Together We Stand

[ 78 ] in 2007, but this has still not had an impact and conditions became more serious after the earthquake. Turning to the development of infrastructure for welfare services for persons with disabilities in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, four staff members were temporarily transferred to related organizations, and support was provided for recon- struction and infrastructure development such as working to improve disaster control guidelines. Lessons learned In both of the cases described above, AAR worked closely with local governments and private enterprises in operational areas. Through these partnerships we have learned both posi- tive and negative lessons. Partnership with local governments and private enterprises was key to the successful distribution of non-food items in Fukushima and assistance to persons with disabilities in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures. As a result of our partnership with local governments, we achieved accountabil- ity on the beneficiaries list and impartiality in our assistance. In our partnership with local private enterprises in procure- ment, the affected population created a base for the financial and psychological resilience of the affected community. On the other hand, the lack of a cluster system negatively affected protection of the most vulnerable populations. AAR spontaneously worked on assistance to persons with disabilities in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate but there was no cluster system, which promotes overall coordination in each sector. In the case of Miyagi, the first conference spearheaded by the prefecture was held at the end of May, two and a half months after the disaster. Ultimately, three conferences were held in 2011, but participation was limited to about 10 organizations and there were no persons with disabilities. Even in Iwate, no person with disabilities served as amember of theWelfare for Persons withDisabilities Promotion Committee. In Fukushima, the prefecture never had a coordina- tion meeting that all disability organizations participated in. Many persons with disabilities from each prefecture attended the meeting held by JDF, and persons with disa- bilities also attended the Iwate Platform for Persons with Disabilities Conference. There were, however, no government officials, and the responsible person in each prefecture did not receive valuable real-time information. New movements such as the Japan Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (JVOAD) aim to actively create a coor- dination mechanism in future crises. JVOAD follows the experiences of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, which is a coalition of the major national volun- tary organizations in the United States. JVOAD mainly focuses on regional collaboration, but we believe it is essential to consider vulnerability in terms of cross-cutting issues, with attention to special needs and accommodation. On the frontline of disaster support overseas, coordination meetings for individual sectors, referred to as ‘cluster meetings’, are immediately held after a disaster hits. Anyone who wants to, including persons with disabilities, is able to attend, which shows that it is no exaggeration to say that Japan is far behind the times. Learning from experience, the participation of public, private and non-profit sectors should be encouraged from the contingency planning phase. Each one of us must play a major role in the tight partnerships of the future. Image: AAR The Yamamoto-cho collaborative work station for persons with disabilities has been reopened in a mobile building, assisted by AAR T ogether W e S tand