ブックタイトル人道ジャーナル第3号

概要

人道ジャーナル第3号

The Journal of Humanitarian Studies Vol. 3, 2014There were logistical challenges to reach affected communities. There were concerns about being able to providea safe working environment. While evacuation centres were relatively easy to access, those not residing in thesecentres were much more difficult to reach. The unusually high number of elderly people among the survivorscalled for special programming. These and other issues were identified as part of the review process. Many of theaffected people, especially those evacuated from the nuclear accident site, will require assistance for severalyears, if not decades. This assistance can only practically be based on a strong, locally recruited PSS trainedvolunteer base supported by local psychiatrists and psychologists.While the PSS Programme design will be adapted as a result of the GEJET experience, there were several otherrelated aspects that were seen to be important to address.First, it is important to acknowledge that there were significant non-native Japanese speaking people resident inthe affected communities e.g. people from the Philippines, China and Korea. Support for these people is bestprovided by people of the same mother tongue, culture and customs. One benefit of being part of an internationalorganisation is to be able to access such support from other National Societies. After the Christchurch Earthquake,during which 29 Japanese students were killed, Japanese Red Cross sent a team of PSS personnel to Christchurchto support the gathered families and friends through their grieving process. This was especially needed as allidentification of bodies under these circumstances was carried forensically in New Zealand delaying for someweeks the chance for families to see the remains of their loved ones.With globalisation, people are taking greater opportunity to travel and to work and live in different countries.There is a need to better factor this into the PSS programming support.A second feature that struck the evaluation team was the number of municipal officials that had sufferedenormous trauma and, yet, were struggling to provide basic relief services for their communities and to getessential municipal services running. In the municipality of Otsuchi, in Iwate Prefecture, 25% of the officials hadlost their lives in the tsunami and others had suffered family bereavements. It was a powerful reminder that it isalso the relief and emergency workers who need support and help during these traumatic times.These are reflections on only some of the learning points relating to the early six month relief phase. Theevaluation provides learning for not only Japanese Red Cross but for other National Societies, especially in highincome countries, and for the IFRC secretariat. The result could not have been achieved without the fullcooperation and openness with which the Japanese Red Cross facilitated the work of the evaluation team.74人道研究ジャーナルVol. 3, 2014