From September 7 - 9, UNITAR's Asia-Pacfic centre for training local authorities, CIFAL Jeju, convened over ten country delegations in Jeju Self-Governing Province for a city-to-city workshop on sharing knowledge and skills for more resilient and integrated disaster risk management among the region's municipalities. The workshop was part of CIFAL Jeju's learning series on building local government capacities on priority Human Security issues in the Asia-Pacific Region. Part of UNITAR's global network of nine CIFAL training centres for local development, CIFAL Jeju's mandate is to develop knowledge and skills among regional local governments on human security and Green growth.
With guest lectures and presentations from prominent academics, government officials and UN representatives on disaster risk management, CIFAL Jeju successfully completed its training to build capacities for disaster risk management among delegations from Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Japan. Participants hailed from a variety of cities, including Afghanistan, Fiji, Maldives and Japan who participated for the first time to CIFAL Jeju workshop. Also, Indonesian Geologist Eko Teguh Paripurno, the laureate for 2009 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction, participated and presented about disaster recovery action plan of Merapi Volcano Area.
Three key challenges for many local governments and actors were:
- how to assign a budget and provide incentives for homeowners, low-income families, private sector to invest in risk reduction;
- assess the safety of all schools and health facilities and upgrade these as necessary; and
- ensure that the needs and participation of the affected population are at the centre of reconstruction.
It was notable that protecting ecosystems and natural buffers to mitigate hazards, and adapting to climate change was neither an achievement nor a challenge for participating delegations. This suggests that attention to these areas in DRR within the Asia-Pacific region is weak, and thus calls for increased attention to integrating topics such as deforestation, natural resources management, and land-use management within national to local DRR.
Through the DRR Knowledge Fair, participants held focus groups to exchange lessons and achievements on how some cities, for example, have stable budgets for disaster risk reduction initiatives at the municipal level.
The workshop was a collaborative UN training event – with UN ISDR, CADRI and UNITAR partnering for the development of the workshop to ensure the most effective learning approach and content to build knowledge and skills among local actors in urban resilience, under the Hyogo Framework for Action. UNISDR-led “Making Cities Resilient” campaign was also introduced and their “Ten Essentials” for making cities resilient was discussed in depth among participants. Among the participating cities in the workshop, three cities were participating in the “Making Cities Resilient” campaign, including, Bhubaneswar (India), which became the official Role Model City for Community Preparedness.
CIFAL Jeju will continue to host introductory Human Security-themed workshops and courses as part of an integrated approach to local development, as well as more specific trainings for developing Human Security within integrated planning and programmes across local governments in the Asia-Pacific region.
Jeju's serves as a model for decentralization and green growth test-bed for the Korean governments, placing the Island as an ideal place for hosting workshops on decentralization, strengthened local governance, and integrated planning approaches for green growth. Additionally, Jeju's international profile as an "Island of World Peace" has risen with it playing host to many Korean peace negotiations, security summits, and peace fora over the last decade. As a symbolic island of peace, human security, and Green growth, it is also the home of three UNESCO World Heritage sites and a contender for the New Seven Wonders of The World.
The workshop was delivered through the generous sponsorship of Veolia Environnement and Jeju Self-Governing Province of the Republic of Korea.
