Disaster risk reduction of urban and built environment is essential to guarantee the healthy and industrious developments of core cities in developing countries.
Specialists in Urban Disaster Risk Reduction (UDRR) are, however, not readily available because developing such specialists requires acquiring a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of both the scientific and the socio-economic conditions driving urban risks. Further, it requires a full heart of devotion and a commitment to bridging the people together.
Based on the experiences of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake, that were typical of urban disaster & recovery, a group of UDRR specialists, from Asia, Middle East & North Africa (MENA), and Latin America regions, have been trained through a concerted effort between JICA Hyogo and RCUSS of Kobe University. For a period of 8 years (2004-2011), more than 100 participants have completed two months training in Japan. Initiatives have started from the group of those training participants to hold regional workshops to promote mutual understandings of UDRR issues in each region and to further strengthen the international human network among these UDRR specialists and concerned organizations. As those three regions have their
own unique cultural and historical commonalities, the regional solidarity plays a central role in building DRR strategy. So far, two workshops have been completed in Asia and MENA as indicated below. The Latin America workshop organized on March 5-7 2012 at Bogota, Colombia to complete the linkage among these regional UDRR efforts.
1. Asia regional workshop at Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2-5, 2011
Theme: Capacity Building in Vulnerable Community, learning through 2005
Pakistan Kashmir EQ & 2010 Pakistan Flood Disasters and Recoveries
2. MENA regional workshop at Ankara/Istanbul, Turkey, December 1-3, 2011
Theme: Urban Development and Renovation based on Seismic Risk in MENA
region, learning through 1999 Turkey Earthquake and Recoveries
Objectives:
The objectives of the Latin America workshop are as follows;
1) Discuss the UDRR strategy & topics needed for Latin America region; topics
such as assessment of urban risk & vulnerability, seismic design of housing,
and safety of schools and hospitals.
2) Discuss the support & collaboration on the recovery from recent disasters such
as the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, the 2010 Chile Earthquake, and the 2011 the Great
East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
3) Discuss the future strategy of UDRR network & activity among the Asia,
MENA, and Latin America groups and the international organizations.
Program:
Dates & Place: March 5-7, 2012. Hotel near FOPAE office, Bogota, Colombia
Day 1 (March 4): Arrivals of participants to Bogota
Day 2 (March 5): Opening remarks (UNDP, UNISDR, FOPAE, JICA, RCUSS),
Presentations on Haiti, Chile and Japan EQs disasters and recoveries. Reports
from Colombia, and other countries.
Day 3 (March 6): Site visits to informal housing around Bogota, Urban situation of
Bogota, and visit to FOPAE office
Day 4 (March 7): Workshop (Presentations and discussions on the UDRR strategy
& topics needed for Latin America region, and Bogota visits. Future
collaboration among the Asia, MENA, and Latin America groups and the
support of international organizations.)
Participants:
• Ex-JICA participants from Latin America countries (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela)
• The leader or coordinator from the Asia and the MENA regions
• Representatives from FOPAE, Bogota, Colombia
• Representatives from UNDP, UNISDR, World Bank and other international organizations
• International UDRR experts (Prof. Louise Comfort of Pittsburgh Univ. and Dr.
Fouad Bendimerad of EMI, Prof. Toshihisa Toyoda of Shudo Univ. etc.)
• Representatives from JICA Colombia, and JICA Japan
• Yasuo Tanaka, RCUSS, Kobe Univ.
Abreviations:
EMI: Earthquake Megacities Initiatives
FOPAE: Fondo de Prevención y Atención de Emergencias (Fund for Emergency
Prevention & Response)
JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency
RCUSS: Research Center for Urban Safety and Security
UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
UNISDR: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
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