Director's Note

In today's rapidly changing and interdependent world, the type of uncontrolled socio-economic development common in past decades is no longer feasible. Serious environmental and social problems resulting from unrestrained growth must now be addressed and strategies for future development must be reassessed in the light of vital sustainability and human security concerns. Recognizing this fact, the UN has developed a number of important initiatives, principally the UN Millennium Declaration of 2000 (and the resulting Millennium Development Goals, MDGs), and the Plan of Implementation and Declaration on Sustainable Development resulting from the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which laid a solid foundation for all subsequent UN development efforts for the early twenty-first century and clearly indicated the direction which the Centre should take. Thus, UNCRD, in partnership with its parent organization, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), by ensuring its activities are linked with these UN development initiatives maintains its relevance to the developing countries while demonstrating its complete commitment to the UN's overall development agenda.

UNCRD operations undergo continual updating and renewal in order to more effectively address the challenges before it, and contribute to genuine improvements in the living environments of targetted communities and regions. Training, the focal point of activities, aims firmly at organizational and human resource development at the regional level while research activities are carefully correlated to the priorities of developing and transitional economies, encompassing the related themes of environment, human security and regional development, and disaster management. Project activities are aimed at the community level to ensure a participatory approach to regional development. The Hyogo Office focuses on strengthening community disaster resilience through community-based disaster management (CBDM) project initiatives, and provided substantive input during the thematic sessions of the 2005 UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction.

In continuing to serve its client community while broadening partnerships and collaboration with local governments, academic institutions, the private sector, NGOs, and related agencies, UNCRD expresses its grateful appreciation for the ongoing support extended by all relevant parties, both in Japan and internationally.