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In
commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake, “The United Nations World Conference on Disaster
Reduction” was held here in Hyogo in January, 2005. The conference was
held immediately after the massive damage caused by the killer tsunami
wave in the aftermath of the earthquake off Sumatra, drawing the world's
attention. "Disaster reduction education" was claimed as one
the world's disaster reduction policies in the conference.
Concurrently,
the commemorative event "Hopes for revival prevail in earth"
was held at the Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Center and was
broadcasted by the Internet live streaming, which was the pre-conference
for "Natural Disaster Youth Summit 2005.”
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Kazuko
Okamoto
Executive Director, NDYS 2005 in Hyogo Conference |
In
the conference, we had an Internet video conference. Although we are far
apart, the faces and voices of Iranian, Armenian and Taiwanese students on the
screen integrated people in the conference hall with them. This shows the
power of the Internet. I
In
this March, we will present declaration of "Natural Disaster Youth Summit
2005 in Hyogo" with representatives from participating countries,
together with Japanese students, at Awaji Yumebutai International Conference
Center.
This
is our first attempt to let students discuss disaster reduction for the
future. We will achieve our goal “think about the importance of human
life” by regarding the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake as our starting point,
learning lessons from various natural disasters occurring all over the world,
working together with students the world over through the Internet.
This
iEARN project, "Natural Disaster Youth Summit", was kicked off in
September 2004. 300 students from 15 countries and 750 students from Japan,
most of them having suffered from natural disasters such as big earthquakes
have participated in the project. To make presentations, about 50 participants
from 11 countries, - Argentina, Armenia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal,
Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, Taiwan, and the United States of America -will come
to Awaji in Hyogo, where the epicenter and hardest hit area of the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was.
This
international conference includes joining the "UNICEF PARK PROJECT 2005
International camp: Healing and Study from Nature" on March 25 and 26. On
the 27th, we will visit the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution, and the JICA Hyogo International Center, where we listen to
reports by JICA personnel engaged in support operations in disaster-stricken
area. We will also have a forum of discussion on "What can we do for
possible disasters?" there. On the 28th, the last day of our program,
students will present their 6-month-long studies at the poster session on the
corridor, and on the stage in the main hall. Students from Aceh in Indonesia
who have vivid memories of the devastated earthquake will also present their
studies. Finally, the declaration will be adopted by all the participants and
released throughout the world.
Now
that world is filled with various troubles which should be tackled by people
in the world working together, "Natural Disaster Youth Summit 2005 in
Hyogo” is expected to show the way to practice future "disaster
reduction education", in which we ponder the importance of human life,
the wonderfulness of helping each other, and "what we should do" or
"how we live" as a member of a community by utilizing the ICT
(Information Communication Technology).
March 20, 2005
KOBE, Japan
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10th anniversary of the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
