A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

3Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives124AsiaThere has been a discerniblegrowth in the attention to policyframeworks and structures forregional collaboration in disasterrisk reduction throughout Asia.In contrast to some other geographicregions, such as Latin Americaand theCaribbean, the regional collaboration in Asiaappears to stem less from the consequences ofa single devastating disaster. Rather it appearsto result more from shared outlooks emergingfrom different professional interests. In manyof the examples reviewed here, a growingawareness and involvement with broader riskissues is becoming evident in regional forumsthat previously adopted more narrow conceptsof crisis and emergency, or in some cases maynot have previously anticipated risk in explicitterms.It may be difficult at the present time to identifya clear and unambiguous approach to disasterrisk reduction among the many cultural,social, and political distinctions in Asian societies,but there is nonetheless a clear movementto identify, and begin to address disaster risks.While disaster management agencies are grapplingwith the changing world before them,people devoted to other features of nationalsocio-economic development are emerging aspotential allies in reducing disaster risk. Theseinclude policy-makers and practitionersinvolved in such areas as environmental management,climate variation, natural resourceutilization, regional planning, the constructionor protection of infrastructure, education andpublic communications, and public administration.Over the past two years, a Regional ConsultativeCommittee on Regional Cooperation in DisasterManagement (RCC) has been convened by theAsian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)with AusAid’s support, comprising heads ofnational disaster management authorities oroffices from 24 countries in Asia. Membershave endorsed the importance of the RCC as aforum to exchange information and experienceregarding national disaster risk managementsystems. Annual meetings held in 2000 and2001 have addressed capacity building andreviewed experiences of new legislation, policyand institutional reform, and related planningprocesses. Both meetings recommended thewider sharing of experiences to enable countriesdeveloping new or modified legislation orinstitutional arrangements, to learn from theexperiences of others in the region, as well as todevelop disaster risk management plans atnational, provincial and local levels. Throughthese actions, the RCC has served to consolidateand strengthen regional and sub-regionalcooperative initiatives, even though the variouspriorities and interests of the countries mayvary.Specifically, the second of these meetings urgedall RCC member countries to adopt a TotalDisaster Risk Management Strategy that wouldrepresent “a comprehensive approach to multihazarddisaster risk management and reduction,which includes prevention, mitigation andpreparedness in addition to response andrecovery.” Several primary areas of action wereidentified to advance this approach in comingyears:• Developing community level programmesfor preparedness and mitigation.• Building capacity within national disastermanagement systems.• Promoting cooperation and enhancing themutual effectiveness of programmes ofsub-regional mechanisms such as those ofASEAN, SAARC, SOPAC, ICIMODand MRC.• Creating awareness and promoting politicalcommitment through regional initiatives.The third RCC meeting, to be co-hosted bythe Government of India in New Delhi inNovember 2002, will review the progress madethroughout the region.Information on these initiatives and the experiencesof several countries in the Asian regionwere shared in a regional workshop on legaland institutional frameworks, and planning fordisaster risk management held in April 2002 inBangkok. The workshop, organized by ADPCwith funding provided by the ECHO,OFDA/USAID and ADB, provided a venueto share experiences and discuss issues aboutwhat is working, and what needs to beimproved in the institutionalisation of riskreduction efforts. This workshop providedanother opportunity to establish links and to