13th ASEAN and Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies: “People-centred disaster risk reduction and restoration”
The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre/WKC), in coordination with WHO Headquarters, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, represented WHO and presented WHO strategic frameworks for disaster health risk management at the three-day 13th ASEAN and Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies held in Kobe, Japan, 20-22 October 2015. Eleven country delegations attended with participants from health, social welfare and labour ministries, as well as WHO, ILO, ASEAN, ADB, JICA, and the Asian Disaster Risk Reduction Center.
Organized by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare annually since 2003, the meeting is recognized as a vital and effective platform to support the ASEAN plus Three (Japan, People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea) countries. The theme of this year’s meeting was “People-centred disaster risk reduction and restoration”. Mr Alex Ross, Director, WKC, delivered a composite presentation about “WHO frameworks and strategies for comprehensive disaster risk management for health security threats” and facilitated a panel discussion on provision of medical care at the time of disaster. WKC Technical Officers, Dr Ryoma Kayano and Dr Jostacio M. Lapitan, also attended.
Conclusions of the meeting, captured in a Statement, included strategic recommendations for a) operationalizing coordinated health-social welfare-employment support systems responsive to the needs of populations in general b) specific actions to serve vulnerable populations, namely, women and children, older people, people with disabilities, indigenous people and migrants; and called upon all participants to c) support the implementation of global compacts such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the International Health Regulations (2005), and the Sustainable Development Goals; d) ensure basic functioning of health systems to enhance disaster risk management for all hazards; and e) expand cross-sector collaboration among health, social welfare, labor, and disaster management. ASEAN will use incorporate the conclusions of the meeting into their “One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One" plan.