For five days from March 14 to 18, 2015, people from 187 countries including the heads of governments and cabinet ministers gathered in Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture for the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. In this conference, discussions were held on the disaster prevention strategies of the world in the future. Furthermore, during the conference, multiple public forums and various symposiums were held on the theme of disaster prevention and reconstruction organized by various organizations.
In this conference as a part of the successor arrangement of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA:2005-2015), specific action policies in the past 15 years related to disaster prevention in each participating country were summarized in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030), and as the results of this conference, Sendai Declaration was adopted. While the HFA framework related to disaster prevention in each country has advanced in the past 10 years, it is a fact that the damages caused by disasters have increased. It was recognized that an improvement of manmade disaster preparedness and preventive approach, and a Build Back Better policy supported by international cooperation were essential in order to reduce disaster risk in the future.
The first cohort of 11 students of the DNGL Program had the opportunity to participate in various symposiums and forums with profoundly interesting themes. The students were reminded that many people of different nationalities and fields of expertise were involved in activities for disaster reduction and prevention every day. This gave them an opportunity to think about how to utilize and demonstrate their expertise of nursing in the health and medical care sector. Also the students participated in a student seminar session with Ms. Lesley Bell, a consultant at International Council of Nurses (ICN). Ms. Bell lectured on her experience of working for the International Council of Nurses and also talked about what qualities and skills were required to become a nurse who could be involved in policy-making.
Four years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and reconstruction efforts are still continuing. During the conference period a large cyclone did hit the Vanuatu Islands and caused lot of damage. We will continue to think of what we can do as nursing professionals in disasters, which are likely to increase in the future, how to put it into practice, and convey it to the world.
DNGL Miho Morosawa & Megumi Nichigawa, University of Kochi
