UNDRR News

Some of the most dramatic images of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami came from Sendai City where tsunami waves travelled up to 10 km inland resulting in many deaths, flooding of the airport and the sweeping away of cars and airplanes.

Governor Toshizo Ido runs Japan's Hyogo Prefecture which has become synonymous with disaster risk reduction. Hyogo Prefecture, home to 29 cities, was tragically thrust into the limelight in 1995 when it was hit by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake which caused great destruction and the loss of 6,300 lives mainly in Kobe, Awaji and Takarazuka. Over 40,000 people were injured.

UNISDR has organized an exchange visit between the Philippines and Japan, two of the countries worst-affected this year by a series of disasters ranging from a major earthquake which triggered a tsunami and a nuclear meltdown in Japan, and back-to-back typhoons in the case of the Philippines...

Disaster risk reduction topped the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser who visited the city of Kobe and its Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. The centre has experienced an increase of 30% in the number of visitors since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011.

Four student representatives from Kobe University, Bukkyo University and Tohuku University announced a ‘Youth Declaration’ during United Nations Day celebrations in Sendai City to highlight the commitment and active participation of youth in building disaster resilient communities.

Recognizing the importance of risk reduction, the Japanese city of Saijo expanded their disaster risk reduction (DRR) education program to train children and young people to be future leaders in DRR. The program, which now trains students older than twelve-years old, was launched as part of the International Day for Disaster Reduction celebrations in the city.

国際防災の日（10月13日）国連事務総長メッセージの日本語版です。

Every morning from 17-24 September, Kobe University student Erick Gonzales picks up his badge, his assignment and tools for the day, and is transported inside the coastal city of Ofunato to help the city clean up and recover from the damage caused by the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Six months after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Margareta Wahlström, the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Chief, has met with Mayor Jin Sato of Minami-Sanriku town which lost 558 people in the tragedy. The total population of the town was 17,300 before the disaster and 343 are still unaccounted for.

国連国際防災戦略事務局（UNISDR）のトップである、マルガレータ・ワルストロム国連事務総長特別代表（防災担当）が9月8～11日にかけて、日本を公式訪問しました。9月9日、日本記者クラブで記者会見が行われました。 Margareta Wahlström, Margareta Wahlström, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction and Chief of UNISDR, visited Japan from 8 – 11 September. A press conference was held at Japan National Press Club on 9 September.