May 13, 2010 — Kyoto University Global COE-HSE, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the United Nations/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), in cooperation with the Government of Japan, organized a day-long global knowledge-sharing event on May 18, 2010 to distill lessons and help develop infrastructure and institutions that can lead to a reduction in disaster and climate risks. Termed the “Kyoto Policy Forum”, the event gathered over 200 government representatives, donors, development practitioners, and leading experts from over 60 countries to address disaster risk reduction in critical infrastructure, urban management and local institutions and communities.
The Kyoto Policy Forum explored the following topics:
Making critical infrastructure more resilient to disasters: Critical infrastructure must be able to withstand hazard events, and function effectively for emergency response and recovery. This session will explore the characteristics of increasing risks to critical infrastructure due to climate change, demographic changes, and other factors, and share promising practices related to disaster risk reduction in infrastructure.
Effective urban management for disaster-resilient communities: The urban poor suffer as a result of flawed urban management policies when disasters strike.This session will explore how to improve accountability and transparency in urban management as a mechanism to reduce disaster risk. The session will also share examples of good practice in the development and management of resilient and sustainable urban investments.
The importance of local institutions and community engagement: Local institutions—public, private, and civil society—play a critical role in shaping disaster risk management. This session will explore how institutions can enhance their capacity, how to strengthen their role and how to improve coordination across scales for better planning and implementation.
Japan serves as Co-Chair of the Consultative Group of GFDRR, the body which provides overall guidance and strategy for the Facility. Japan is one of the founding members of GFDRR and a pioneer in the field of disaster risk reduction, including through its contributions and valuable lessons-learned given its share of natural disasters including the Kobe earthquake. Japan facilitates cooperation in the field of disaster risk reduction, an example of which is the January 2005 UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, which adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action – an agreement which 168 countries and multilateral organizations have signed on to in order to effectively integrate disaster risk considerations into sustainable development policies, planning, programming, and financing at all levels of government.