Warning Early Action for the Vulnerable Communities in APEC took place in Da Nang, Vietnam, on 24-25 June 2024. The workshop aimed to share professional and technical information in natural disaster risk management among APEC economies and was attended by some thirty experts from the APEC region. It was organised by Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is Vietnam's focal point in the APEC Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG).

ADRC Research Director KODAMA Miki and Senior Researcher SHIOMI Yumi participated in the event. In Session 3 (Best Practices and Lessons Learned), Ms SHIOMI made a presentation entitled Utilisation of State of Art Communication Technologies for CBDRM and Emergency Management. Through the workshop, participants actively shared their lessons learned and views on Early Warning and Early Action for the vulnerable communities.

(2024/07/02 15:00)

17 June - 8 August 2024

Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) conducted a JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program "Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction for Central Asia and Caucasus" from 17 June to 8 August 2024, with the cooperation of JICA Kansai. Six government officials from four countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, 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, and in the latter three weeks, face-to-face programs were conducted in Japan. The programs in Japan included lectures at DRR-related organisations in Hyogo, Osaka, and Nara prefectures and site observations to learn about landslide countermeasures after the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake and erosion control and flood control measures for the Joganji River basin in Toyama Prefecture. In addition, the participants formulated a draft local DRR plan through the exercises and discussions. They participated actively in the programs, considering how to apply what they learned from this course to their future work and DRR measures in their home countries.

(2024/08/15 15:00)

13 June 2024 (online)

The 7th GLIDE Steering Committee Meeting was held online on 13 June 2024. A total of 15 participants from the Steering Committee member organizations discussed the annual priority activities and agreed to have closer communication among the three Subcommittees (API, SOP, and Product Development) to facilitate the integration of GLIDE functionalities. They also shared recent activities relevant to GLIDE application, including a presentation from ADRC on GLIDE utilisation in an ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee project.

(2024/06/20 15:00)

10 June 2024 (online)

On 10 June 2024, an online meeting was held for the United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) Regional Support Office (RSO). UN-SPIDER is a multilateral platform promoted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to facilitate the use of space-based technologies in disaster risk reduction and emergency response. UNOOSA is the UN agency responsible for space-related policies, and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. (The RSO supports the UN-SPIDER program at a regional level. ADRC has been active as an RSO since signing a cooperation agreement with UNOOSA on 4 June 2009, at the 52nd session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).)

At the 10 June meeting, ADRC Project Director SUZUKI Koji explained the progress of a project for use of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in disaster risk reduction. QZSS is a system that the National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office of Japan, is considering deploying in cooperation with nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The project technology uses QZSS (known as Michibiki in Japan), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed and operated by the Japanese government, to transmit disaster-related information. This advanced technology can provide disaster-related information even in areas where regular communication infrastructure is lacking or is disrupted due to disaster. In Japan, partial operation began in 2018. The feasibility for general implementation of the technology in the Asia-Pacific region is being evaluated through surveys and by taking prototype receivers to the region to conduct demonstrations.

At the start of the meeting, UN-SPIDER explained that, until now, efforts to utilise space-based technologies for disaster risk reduction on the UN-SPIDER platform have been related to optical satellites and SAR satellites, and therefore use of GNSS (QZSS) technology for disaster risk reduction is very unique.

(2024/06/17 15:00)