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Goals

Disasters reduce the positive effects of past development by the collapse of regional facilities, including schools and houses, and result in the loss of lives and assets and an increasing number of people falling in poverty. Disaster management tools must be incorporated into regional development planning and implementation, as regional conditions vary under their respective socioeconomic conditions and hazard-related circumstances. Facilitating the participation of women in the development process, including efforts to reduce disaster risk, is also a key priority.

As environmental risks erode the savings and capacities of households, the marginal population of each social group is most at risk. Increasing destruction due to tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters related to environmental and land-use patterns are a clear signal that there exists some problems in the past regional development. Therefore, massive challenges remain in achieving the MDGs. The required tools include risk assessment, sustainable resource use, reinforcement of regional facilities, and community participation and empowerment for disaster risk reduction.

UNCRD initiated its Disaster Management Planning Programme in 1985. Progress in regional development has led to an improved living environment; however, it has also made the environment more vulnerable to natural hazards. UNCRD's research and training projects aim to support local governments, NGOs, and academia in creating partnerships for regional disaster management in developing countries. In 1999, the Hyogo Office was established in Kobe where a major earthquake had claimed more than 6,000 lives in 1995.

Within the framework of the MDGs, the UN disaster management agenda has been given direction by the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) adopted in 2005.

The specific goals of the UNCRD Disaster Management Planning Hyogo Office are:

1. To incorporate disaster management into regional sustainable development plans by:
   • Strategies to reduce vulnerability of the built environment for promoting urbanization;
   • Prioritizing the disaster resiliency of vital regional facilities such as schools and hospitals;
   • Regional risk assessment utilizing micro-zoning (hazard map) in a participatory manner; and
   • Introduction of risk assessment and disaster prevention systems into planning processes.
2. To develop and transfer regional disaster management planning and technologies by:
   • Provision of regional guidelines to be observed prior to, during, and following large-scale disasters;
   • Technology transfer, including socioeconomic efficiency and vulnerability evaluation;
   • Development of educational and training programmes on disaster management and raising public awareness, including communities and national/local government officers; and
   • Networking and dissemination to the planning authorities and those involved in disaster management.