Together We Stand

[ 149 ] Investing in the future: provide people with hope for a life and build a resilient society Tsukasa Hirota, Director, Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Relief Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Responding to Typhoon Haiyan Japan utilizes its knowledge and technology acquired through past experiences of responding to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons to provide support in the field of humanitarian assistance, disaster risk reduction, and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Typhoon Haiyan (known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines) directly hit the Philippines on 8 November 2013, causing enormous damage in its 36 states. The typhoon was of an unprecedented force in recorded history. It caused over 7,000 deaths and missing people, damaged over 1 million houses, and displaced over 4 million people. A large area was affected, including many cities and towns. The Philippines’ major industries including coconut farming and fisheries were hit hard, making it uncertain whether the people living there can make a living over the next several years. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Japan provided Emergency Relief Goods (such as tents, plastic sheets and blankets) and Emergency Grant Aid through international organizations. In addition, Japan deployed the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Medical Teams, Expert Teams (experts of early recovery and oil-spill prevention) and Self-Defense Force Units. The dispatched Self-Defense Force Units conducted activities such as medical assistance, epidemic prevention, and transportation of affected-people and relief goods. A pregnant woman who visited the JDR Medical Team was worried about the consequences of the disaster. However, after seeing her healthy foetus using ultrasound imaging, a smile returned to her face. Subsequently, in the recovery phase, Japan has been providing grant aid to help rebuild damaged primary schools and hospitals, establish measures to secure the means of livelihood of the victims, and restore public infrastructure such as airports and local government offices. Furthermore, in order to support the Philippines’ rehabilitation in the mid to long term, the implementation of Technical Cooperation For Development Planning was decided. The project provides comprehensive support for a series of processes aimed at the early recovery and rehabilitation of the affected areas and the building of a society and communities that are more resilient to disasters, including the formulation of a rehabilitation and recovery plan and priority projects. A s the growing scale of humanitarian needs reaches unprecedented levels, we need to rethink how we could improve the ways we deliver assistance, serve the needs of affected people better, and put an end to their devastating needs. In doing so, since humanitarian assis- tance cannot bring a durable and sustainable solution to these challenges by itself, we need to make a comprehen- sive effort and foster wider cooperation among various stakeholders, including governments, international and regional organizations, the private sector, civil society, affected communities and so on. In the course of its modern history, Japan has overcome a range of challenges and realized a period of high economic growth and the establishment of a peaceful, stable society. Japan has taken advantage of its unique development experi- ences and has applied them to its humanitarian assistance and development cooperation. We have provided humanitarian assistance for conflict and disaster-affected people, supported reconstruction and nation-building in post-conflict situations, and worked to foster human resources. We believe that build- ing on those rich experiences, Japan could make a meaningful contribution to putting forward an ‘agenda for humanity’. Human security — a concept that pursues the right of every individual to live happily and with dignity, free from fear and want, through their protection and empowerment — is the guiding principle and foundation of Japan’s humanitarian assistance and development cooperation. Japanese assistance focuses on individuals — especially the most vulnerable indi- viduals in society such as children, women, refugees and internally-displaced persons — and provides cooperation for their protection and empowerment so as to ensure human secu- rity. This guiding principle corresponds to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and what has been repeatedly stressed through the World Humanitarian Summit process; namely, putting people at the heart of humanitarian action and leaving no one behind. Needless to say, reaffirming the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independ- ence as well as respect for international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, comprises the core of our action. At the regional consultation in Tokyo in July 2014, partici- pants collectively acknowledged the need to recognize that, in order to truly achieve economic and social recovery in disas- ter-affected areas, humanitarian assistance must not be seen merely as a form of goodwill or charity, but also as an invest- ment in empowering people so that they can live with dignity. It was also recommended that “the United Nations and other international organizations need to re-examine their roles in the changing humanitarian landscape, recognizing the leading roles national and local actors need to play in humanitarian T ogether W e S tand