UN Disaster Risk Reduction Conference: The Experience

Dear Family and Friends,

Knowledge is such a complex, nuanced sword. It slices one way when filtered through cruelty and fear, yet an entire other when blended with trust and constructive creativity. This past week in Sendai we were blessed with a hope-filled, life-enhancing use of knowledge as delegates worldwide came to discuss disaster risk reduction.

From March 14 – 18, the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) was held in this city. That significant event was mainly for delegates to discuss crucial environmental issues pressing upon the world from all sides. Those officials presented, discussed, and hammered out agreements concerning the environment and how best we, as a united human family, might find ways to prepare for natural disasters so as to mitigate their destructive effects.

But the week was much more than official UN meetings. Indeed, much of this city became an ongoing laboratory for education and study. Events, such as forums and seminars, panel presentations and video programs, were scattered throughout the downtown area and ran non-stop from dawn to dusk for the entire week.

Japan is immensely proud of its technological prowess, and was delighted so use its latest inventions to make this event a success.

    

Another of the strengths of this conference was its inclusiveness. For example, locals were part of the picture from the very beginning. We did much of the background work, in some cases taking well over a year. And during the week itself, volunteers were stationed in strategic places to assist guests, both domestic and international.

People from this community also gave speeches and held panel presentations. They shared their experiences of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. That enabled guests to get firsthand information about that horrific time. And the locals themselves were able move a step closer to their own emotional healing.

One visitor from the UK said, “I’d seen so much on the news about the 3/11 disaster, but talking to people, seeing artifacts, and going to devastated areas have opened my heart wide to the trauma that individuals lived through. The actual, hands-on aspect of these displays and discussions is far deeper and more poignant that I had ever imagined.”

Many of the very informative panels were designed by students at local universities: Tohoku University and Tohoku Institute of Technology in particular. They were beautifully presented, commanding without being overwhelming. Those educational displays used the entire exhibition space to unfold the Tohoku Disaster Story in very meaningful, highly significant ways. So, walking though the show became an evolving experience of learning and of deepening compassion.

        

That pavilion was open to the general public and had interested observers all day throughout the entire week. Japanese and foreigners alike became absorbed in the information, the interactive programs, and the layout itself.

               

But that magnificent study center was one among many others. There were also whole floors devoted to NGOs and university programs. 

          

There was also an enormous trade fair with inventions made in response to the 3/11 disaster. And rounding out the experience there were tours to devastated areas and tourist sites. These were all testimony to human potential and to hope rising out of despair.

         

In fact, everything during that week pointed towards building up from a past that should never be forgotten. Now we are called upon to face the challenges of today, by learning from each other and by lending support in every way we can.

Love,
Anne