In addition to the main conference, many exhibitions took place. Here local firefighters show children how their cherry-picker operates. Photo by Tony Jarrett.
This article first appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of Fire Australia magazine. By Nathan Maddock.
The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC were represented in Sendai for the third United Nations (UN) World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The ambitious target for the conference was a global reduction in death, injury and displacement from natural disasters.
Sendai was a big deal in disaster management. More than 6,500 delegates descended on the Japanese city and 187 UN member nations were represented. A public forum was also held, registering 143,000 visitors over the five days of the conference; these figures make the conference one of the largest UN gatherings ever held in Japan.
The main outcome of this meeting was that the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action, which documented disaster risk-reduction targets and was valid until 2015, was replaced by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, taking over the disaster risk-reduction mantle until 2030. The new framework is far-reaching, with seven global targets and four priorities for action for member states over the next 15 years.
Among the targets and priorities for action there is a strong recognition of science, and the need to strengthen its relevance and use for disaster risk reduction from the global to local scales.
Margareta Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, believes the Sendai Framework prioritises the targets and sets a clear agenda for UN members to reduce the risks that natural disasters pose.
“The adoption of this new framework for disaster risk reduction opens a major new chapter in sustainable development as it outlines clear targets and priorities for action, which will lead to a substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health,” she said.
Joining them in Japan was AFAC representative Damien Killalea (Tasmania Fire Service) and young volunteers from the AFAC Change It Up program Banjo Anderson and Maddie Croft (NSW State Emergency Service) and Tia Rowley (Queensland State Emergency Service). The Change It Up participants were sponsored to attend by the NSW State Emergency Service Volunteer Association and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
Participant reports
So what will be the outcomes for the Australian emergency management industry? Here are perspectives from a researcher, an agency representative and a young volunteer about what they took away from attending the Sendai conference.
CRC researcher—Dr Briony Towers
I had the wonderful privilege of travelling to Sendai to present at a workshop on Emerging Trends in Disaster Risk Reduction: tackling black swans, hyper risks and extreme events. In addition to the workshop, a real highlight of my time in Sendai was stumbling on a public exhibition exploring the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. Installed in a shopping arcade, the exhibition presented high-resolution aerial photographs of villages, towns and cities before and after the disaster. As I walked through the exhibition, I watched local people study the photographs, locating the houses of friends or relatives in the before photo and then pointing to the corresponding location in the after photo. There was something deeply moving about the way people engaged with the photographs, chatting quietly with one another as they contemplated the complete obliteration of the coastal communities just 20 km to the east.
On the bullet train back to Tokyo, I read over the new global agreement that had been struck a few hours earlier. Thanks to the hard work and lobbying of child and youth advocates, the agreement identifies children as key stakeholders in disaster risk reduction:
Children and youth are agents of change and should be given the space and modalities to contribute to disaster risk reduction, in accordance with legislation, national practice and educational curricula.
Implementation of the Sendai agreement as it relates to children and schools will be a key focus of our ongoing Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC research on building best practice in child-centred disaster risk reduction. We are aiming to evaluate current education programs and develop innovative new approaches to children’s disaster education.
Four priorities for action
Understanding disaster risk
Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk
Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to ‘build back better’ in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Seven global targets
Substantial reduction in global disaster mortality
Substantial reduction in numbers of affected people
Reduction in economic losses in relation to global gross domestic product
Substantial reduction in disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, including health and education facilities
Increase in the number of countries with national and local disaster risk-reduction strategies by 2020
Enhanced international cooperation
Increase in access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments.
A conference like Sendai on the world stage is huge, with 6,500 people attending from across the globe. Photo by UN Integrated Research on Disaster Risk.
Emergency services—Damien Killalea
For me, Sendai provided a great opportunity to learn firsthand about the arrangements and programs in place across UN member states, in the developed world as well as the developing world, to mitigate loss from natural disasters.
Because of their location, many developing nations are at significant risk from natural disasters, often from a range of hazards. It was instructive to hear about the variety of often very sophisticated programs implemented in these countries to mitigate risk and respond to disasters.
But the main game in Sendai was the development of a new framework to replace the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action. After detailed and lengthy negotiations between the 187 member states, which in the latter stages stretched to 37 hours with barely a break, the new Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 was agreed. Among other things, the new framework will result in a significant increase in support by the developed world for disaster risk reduction in developing nations.
It will be interesting to see the extent to which our own National Strategy for Disaster Resilience will be affected by the new Sendai Framework, what the implications are for AFAC’s Strategic Directions, and how AFAC member agencies will respond.
There is no doubt that climate change and its expected influence on many natural hazards has sharpened the international focus on disaster risk reduction. It is critical we examine the implications for our sector and ramp up our efforts to build community resilience and emergency management sector capability in the region.
Queensland SES volunteer—Tia Rowley
The work undertaken in Sendai reflects the world’s thinking in terms of disaster risk reduction. It was an eye-opening experience to learn and be incorporated into some of the most innovative and effective disaster mitigation systems on the planet. It was also a perfect time to reflect on how far Australia has come in terms of disaster risk reduction and how we are quickly becoming leaders in the sector.
For the first time the world was in agreement that disaster risk reduction, economic security and climate change are so intertwined they can no longer be addressed separately. Key insights included the need for improved multi-modal communication and early warning systems, a drive to improve global insurance take-up, and the importance of changing the perception of youth to reflect capability, not vulnerability.
For me, one quote struck a chord:
We need to create a resilient community, and education is the primary instrument.
Proactive risk mitigation stems from a deeply ingrained education that is fundamental to protecting human life, minimising economic disruption and ensuring that our first responders and recovery agencies are more effective in their work.
It was an honour for Banjo, Maddie and myself, as young Queensland and New South Wales State Emergency Service volunteers, to not only represent our own agencies, but to be part of the UN Major Group for Children and Youth through the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction negotiations. Alongside 20 other young volunteers from around the globe, we advocated for the needs of a truly important, though often under-represented and silenced group— children and youth. The integration of children and youth will be crucial to the future of our world.
Finally, a phrase from the UN Major Group for Children and Youth plenary statement: We call on you, to call on us.