Thursday, November 17th, 2005
The Corporate Sector’s Role in Disaster Management
A New Learning Program Launched to Promote Holistic Approach
A new GDLN learning program which aims to share environment and disaster management practices within the private sector has been launched by the TDLC and its partner, Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES). Titled "Corporate Community Interface for Environment and Disaster Management: Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility", a total of six video conference seminars are planned through February 2007. A handbook is to be produced which describes how corporations can work with the community to mitigate human suffering.
The first video conference took place on November 17, 2005 as part of the "World Conference on Disaster Reduction - Focus on Corporate Sector Role and Responsibility" held in Mumbai, India, connecting Mumbai with Manila and the TDLC, Asian Disaster Reduction Center as well as the International Recovery Platform in Japan. The World Conference, an initiative by the Global Forum for Disaster Reduction (GFDR), was organized as a follow-up event of the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005.
At the session, David Liebersbach from the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management explained how the oil industry played a crucial part in industrial reconstruction at the time of the Alaska Earthquake. From India, Prabhuu Sinha of Satyam Computers Services spoke about the IT industry and its effectiveness in various fields including the provision of life lines and banking services. The Japan Platform which aims to promote coordination among all sectors concerned including government, civil society and the private sector was also introduced.
Dr.Rajib Shaw of Kyoto University GSGES noted that the "corporate sector" spanned multi million dollar ventures to community operations. He stressed the importance of taking a holistic approach when considering their respective roles, incorporating different levels of industrial management and pre-disaster to post-disaster activities. There was agreement that the role of the corporate sector needed to be considered as an interactive relationship with government, civil society, academia and international organizations.
In turn, Takaaki Miyaguchi, PhD candidate at Kyoto University GSGES, discussed the idea of creating a handbook for CEOs, managers and employees based on the principle of Corporate Community Interface (CCI). The handbook would serve as a guide when the corporate sector, communities and local government need to work together, and was widely approved by participants at the Conference.
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