Session Information

• Disaster resilience
• Recovery
• Preparedness

Outline

Living in the Pacific Ring of Fire, building the resilience of humans and society is critical. Inviting experts in disaster science, health, community resilience, and policymakers from the Philippines, Australia, and Japan, this session aims to share the experiences of recovery from catastrophic disasters and the scope of preparedness for the expected disasters in the Western Pacific Region. In 2013, the Philippines was attacked by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and expecting Big One in the metropolitan area.
Australia has a history of disasters, including wildfires, floods, cyclones, and heatwaves, and is continuously exposed to the effects of climate change. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan experienced several earthquakes, including the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. The Tokyo metropolitan and South Trough earthquakes and drastic climate change are highly likely. Disasters are not perfectly preventable. However, by reducing disaster risk and building back better, society can gain disaster resilience, making the damage minimal and the recovery quicker, and building back better. Following the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the whole-of-society approach, this session also promotes further collaboration between disaster risk reduction and health sectors.