CCOUC participates in the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Professor Emily Chan gave a 14-minute presentation at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at Sendai of Japan (14-18 March 2015).

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A CCOUC delegation of five attended the UN Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai of Japan from 14 to 18 March 2015. The conference marked the finale of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 and the adoption of a post-2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

The CCOUC delegation participated in various working sessions and side events of the conference. These sessions covered a spectrum of arenas, ranging from space technology to food security. During the conference, CCOUC Director Prof. Emily Chan has showcased the work and achievements of the Centre in disaster risk reduction (DRR). The presentation she has given on ‘Community Resilience in Ethnic Minorities in Mainland China’ specifically highlighted CCOUC’s flagship programme ‘Ethnic Minority Health Project’. In this presentation, Prof. Chan has shared the immense experiences and insights of her and the CCOUC team in building public health disaster preparedness interventions in poor and remote parts of rural China resided by ethnic minority groups.

Prof. Chan was also invited by WHO to speak at the Public Forum Event on ‘Protecting People’s Health from Disaster Risks’ as a panelist for the forum’s session on ‘Strengthening Community Resilience and Community-centred Disaster Risk Management for Health’. In this session, she shared her views on the topic of ‘Rural Disaster Risk Reduction for Health – the Role of Primary Care and Local Health Workers’. The forum covered an extensive range of topics on health and disaster risk reduction. This is an important occasion for the team to participate in an indepth and state-of-the-art discussion on the crucial link between disaster risk and health.

The CCOUC delegation has also visited the evacuation zone in the nearby Fukushima Prefecture, which was set aside as a result of the nuclear disaster following the 3/11 Great East Japan Earthquake four years ago.

This conference signified another milestone in the arena of DRR, whereby the adopted Sendai framework has highlighted four priorities for action in the coming 15 years:

Understanding disaster risk;
Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience;
Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.