JAPAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DISASTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE – ECUMENICAL SOLIDARITY MEETING – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 6-7 May 2011. We all by now know the magnitude of the earthquake and disaster that hit Japan on the 11 th March 2011 and we heard testimonies of the situations from yesterday’s presentations by the churches and the NCCJ in Japan. In additional to the human tragedy, the disaster destroyed massive critical infrastructure, including churches, hospitals, schools and business concerns. Currently, in addition to the above loss of lives and damage to property, there is a new phenomenon of soil liquefaction, where the soil literally becomes soft like liquid. This phenomenon has further damaged around 12,000 homes in the Chiba prefecture alone. And then there has been the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant which led to thousands of people to be evacuated from their homes in a 20 km radius from the plant. This type of disaster is not only mind bogging, but hard to imagine how to respond. We have been informed that the Japanese government has estimated the economic cost at 305 billion US Dollars. The livelihood of the affected communities have been massively destroyed and especially the fishing and farming activities. Not to mention the big industries like the motor vehicle industry which employs thousands of people. According to the figures given to ACT by our member Church World Service, there are still 150,000 people living in evacuation sites across Japan. To make sure the evacuees have access to basic food, sanitation, medical and psychosocial care still remain a massive challenge to the government and humanitarian actors. Again, we heard yesterday the important response by churches who are among other actors. A question was asked yesterday by one of the participants as to how long the relief phase would last, and we heard a response that it could take up to three years. The truth is that rehabilitation has to start now. This is one of those disasters where Linking Relief to Rehabilitation and Development need to work together. Humanitarian and development actors with the government in lead, have to work together to ensure an effective LRRD. Moving From Emergency to Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction We need to realize that the transition from emergency aid to rehabilitation and development programs is a dynamic process. It requires all actors involved to work on an interdisciplinary basis. In practice it is not easy to connect short-term relief measures with long-term development programs. The integration has a high chance of success if emergency aid supports survival strategies of the affected population and attempts to recover their economic basis. Rehabilitation will not be successful if the affected people are not involved in the planning and implementation of the programs. In the case of Japan, contrarily to what most people think that Japan had no robust disaster risk reduction, Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world in the area of 1 Disaster Risk Reduction. The current disaster that happened however, was not something many people and government could have imagined, and especially given the complexity and magnitude of it. A brief perspective of Japan’s history in emergency preparedness, given the multiple disaster vulnerability to the country, Japan has taken lead on various innovative disaster risk reduction (DRR) approaches and strategies. Historically, Japan has not only been concerned of DRR within its own geographical boundaries, but also took lead and contributed significantly on global initiatives for risk and vulnerability reduction and improving institutionalised capacity of disaster preparedness and response. Japan was the strongest supporter when the UN started its first International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999). Japan hosted the first World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Yokohama in 1994. Japan also hosted the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake. During this conference the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) was adopted as the global instrument and guidelines for disaster risk-reduction. Japan, being one of the most developed and also advanced on disaster preparedness is assumed to be capable of taking care of the needs of its people through internal resources and capacities in responding to disasters. However, in this current disaster, the government of Japan seem to be unable to timely provide required assistance to its people. Debris is still uncleared in most affected communities and without this happening, rehabilitation for affected communities will be hard to undertake. As we heard again from our Japanese friends, it is the affected communities working with volunteers that are assisting in clearing most of the debris manually. Given the magnitude of the situation, clearing by hand would take a very long time and hence the government needs to move in with machinery to do this. We hear most of the roads have been done, but not the homes and areas around homes. The international humanitarian community needs to ask this question whether Japan is capable to manage the devastating earthquake, tsunami and radiation leakage, or needs external support. There are many who argue for no external support to Japan. But the principle of humanitarian imperative should be observed when the situation is so severe. Furthermore, a humanitarian response does not mean mobilising financial resources only. The recent earthquakes in New Zealand and now in Japan are compelling us to redefine the humanitarian perspective and look beyond the financial support. A humanitarian response also needs to be inclusive of intellectual resources, plans, policies, strategies, innovative solutions, volunteerism and last but not least a human touch to provide psychosocial care to the affected communities. If we consider this broader picture, then no country, including Japan, is self-sufficient to manage mega disasters like this earthquake and Tsunami. 1. Requirements of moving from emergency to relief and rehabilitation 2 As mentioned above there are still more than 150,000 evacuees living in evacuation sites and waiting for restoring normality in their lives. These evacuees lived in strong communities, which are now on the verge of collapse, and thereby posing a serious problem to the previous social cohesion and kinship. Massive devastation to the properties, assets, livelihoods and family members has seriously impacted the psychosocial health of these people, which can be revived only by bringing back normality in the daily lives, and hence the need for a quick shift towards recovery and rehabilitation. It seems from different assessment reports that despite vulnerability from multiple disasters, the country was not prepared for this level of disaster. 2. Long term reconstruction considerations and Again, let me come back to this perception that Japan can take care of all the needs its people in any disaster. We should always remember that every country in the world has people living on the edge. There are marginalised and unseen people in each community and they tend to get overlooked, if the policies are framed on the basis of those who have high visibility then, certain people in communities would always be left out. For instance, there is extensive damage to the fisheries sector. Not everyone, engaged in fisheries, had insurance cover. The recovery process needs to pay attention to these people, otherwise there will be long-term adverse impact on the food security of the country. There are several other issues that need attention in the coming days, including environmental issues, contamination of soil and water and the impact on the food chain. The government of Japan has assumed the entire responsibility of reconstruction, leaving little room for other humanitarian and development actors like the churches and the NGOs in this sector. However, there is a lot that the churches can and should do like monitoring the government programmes with special focus on the weaker section of the affected communities and people, including children, elderly and the economically marginalized. It is evident, by and large; money would not be a constraint in reconstruction, but money in not solution to all the problems. Churches can play greater role on the psychosocial recovery of the affected population. Churches can also play a key role in organizing volunteers who could work for extended periods of time with affected communities. Again we heard from the churches in Japan how useful volunteers programs have been with affected families. 3? With all these examples and justifications, it is substantiated that even a country like Japan needs assistance in different sectors including volunteer management, health risk reduction, prevention of environmental degradation, shelter management, strategic planning, coordination and policy direction. According to Rajib Shaw - an Associate Professor in the Kyoto University “Japan is known for its reserved nature, dignity and modesty, Japan has been generous to support several countries in different disaster situations, mostly without 3 drawing attention to itself. It is now time to reciprocate that support and to assist Japan in its time of crisis with non-monetary resources”. John Nduna General Secretary 4