Japan a leader in disaster relief

Japan has pledged to provide $4 billion over the next four years to reduce the number and the suffering of disaster victims worldwide.

“Disaster risk reduction is the most important challenge for both developed and developing countries. For developing countries in particular,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Mr. Abe said, speaking at the third annual United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan.

Japan’s critical role in pushing progress on disaster risk reduction and management lies partly in own long history as an aid recipient and in coping with earthquakes and tsunamis, such as the recent tidal wave that struck the country’s Pacific coast in 2011, and the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2013.

Japan’s history in dealing with disasters has given it a “sensitivity and understanding in its engagement with other recipient countries that is based on first-hand experience,” according to the London-based Overseas Development Institute.

The East Asian nation has long been a leader in efforts to reduce disaster risk, having contributed about 27 percent of the world’s $13.5 billion total disaster risk reduction aid between 1991 and 2010, the Institute reported.

[Christian Science Monitor]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.