A message of appreciation to our partners and supporters for their global spirit of togetherness March 11 is a special day for Japan. It is a day to reflect on the path we have taken, a day to think about where we are going, and a day to thank the world for its solidarity and support. It is also a day when the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement renews its commitment to stand together against the humanitarian crises that still threaten the world. On this same day in 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, killing 18,428 people and displacing 470,000 others. The tsunami also caused serious damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in a reactor core meltdown. This was a complex triple disaster never experienced before. The Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) was on the ground when the disaster occurred and began immediate relief operations. Red Cross hospitals in the affected areas were at the front line in saving lives. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) sent its representative and communication delegates to Japan to support the JRCS amid the chaos. During the prolonged evacuation of affected communities, the goodwill and solidarity from the people around the world provided hope and relief to those impacted by this triple disaster. Foreign aid provided household appliances in the temporary shelters. Children received psychosocial support in "summer camps" located in safe places away from the disaster zone where they could enjoy being outdoors with the full support of carers. In the first six months after the disaster, 894 JRCS medical teams supported hospitals and evacuation centres, treating more than 75,000 people. The JRCS distributed relief items, provided psychosocial support, restored family links, and organized blood donation drives. The world was an "eyewitness" to the disaster as livestream videos of the tsunami and the nuclear accident were broadcast internationally. Countries and their people expressed their solidarity and support for the affected communities. Out of this solidarity, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in more than 100 countries and territories, as well as some governments, contributed a total of about 100 billion yen (about US$ 1.24 billion) to the relief and recovery activities of the JRCS. The JRCS used this experience to blend international and domestic support to help those most in need. This was a great learning experience for the JRCS to build its new capacity. Three months after the disaster, representatives of the JRCS, the IFRC and several sister National Societies came together to develop a recovery plan. This included providing 133,000 households with electrical household appliances, social services to support the elderly and disabled, temporary housing construction, support for children including schools and psychosocial support, rebuilding local health facilities, strengthening disaster management capacity and activities in response to the nuclear disaster. A total of 60 projects in 10 sectors have been completed, and the details of those projects can be found in theFinal Report. While many areas continue to recover from this complex disaster, some 41,000 people are still displaced, including more than 22,000 people who are unable to return to their homes due to the residual radiation. It will not be easy to restore communities to their pre-disaster state; there is still a long way to go. Japan is a country prone to many natural disasters which has brought a lot of investment in disaster prevention. However, the massive scale of the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident taught us that preventing loss of life and mitigating against disasters is not only about investing in the hardware, but also about having a mindset that is always ready for new crises and agile enough to act before they happen. Nuclear disasters may be infrequent but when they do occur, can have devastating and long-term consequences for people and the environment. As we move forward, we have reflected we have learned from this unprecedented tragedy and how we can prepare for future disasters. Recalling the Chernobyl accident 35 years ago, we must ensure the lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident strengthen our disaster mitigation and prevention measures in the event of another nuclear accident. As a first step, the JRCS, the IFRC, and several sister National Societies published the "Nuclear Disaster Guidelines for Preparedness, Response and Recovery" in 2015. The global spirit of solidarity and unity bestowed on the people of Japan saved and rebuilt lives and supported the recovery from this devastating disaster. For the past decade, JRCS has repeatedly conveyed its gratitude and thanks to the world. On this 10th anniversary memorial of this terrible disaster, we say thank you to the world again. Today we are in the midst of new crises. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create much suffering around the world and the impact of climate change affects all of us. These crises are global challenges that can only be solved if we change our behaviour as individuals and work in a spirit of togetherness. Our global solidarity will be the driving force to overcome the world's crises, now and in the future. Thank you to our supporters around the world. Yoshiharu Otsuka, President, Japanese Red Cross Society Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General, IFRC For more information, visitthis special site for Great East Japan Earthquake. JRCS/IFRC Joint Message - Ten years since the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.pdf

This case study gives an overview of the Japanese Red Cross Society's response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011. It includes a timeline of events and a summary of key challenges and actions taken.

IFRC Country Plan for Japan in 2021.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Disaster Law Programme works across the diverse and vast region that is Asia, from Afghanistan to Japan, Mongolia to Timor Leste, providing disaster law technical support, capacity building, peer learning and research in 21 countries for more than 15 years. In Asia, the Disaster Law Programme focuses on countries with particularly high disaster risk and those who are actively developing or reviewing their disaster risk management legalisation. We have worked across Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines. We have worked extensively in Nepal following the 2015 earthquake, Mongolia, and recently in China, where a research report, International Disaster Response Law in China, has been under consideration by the Ministry of Emergency Management. Given the differences and diversity of the region, the Disaster Law Programme’s approach in Asia is not ‘one size fits all’. This tailored approach applies to who the programme works with, adapting to work in partnership with governments, national disaster management offices, Red Cross Red Crescent Societies and with regional bodies like ASEAN. The tailored approach also reflects the growing scope of the Disaster Law Programme and the needs of the countries– from response-based to underpinning all aspects of disaster risk management – risk reduction, preparedness for response and recovery, integration into resilience and also working to ensure community engagement in the disaster law process. In Mongolia, IFRC and Mongolia Red Cross have worked with the Government to revise disaster protection law through a contemporary approach to disaster management, moving the country from a reactive response paradigm to one which is proactive and works to prevent and reduce the risk of disasters on people, livestock and the environment. Mongolia is now putting concerted efforts into ensuring these new frameworks are implemented and well understood, particularly at the community level through a national awareness campaign with support from Red Cross. A common and important theme to our approach and outcome of the work in Asia is a shift to a more localised way of working, with disaster law processes and systems grounded in strong and nationally owned governance frameworks, and regional mechanisms. With countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan who have immense experience responding to frequent and intense disasters and emergencies, huge knowledge and expertise already exist in within the region. Effecting law and policy change requires a long-term investment and partnership. Having worked in the region for more than 15 years, we are now working with countries who are already in a position to review disaster management laws for a second time, following the learnings over time from large scale disasters and wanting to ensure that their governance frameworks are more responsive to current and emerging challenges like displacement, climate change and health hazards. Fifteen years on from our early work in Asia after the huge tsunami to hit the region in 2004, we are again working regionally as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside National Societies, governments and communities to ensure all emergency preparedness and response efforts - whether it be for natural hazards, climate induced, or public health emergencies is underpinned by clear laws and regulations.

IFRC Country Cluster Plan for East Asia in 2021.

Our 2014 World Disasters Report looked at different aspects of how culture affects disaster risk reduction (DRR) and how disasters and risk influence culture. The report asks, for example, what should be done when people blame a flood on an angry goddess (River Kosi, India, in 2008) or a volcanic eruption on the mountain god (Mount Merapi). After the tsunami in 2004, many people in Aceh (Indonesia) believed that Allah had punished them for allowing tourism or drilling for oil. And similar beliefs were widespread in the United States regarding Hurricane Katrina, showing God’s displeasure with aspects of the behaviour of the people who live in or visit New Orleans. Most people who live in places that are exposed to serious hazards are aware of the risks they face, including earthquakes, tropical cyclones, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides and droughts. Yet they still live there because, to earn their living, they need to or have no alternative. Coasts and rivers are good for fishing and farming; valley and volcanic soils are very fertile; drought alternates with good farming or herding. Culture and beliefs, for example, in spirits or gods, or simple fatalism, enable people to live with risks and make sense of their lives in dangerous places. Sometimes, though, unequal power relations are also part of culture, and those who have little influence must inevitably cope with threatening environments.

This document provides additional background information to complement our Roadmap on Technological and Biological (CBRN) Hazard Preparedness. It provides an overview of multi-hazard risk management, an explanation of CBRN terminology, data and figures, and case studies relevant to the IFRC network.

In 2012, fewer people were reported to have died or been affected as a result of disasters than any other year during the previous decade, according to figures presented in this report. While these numbers are positive news, they also reflect the absence of major events like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 or the 2010 Haiti earthquake. We have learned from these major disasters. At the same time we must continue to improve and innovate to make disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery more effective and accountable. With these objectives in mind, this year’s World Disasters Report focuses on the rapid spread of technologies, especially information and communication technologies, which is changing humanitarian action and humanitarians, too.

This handbook provides extensive guidance on sustainable reconstruction in urban areas,primarilyfor field practitioners who are planning and implementing housing reconstruction programmes in urban areas.

This updated publication provides practical advice and guidance about disaster risk reduction messages and information to share with the public. It can be used by any institution with a responsibility for improving the safety of communities and to mitigate the impacts of shocks, hazards and disasters.

The risk of technological and biological (CBRN) disasters is increasing due to greater population density, urbanization and industrialization, ageing infrastructure, and the wider use of technological and other hazardous materials. This roadmap provides recommendations on how the IFRC network can adapt to growing CBRN risks and fully include CBRN risk management into our multi-hazard approach. It can be read in conjunction with our background information on CBRN preparedness.

This report examines how national laws, policies and institutional frameworks can support gender equality in disaster risk management (DRM) and help prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in disasters. It contributed to the implementation of two resolutions of the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2015. These were Resolution 3 on ‘Sexual and gender-based violence: Joint action on prevention and response’, and Resolution 6 on ‘Strengthening legal frameworks for disaster response, risk reduction and first aid’.

While more than 10 years old, the World Disasters Report 2010 still offers valuable insights into urban risk and has helped the IFRC to develop our work in urban resilienceover the past decade. The signs of our vulnerability to urban risk are everywhere. An earthquake can bring hospitals, schools and homes tumbling down with unspeakably tragic consequences. A volcano can throw city airports into chaos. Flood waters can turn well-kept streets into detritus-strewn canals. The drug trade can turn an inner city into a war zone. An epidemic can spread rapidly through a crowded slum. As the pendulum of human development swings increasingly away from the countryside to the city, we see that rapid urbanization and population growth are combining to create enormous new challenges for the humanitarian community and pushing us out of our comfort zone to deal with a strange new urban world.

Our 2012 World Disasters Report widened and sharpened the focus on the complex causes of forced migration, and the diverse consequences for affected populations and humanitarian actors. It revealed that to respond to the growing numbers of forced migrants worldwide, humanitarian actors, including the IFRC network, need: Better preparedness initiatives Better instruments for protecting vulnerable people New tools for assessing vulnerability and building resilience More effective community engagement and capacity building with a longer-term lens Innovative approaches for delivering assistance

Disasters and the adverse impacts of climate change are already leading to the forced displacement of more than 20 million people each year. The vast majority of this displacement (more than 80 percent) occurs in the Asia Pacific region. This collection of case studies demonstrates the important work many National Societies across the Asia Pacific region are undertaking to address the challenge of climate-related displacement.