ブックタイトルRecommendations to prepare for future mega-disasters in Japan

概要

Recommendations to prepare for future mega-disasters in Japan

communications with them in advance. To fully respond to a disaster as intermediaryorganisations, they need to incorporate these responsibilities in their work planning; developresponse capacity including human resources; and improve their management systems.In addition, it is important to secure dedicated staff that can focus on coordination work,because requesting NGO and NPO programme staff to participate in coordination meetingswould mean considerable burdens for them on the ground. It is therefore necessary for theseorganisations to recognise that coordination is an essential element of relief activities, and toinvest in securing and developing staff with coordination related knowledge and skills duringthe peacetime. If securing such coordination staff is financially difficult, an option could be toregister and retain the trained and qualified staff and mobilise them when faced withemergencies. In other words, NGOs and NPOs should consider the necessity and means toretain human resources before a disaster strikes. In this context, former JOCVs could be auseful pool of talents as well.(4) Broader coordination mechanisms involving diverse actors including NGOs/NPOsIn order to respond to a large scale disaster in Japan effectively, the central, prefectural andmunicipal governments, designated public institutions, and other actors should understand therole of NGOs and NPOs and the need to cooperate closely with them. It is also important topre-establish a mechanism with the involvement of all the relevant actors. To this effect, thecoordination body for NGOs/NPOs discussed above should take part in the framework ofbroader coordination and represent the views of NGOs and NPOs.Firstly, the role of NGO/NPO coordination body should be clearly defined in the DisasterManagement Basic Act and relevant disaster management basic plans. This will enable theNGO/NPO coordination body to engage with the government and other public institutions intheir official capacity. Furthermore, NGO and NPO members should participate ingovernment led meetings for disaster preparedness at the central, prefectural and municipallevels. Such pre-engagement will ensure that NGOs and NPOs can discuss coordinatedresponse with the disaster response headquarters at central, prefectural and municipal levels inconcrete terms, followed by pre-disaster exercises to test the necessary coordinationarrangements.In the response to the GEJE, NGOs and NPOs were requested to coordinate amongthemselves with the disaster volunteer centers at the prefectural and municipal levels, andwith the volunteer coordination office of the Cabinet Office at the national level. However,coordination of NGOs and NPOs with considerable amount of resources and operationalcapacities require a significantly higher level of capacity than what is required for handlingindividual volunteers. It would be practically impossible for a staff at a volunteer center to52