30 September 2024

Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), in cooperation with the Cabinet Office of Japan and the Viet Nam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority (VDDMA), will hold the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2024 (ACDR2024) at the Hanoi Club Hotel in Hanoi on 12-13 November 2024.

The theme of ACDR2024 is "Proactive Solutions and Anticipatory Actions for Sustainable Resilience to the Climate Crisis."

The Please register to attend in person or online at the following website.

ACDR2024: https://acdr.adrc.asia/

(2024/09/30 15:00)

30 September 2024

ADRC will co-organise a partner event at the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024 on 17 October 2024, entitled "Urban Resilience of Metropolises: Incorporation of Multi-Sectoral Spatial Risk Assessment in City Planning for Investing in Resilient Metropolises, and Augmenting Local Solutions to Disaster Risk Reduction/ Build Back Better with Space Satellite Services" with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Sentinel Asia, and other stakeholders.

There is an urgent need to address the root causes of increasing urban disasters by identifying better ways to incorporate disaster risk reduction into urban planning and infrastructure planning processes. Further, to respond effectively to unexpected scales of disaster, it is important to have rapid access to geographical information and to disseminate risk information.

This panel discussion will serve as a platform for various practitioners and experts to share experiences and best practices in addressing the above needs.

We look forward to the participation of APMCDRR participants in this event. For more information, please visit the website below.

<ADRC's Partner Event at APMCDRR 2024>

https://bit.ly/APMCDRR2024-PE20241017

(2024/09/30 15:00)

7 September 2024 (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

As part of the "Joint Development of Citizen Empowerment Program for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia" project, conducted by the Kansai University of International Studies (KUIS) with funding from the Toyota Foundation, the ADRC team participated in a community-based disaster management drill utilising ICT in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, 7 September 2024. ADRC served as a supporting organisation for the implementation of the project.

The drill targeted the Jogoyudan community along the Code River in Yogyakarta City, which is vulnerable to disasters such as flooding and cold lava flows from volcanic ash. KUIS and the local University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta (UAJY) coordinated with the provincial/municipal disaster management agency (BPBD) and the community. Students from KUIS and UAJY actively participated in the drill activities. Although the short preparation time limited sufficient coordination efforts, each party cooperated in the evacuation drills and devised activities such as supporting and evacuating the injured, pregnant women and physically disabled persons.

It was conducted using the community disaster information sharing system (geoBingAn + WhatsApp system) launched by the ADRC in the ASEAN project in Malaysia last year (See ADRC Highlights Vol. 368 and 370). By registering via WhatsApp, which people use every day, the system enables simultaneous broadcasting to the registrant's WhatsApp and collection of information in the form of text, photos and videos from registrants via WhatsApp. It is an easy-to-use system that enables two-way information exchange on WhatsApp.

In addition to information sharing via radio, which BPBD normally uses, information was uploaded by the participants through WhatsApp as needed. BPBD and the community members found the system through WhatsApp to be a very convenient and user-friendly platform for information sharing, as they were already familiar with using WhatsApp. Even after the drill, BPBD asked some questions about future collaboration and expressed interest in continuing to use this system.

As noted above, due to the limited preparation, the local government officials were not able to fully utilise the system during the drill. The results of the ICT-utilised drill were reported at the international workshop "Asian Conference on Civil Disaster Reduction and Response (ACDRI)" under the Toyota-funded project. The ICT-utilised disaster risk reduction event will be continued in the next activity with universities in Malaysia.

(2024/09/14 15:00)

2-13 September 2024

On 2-13 September 2024, ADRC conducted the JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program: Malaysia "LEP2.0 Enhancement of the Disaster Risk Management Capacity of the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA)" Pre-Disaster Investment and Risk Understanding.

The course aimed enable participants to (1) systematically learn about disaster risks and understand disaster risk reduction methods by attending lectures and visiting sites related to pre-disaster investment and response to residual risks implemented by national and local governments, especially for flood and sediment disasters, and (2) then to develop an action plan for their organization to accelerate disaster mitigation in Malaysia. A total of 14 participants from the NADMA and line agencies joined the program to learn about policies and practices of Japan, in Tokyo, Ibaraki, Shizuoka and Kobe.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the organizations for their cooperation in conducting the training.

(2024/9/20 15:00)