Housing Earthquake Safety Initiative (HESI) (2006-2012)

The first phase of HESI was implemented in 2006-2008 with the following objectives: (a) evaluate systems related to building safety control in each target country; (b) raise awareness of stakeholders in the target countries, such as government officials, academia, NGOs, and communities; (c) develop effective policies on disaster safety of buildings for sustainable regional development; and (d) build capacity of stakeholders in the target countries through the evaluation and development of related policies.

A three-year fund and project documents, including the second phase of HESI, were proposed in January 2009 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)-Japan. The second phase will focus on vital regional facilities that are vulnerable to disasters. The effective use of old regional facilities and construction materials will contribute to developing new concepts such as sustainable buildings, and sustainable communities, in terms of regional development. The new project will be continued until March 2012.