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FY2000 Annual Report

Foreword

Time indeed passes by quickly. It will soon be 3 years shortly since the establishment of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) in July 1998.

During this time, the ADRC has been enthusiastically pursuing its activities with the cooperation and encouragement of member countries, advisory countries, etc; visiting our 16 member countries, and holding three expert meetings to promote exchanges between those involved in disaster reduction in different countries.

We also have databases on the most recent disasters, disaster reduction systems of different countries, disaster professionals, disaster reduction technologies, disaster-related training courses, and the Great-Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, which is available for use on the ADRC website.

This fiscal year, we also started a newsletter "ADRC Highlights" to provide information on our activities. Under our Visiting Researcher Program agreed at the 1st Expert Meeting, we have received seven visiting researchers from member countries to promote exchange and disaster reduction cooperation with their respective countries.

Looking back on 2000, one of the most devastating disasters that hit during the year was the Gujarat Earthquake of West India. It has been reported that more than 20,000 lives were lost, the debris has yet to be cleared in many of the stricken areas, and tons of victims are struggling to find an effective approach to recovery. In 2001, we will conduct activities related to the Gujarat Earthquake through field surveys and workshops. Climate changes from global warming in recent years continue to cause increasingly large-scale meteorological disasters such as floods, rainstorms, and droughts. There is growing concern for the damages brought about by droughts in Central Asia, India, and Pakistan.

Though we have entered the new millennium, we are not necessarily in a situation where we can hold optimistic views on these natural disasters. Still, the ADRC will dedicate itself to reducing the damage caused by natural disasters, and disaster damage on a global scale by promoting the necessary disaster reduction cooperation including the sharing of disaster reduction information, as a solution to the expectations and needs of the United Nations, ADRC member countries, and Hyogo Prefecture where we are based. We look forward to your continued cooperation, support, and active use of the ADRC and its services.

March 2001
Shigeru Itoh
Chairman
Asian Disaster Reduction Center