Japan Funds Disaster Management Training programme

COLOMBO: The Government of Japan has provided US$ 139,036 to Japan Water Forum (JWF) under the NGO Grant Aid Scheme towards "From Theory to Practice - Training of Trainers in Disaster Management".

The official signing ceremony of the Grant Contract took place on Wednesday at the Japanese Embassy premises at 3 p.m. between Kiyoshi Araki, Ambassador of Japan and Ms. Ray Asada, the Project Manager of the Japan Water Forum.

Japan Water Forum (JWF), successor to the Third World Water Forum held in Kyoto in 2003 is headequartered in Tokyo, established through cooperation of many water related stakeholders including NGOs, governments, private sectors and academia in Japan for the purpose of solving water problems in the world and headed by the former Prime Minister of Japan Hon. Yoshiro Mori.

Following the Tsunami in 2004, JWF carried out relief activities in affected areas and IDP camps with their local partner organisation, NetWwater. During their stay they found that there was a large knowledge gap in the people of Sri Lanka regarding the Tsunami.

A book in Sinhala titled "Murdhu Sayura Rudu Tsunamiya" has been published in an effort to reduce this gap and awareness programmes were carried out in schools.

JWF, in collaboration with NetWwater will conduct a disaster education programme in Moratuwa and Kalutara, Usually, it is community members who form the front rank of action in the face of a disaster. Therefore teachers and coastal community leaders will be trained in this project to face disasters effectively and speedily, which is based on a curriculum to be jointly developed by local and Japanese experts.

Through these trainers it is hoped that students and community members will be given disaster education enabling them to react swiftly during disasters.

Students and community members will be encouraged to carry out projects with the aid of specially developed Projects Book, thus applying the theory gained in the programme into practice.

Hideyuki Onishi, Counsellor and Yasuhiro Watanabe, Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, P.H.L.W. Perera, Additional District Secretary, Colombo, S. Sumanasekera, Chairperson, National Council of Women, Anil Premaratne, Additional Director, Coast Conservation Department were also present at the signing ceremony.