Sharing Lessons from the Great East Japan and Tsunami with the World

Abstract

Mainstreaming disaster risk management (DRM) into development policies and projects is recognized as the key to mitigate disasters, which hamper socio-economic development. However, limited activates have been conducted to support developing countries to enhance capacity of mainstreaming DRM. This chapter aims to propose approaches of capacity building for mainstreaming DRM. The lessons learned from disasters are useful for developing countries to mainstream DRM in development as well as to strengthen governance and practical measures in DRM. Each country can improve DRM by learning lessons from mega-disasters inside and outside the country. Various lessons were learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJE) in 2011, such as the importance of preventive investment, preparedness for unexpected disasters, and risk communication. The chapter reviews the practices of (i) a joint research project between Japan and the World Bank (WB) “Learning from Megadisaster”, which collected lessons from the GEJE, and shared them with the rest of the world, and (ii) capacity building programs in DRM of Japanese assistance. It was found that there are obvious contrasts between these programs of the WB and Japan International Cooperation Agency in approach, targeted audience, and duration. The WB programs were designed to assist the developing countries in mainstreaming DRM and targeted a wide range of audience including policymakers, decision-makers, and politicians. The WB efficiently conducted training activities by blending various tools, in particular advanced information and communication technologies. Japan International Cooperation Agency invites practitioners of government organizations from developing countries to Japan on a large scale to transfer Japanese practical technology on the ground. Through comparing these programs conducted by two organizations the chapter further proposes practical methods of exchanging knowledge among practitioners and decision-makers in the world to mainstream DRM in development.