Lecture delivered to the students of Kobe Gakuin University [Japan]
On 12th July, Executive Director Mistuko Otsuyama was invited to the Faculty of Contemporary Social Studies of Kobe Gakuin University and delivered a lecture for the Social Service Theory II / Special Lecture of Social Disaster Prevention series. She spoke on the theme of “Does Build-Back-Better benefit everyone? Developing disaster-resilient individuals and communities through ‘network-help’ ”.
As a global issue, hydro-meteorological disasters are becoming more severe and frequent, while the disparity among communities and individuals of their disaster-resilience is getting more serious. This is due to the intensification of risks and vicious cycles that force victims, especially vulnerable people, to stay in disaster-prone areas. In the lecture, she introduced the records of disasters and creative disaster prevention measures in the flood-prone areas of Myanmar and Japan, where SEEDS Asia is implementing project. She explained ingenuities in daily life and the mechanisms of mutual help that have been handed down as lessons, as well as the importance of external support for responding to further risks. For instance, in Hinthada Township inMyanmar, SEEDS Asia supported local efforts to ease the risk imbalance by strengthening disaster capacities of residents and improving local infrastructure. As an example in Japan, the project in Naganuma District of Nagano City was introduced, with activities exploring the ways to sustain the area faced with disaster risks and decreasing population.
While understanding the differences between supports for “Build Back Better” and disaster risk reduction in Japan and overseas, we hope the lectures helped to deepen the understanding of global issues and contributions of NGOs/NPOs in solving intensification of risks and their vicious cycles.