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Tackling Humanitarian Challenges—A Global Responsibility

February 10, 2017
By 19619

Dr. Gosia Pearson, who received a 2004 Sylff fellowship at Jagiellonian University to study at Oxford University, currently works in the European Commission’s department for humanitarian aid and civil protection (ECHO). She reports on the challenges of the humanitarian sector and outlines solutions to overcome them.

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Working for the leading humanitarian donor—the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO)—is an exceptional privilege. Each year, ECHO provides over 1 billion euros to help around 120 million victims of natural and man-made disasters in over 80 countries worldwide; these include not only major crises that are high on the international agenda but also those that escape media attention. But the job also carries an enormous responsibility to exert all efforts possible to save lives and give hope to disaster-affected populations. This is particularly difficult in current times, which witness challenges not seen in recent history.

The Changing Humanitarian Reality

Haiti after Hurricane Matthew, ®EU/ECHO.

Haiti after Hurricane Matthew, ®EU/ECHO.

Current humanitarian catastrophes are more devastating than ever before due to political, socio-economic, and environmental factors. There are numerous endemic internal conflicts, many of which are ideologically highly charged, involving elements of conventional war and terrorism, and resulting in dramatic regional consequences. Last year alone, there were over 400 political conflicts, including tens of wars, which affected lives of 50 million people. These crises often last for years because of lengthy negotiations and lack of political solutions and happen more frequently in poor and fragile states, adding up to the vulnerabilities of the local populations.

Climate change, environmental degradation, urbanization, and population growth increase possible hazards and lead to a global rise in disasters. The number of climate-related events worldwide has doubled in the last 25 years. Every year natural disasters impact the lives of nearly 100 million people, and in the last 15 years they have led to direct economic losses of an estimated 2 trillion euros. There is a growing interdependence among these factors, making crises more complex and unpredictable.

These drivers have led to unprecedented human suffering and record-high humanitarian needs. In the last decade the UN humanitarian appeals grew by 640%. At the beginning of 2016, 87.6 million people in 37 countries around the world were in need of humanitarian assistance, and about 60 million people were displaced. These numbers represent nearly a doubling of people affected by humanitarian crises in the last decade. This year the UN requested over 20 billion US dollars to meet the needs of the affected populations, which is the highest appeal in history.

The ongoing pressure on humanitarians to provide assistance that goes far beyond saving lives and alleviating suffering makes humanitarian work ever more challenging. The financial and operational capacities are stretched to the limits, hindering adequate response. Last year, donors provided over 10 billion US dollars to help victims of conflict and disaster. This was the highest contribution in history; still, it covered only half of the estimated needed help. Funds are most constrained in protracted crises, which absorb nearly 80% of humanitarian funding. In addition, the operating environment has become increasingly complex, politicized, and insecure. The humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence are often challenged, and international humanitarian law is bluntly violated, resulting in arbitrary denial of access and lack of protection. Civilians are directly attacked, sexual based violence is used as a weapon of war, and children are recruited as child soldiers. Humanitarian personnel are also victims of direct attacks and kidnappings.

Partnerships as a Basis for Principled and Effective Humanitarian Action

EU delegation to the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation, ®EU/ECHO.

EU delegation to the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation, ®EU/ECHO.

The response to these challenges should be based, first and foremost, on genuine partnerships between the various actors engaged in humanitarian action. No single actor has the capacity and resources to face these challenges alone. It is only through linked and coordinated action that the global community can respond to the escalating and multifaceted crises and disasters that demand humanitarian assistance. Such partnerships should be fostered for two purposes in particular. The first is to reaffirm the very basic humanitarian values: the values of dignity, integrity, and solidarity; humanitarian principles; the respect of obligations under international law; and the commitment to keep humanitarian work distinct from political agendas. This will help ensure access to assistance, protection, and security. The second objective is to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action. This should include risk-informed response based on needs; closer cooperation with local actors, where possible; efficient and sufficient funding; and closer cooperation with the development community.

To build a more inclusive and diverse humanitarian system committed to humanitarian principles, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the convening of a World Humanitarian Summit, which took place for the first time in May 2016 in Istanbul. This multi-stakeholder event aimed to set a forward-looking and collective agenda for humanitarian action. At the event, 50 world leaders and 9,000 humanitarian, development, and political stakeholders from around the world made altogether 3,000 commitments to support a new shared Agenda for Humanity and take action to prevent and reduce human suffering.

EU solutions to humanitarian challenges, ®EU/ECHO.

EU solutions to humanitarian challenges, ®EU/ECHO.

My most recent task was to prepare and coordinate the EU’s position for the Summit, where the EU pledged over

100 commitments on its own policies, programs, and funds. Some examples of its commitments include adopting new guidelines on protection of civilians, signing the Grand Bargain on Humanitarian Financing, funding for the Education Cannot Wait initiative, adopting a new policy on forced displacement, signing up to the Charter on Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, and signing the Urban Crises Charter. The EU also signed the Political Communique, which was supported by over 70 countries. Like the EU, other countries and organizations made commitments for a better functioning humanitarian system.

What Next?

While the World Humanitarian Summit was an important milestone, the work toward a new global partnership linking political action to prevent crises, development assistance, and more effective and principled humanitarian aid has only just begun. The challenges we are facing are complex, and there is no simple solution. The European Union confirmed that it would play its full part in reshaping aid to better serve people in need and called on all world leaders to do the same.

Session with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the World Humanitarian Summit.

Session with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the World Humanitarian Summit.

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Resilience in the Context of Poverty: The Experiences of Low-Income Urban Filipino Parents

December 21, 2016
By 19693

What factors make parents resilient to the effects of poverty in urban Manila? Rosanne Jocson, a 2008–2010 Sylff fellow of Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines,  and a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan when she received her SRA grant, investigates protective factors that buffer the negative effects of poverty and adverse living conditions on low-income urban Filipino mothers and fathers.

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A snapshot from a low-income neighborhood in Metro Manila.

A snapshot from a low-income neighborhood in Metro Manila.

In the Philippines, little systematic research has been done to study the effects of economic strain on parents and children and the factors that buffer its negative effects. This is a cause for concern, given that poor and low-income families constitute more than half of the household population in the Philippines.[1] In Metro Manila, the urban capital, about 1.8 million households are considered poor and another 8.7 million households are low-income.[1] Poor and low-income families confront several stressors in their psychosocial and physical environment, such as residence in makeshift dwellings, inadequate sanitation and drainage, limited access to clean water, overcrowding, and other threats to physical health.[2] In fact, reports show that Metro Manila has the largest number and percentage of children experiencing shelter and water deprivation.[3] Residents in informal settlements also face stigma, housing insecurity, and eviction threats, along with violence and dangers due to crime, drug use, and neighborhood gangs.[2] How do parents and children manage risk and function well despite these difficult conditions? Broadly, my research seeks to identify the factors that contribute to their resilience and positive development.

What Is Resilience?

In physics, resilience is the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape after it has been pulled, stretched, or bent in some form. Applying this characteristic to people, resilience is typically viewed as “toughness,” or the ability to “bounce back” from difficulty. In the field of psychology, resilience is defined as the achievement of relatively positive outcomes despite risk or adversity.[4,5]

An important feature of resilience is that it is a process of overcoming the negative effects of risk exposure and not a static, individual trait.[4, 6] This is important to note because framing resilience as a trait that lies within the person could lead to some form of blame on the individual if it is not achieved. As such, the main question regarding resilience is, “What factors make some people succeed despite experiencing risk or adversity?” These factors are known as “protective factors.”

Broadly speaking, protective factors are resources that buffer the negative effect of adverse conditions on an individual’s functioning.[4,6,7] These could be family-level factors, such as support, cohesion, and quality of communication among family members. They could also be resources outside the family, such as friends, mentors, and other supportive relationships in the neighborhood and community. Finally, they may also include individual-level factors, such as resourcefulness, intelligence, optimism, self-regulation, and spirituality.

Taking these together, resilience is not just an individual achievement. Rather, it is a process that is achieved through protective factors that are derived from people and resources in the individual’s context.

Investigating Resilience among Low-Income Filipino Parents

Given my research interest in poverty in the Philippine context, I used an SRA grant to investigate the individual-, family-, and community-level factors that promote resilience among Filipino parents living in low-income neighborhoods in Manila. I was specifically interested in the roles of religiosity and spirituality, family-oriented values and behaviors, and community cohesion in buffering the effects of poverty-related risks on Filipino mothers and fathers.

The author with her research team at the host institution, Ateneo de Manila University.

The author with her research team at the host institution, Ateneo de Manila University.

My focus on these three factors is based on their cultural relevance in the local context. First, the Philippines has the third largest Catholic population in the world,[8] and as such, religiosity and spirituality, especially beliefs and practices that are rooted in the Catholic faith, are deeply entrenched in Philippine society. Second, Filipinos are often described as having a strong adherence to family-oriented values emphasizing cohesiveness among immediate family members and extended relatives, respect for elders and parental authority, and mutual obligations.[9,10] Third, Filipino family-oriented values extend to people in local communities and neighborhoods, with close neighbors typically treated as extended family.[11]

I visited Manila from January to July 2016 to work on this research project. I was hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University Psychology Department and worked with mentors, colleagues, and students who provided invaluable support throughout the entire research process. I had the pleasure of working with a team of local graduate students in psychology, who assisted me in the translation and adaptation of survey measures, pilot testing, and data collection in three local communities. The research team worked closely with community leaders and coordinators from the recruitment sites to ensure smooth data collection with the 200 parents who participated in this study. This process highlighted the importance of establishing partnerships and strengthening ties with communities and local institutions for the success of a research project.

The research team with the barangay chairman (the highest elected community leader) and other community coordinators of one of the research sites.

The research team with the barangay chairman (the highest elected community leader) and other community coordinators of one of the research sites.

The main objectives of my dissertation are to (a) examine the ways in which poverty-related risks influence parents’ psychological well-being and parenting behaviors, (b) identify culturally relevant individual, familial, and community-level protective factors against poverty-related risks, and (c) investigate similarities and differences between Filipino mothers and fathers.

Initial analyses showed, after controlling for family income, that several poverty-related risks were associated with higher levels of psychological distress among mothers and fathers. These include neighborhood disorder, lack of access to water and electricity, food insecurity, and exposure to community violence. Many poverty-related risks were also associated with lower levels of warmth, after controlling for family income. These include lack of neighborhood resources, neighborhood disorder, and lack of access to water.

Further analyses showed that certain individual- and family-level factors had protective relations with parenting behaviors. For example, mothers’ spirituality was associated with higher levels of warmth and parent-adolescent communication quality. Maternal and paternal efficacy was also associated with higher levels of communication quality. Both mothers’ and fathers’ family-oriented behaviors were likewise associated with higher levels of communication quality and monitoring. These initial results highlight the importance of considering contextual risks when studying the impact of economic disadvantage on Filipino families and emphasize the roles of spirituality of mothers, as well as efficacy and family-oriented behaviors of both mothers and fathers, in enhancing their functioning.

Toward a More Global Perspective in Poverty Studies

The SRA grant has been instrumental in my goal to contribute international perspectives to the study of poverty and resilience. The need to adopt a more global perspective in this field is compelling, given the severe underrepresentation of developing countries in psychological research. As the nature and experience of poverty differ widely across contexts, it would be unwarranted to generalize findings derived from Western developed regions to the much larger population of children and families living in low- and middle-income countries. In the Philippines, for example, it is important to identify and highlight assets that are culturally and contextually relevant. These findings could then be incorporated to intervention projects, such as in the design and evaluation of parenting and child development programs for low-income Filipino families. Along with larger-scale efforts toward reducing poverty and inequality, such initiatives could help facilitate healthy family functioning and child development even in disadvantaged contexts.

References

1.Albert, Jose Ramon G. and Martin Joseph M. Raymundo (2015). Why inequality matters in poverty reduction and why the middle class needs policy attention. Philippine Institute for Development Studies Discussion Paper Series, 55, 1–42. Retrieved from http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/websitecms/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps1555.pdf

2.Racelis, Mary and Angela Desiree M. Aguirre (2002). Child rights for urban poor children in child friendly Philippine cities: Views from the community. Environment and Urbanization, 14 (2), 97–113.

3.Philippine Institute for Development Studies (2010). Global study on child poverty and disparities: The case of the Philippines. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Philippines_GlobalStudy(1).pdf

4.Rutter, Michael (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 335–344. 


5.Luthar, Suniya S., Dante Cicchetti, and Bronwyn Becker, (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71, 543–562. 


6.Masten, Ann S. (2014). Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. Child Development, 85, 6–20.

7.Sameroff, Arnold, Leslie Morrison Gutman, and Stephen C. Peck (2003). Adaptation among youth facing multiple risks: Prospective research findings. In S.S. Luthar (ed.), Resilience and Vulnerability: Adaptation in the Context of Childhood Adversities (pp. 364–391). New York: Cambridge University Press.

8.Pew Research Center (2011). Table: Christian Population in Numbers by Country. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-in-numbers-by-country/

9.Alampay, Liane Pena (2014). Parenting in the Philippines. In H. Selin (ed.), Parenting across Cultures: Childrearing, Motherhood and Fatherhood in Non-Western Cultures (pp. 105–121). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

10.Medina, Belen T. G. (2001). The Filipino Family, 2nd ed. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.

11.Nadal, Kevin L. (2004). Pilipino American identity development model. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 32, 45–62.

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Oil and the City: Hope, Expectation, and Development in Ghana

September 1, 2015
By 19667

How does “oil money” shape a city? ThienVinh Nguyen, a Sylff fellowship recipient at Columbia University now enrolled in a doctoral program at University College London, used an SRA grant to observe how profits from oil are spent for the “development” of a port city in Ghana. During her eight-month-long research in the city, she saw oil companies spend enormous amounts on infrastructure development. Her report raises the question of who are the real beneficiaries of such spending.

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Even without oil, we are doing so well . . . with oil as a shot in the arm, we're going to fly. . . . Oil is money, and we need money to do the schools, the roads, and the hospitals. If you find oil, you manage it well, can you complain about that?

—–Ghanaian President John Kufuor, June 2007

Introduction

Many of Ghana’s offshore oil fields are located in the Western Region, whose capital is Sekondi-Takoradi. Image courtesy of Hufstader/Oxfam America, 2008

Many of Ghana’s offshore oil fields are located in the Western Region, whose capital is Sekondi-Takoradi. Image courtesy of Hufstader/Oxfam America, 2008

After a century of minor oil discoveries, in 2007 President John Kufuor announced that Ghana had discovered commercial quantities of oil in the Jubilee Fields off the coast of Sekondi-Takoradi. The International Monetary Fund estimates that oil and gas revenues from the Jubilee Fields alone could earn the Ghanaian government a cumulative $20 billion between 2012 and 2030, a figure that certainly makes an impact in Ghana’s national budget (Gary, Manteaw, and Armstrong 2009).

The question on everyone’s mind was: Will this be a blessing or a curse? Indeed, oil has been regarded by some as a dark, evil, corrupting resource. My research moves beyond this stereotype to explore the nuances of how the emergence of an oil industry transforms a city. Sekondi-Takoradi continues to change, as do cities all over the world, but the oil boom and the narratives around it enable new, ambitious, and fantastical development-driven visions for the city.

At the same time, we see an increase in citizens advocating for basic amenities and provisions—water, sanitation, electricity, and education—which the city has been slow to deliver in spite of the scale of oil-driven developments. Three major development projects are being promoted: the construction of a luxury shopping mall, the renovation of urban roads, and the expansion of Takoradi Port.

Case Studies

There is a small mention of the need for a mall in the current draft of the city’s development plan, and a South African developer has proposed the construction of a mall valued at between $65 million and $90 million (Ampratwum-Mensah 2015). Even though the local government and some residents support the project—seeing it as a sign of “modern progress”—others believe that there should also be a focus on ensuring that local citizens have access to basic services and provisions. Even with its supporters, however, the mall project has faced serious challenges. For one thing, the developers had to seek the support of the mayor, local government officials, and the police force to relocate the auto mechanics who had been “illegally” operating on the land. Some argue that these mechanics created a thriving local economy, while the developer and others say the mall will create new jobs and new public spaces.

Another development focus has been on roads. Roads are particularly helpful in getting political parties elected. With money from the oil boom, Sekondi-Takoradi has been improving its roads, especially those frequented by oil and gas companies and foreigners. The Jubilee Partners—the consortium of oil companies operating on the Jubilee Fields—also paid for the renovation of a roundabout they use frequently. A number of civil society organizations that I interviewed mentioned that while the paving of roads is welcome, the city is prioritizing development based on aesthetics that serves particular privileged groups, rather than meeting such community needs as water, sanitation, and electricity.

Sekondi-Takoradi, like many other cities, is going through change, where the new and old converge and where different visions of development affect everyday life and the urban form of the city. (Photo by ThienVinh Nguyen, 2015)

Sekondi-Takoradi, like many other cities, is going through change, where the new and old converge and where different visions of development affect everyday life and the urban form of the city. (Photo by ThienVinh Nguyen, 2015)

Sekondi-Takoradi has historically been and continues to be an important port, shaped by the shipments of resource minerals through the city. Currently, Ghana is investing heavily into the Takoradi Port Expansion Project, with the first and second phases of the project budgeted at well over US$300 million. Financing comes in the form of loans: €197 million from KBC Bank N.V. and about US$176 million from the China Development Bank (“Takoradi Port Expansion: Breakwater Nears Completion” 2014). A core feature of this expansion project is catering to the needs of oil and gas companies, including the creation of an oil storage area. This impressive expansion project will continue to shape the city, with new mineral wealth flowing in and out of the city.

Amidst heightened economic activity and growing possibilities, President Kufuor and other politicians—including US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who have both made visits to Ghana—promote the idea of hope and economic prosperity in the light of the oil discoveries, juxtaposing the promise in Ghana with narratives about weak states and the resource curse in Africa. These expectations are embedded in a context where Ghana is seen as a potential exemplar African state, capable of moving beyond the “tragedy” of resource mismanagement by continuing on its path as an international-investor-friendly, democratic nation. Citizens recognize that oil is a valuable commodity (despite declining oil prices) and that perhaps it has the potential to transform the income trajectory of all Ghanaians.

Over eight months in Ghana, I conducted interviews with civil society organizations, traditional authorities, Ghanaian government officials at various levels, local businesses, and transnational companies, including oil-related companies from Britain, the United States, France, and South Africa, among others. Although China provided the Ghanaian government with a $3 billion loan to build natural gas infrastructure (see: Mohan 2010), I learned through my interviews that most of the money was spent outside of the city: in building a major ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) highway and constructing the infrastructure for a natural gas pipeline farther west on the coast. There were also proposed Chinese-coordinated projects in the city, though, in the form of road works and improving the railway system.

In addition to interviews with these stakeholders, I also analyzed various strategic plans for the city over time, including plans financed by oil companies, 20 years’ worth of development plans drafted by the local government, and plans developed by local nongovernmental organizations. Given all these emergent developments, which affect the structure and social landscape of the city, there has been an increased focus on the creation of spatial development plans for the city.

I argue that the process of formulating these plans opens up new opportunities for public engagement and forms of governance. The local government plans have certainly become more ambitious and in-depth, requiring much bigger budgets, following the discovery of oil. Indeed, the major oil company in the city has a field representative in the district assembly who attends the planning meetings. These plans—more so than in the past—serve as strategic tools for garnering donor support and private investment. Indeed, even those cynical of whether these plans will ever be implemented realize that the plans have mobilized a broad range of voices in shaping the future of the city. While implementation may be slow, they do affect the direction and structure of the city.

With a population of 560,000 in a country of 24 million, Sekondi-Takoradi consists of the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi and is the capital of the Western Region (Wilde, Adams, and English 2013). This region is known for its rich resources—timber, bauxite, gold, and diamonds, and now, offshore oil and gas. Sekondi-Takoradi lies on the transport route to Kumasi and Accra—thriving cities that are the capitals in their respective regions, with Accra serving also as the capital of the country.

In this vein, this city, as is the case for all cities, is a site of territorialized economic development, given its dependency on natural resources and its role as a major port for Ghana. It has been integrated into the global supply chain, where international capital flows in and out of the city. Now, the Ghana central government insists that oil production will bring the city and country unprecedented wealth. Narratives about the potential for growth highlight how the city will be “one of the modern cities of the world,” with “skyscrapers, six-lane highways and malls” (Walker 2011).

The central market area of Takoradi, where old, colonial-style buildings (on the left) are juxtaposed with the new Ecobank building on the right. (Photo by ThienVinh Nguyen, 2015)

The central market area of Takoradi, where old, colonial-style buildings (on the left) are juxtaposed with the new Ecobank building on the right. (Photo by ThienVinh Nguyen, 2015)

I asked all of my interviewees how the city has changed. Some commented on how there has not been enough change and that money has not “trickled down”—meaning that they would welcome further social and infrastructural development and that the city is still very much lacking. There remain “slum areas,” with many residents lacking access to water, sanitation, and electricity. With regard to electricity, despite having offshore oil and gas, Ghana is undergoing an energy crisis, where the load shedding schedule is 24-hours off/24-hours on.

The city’s central Market Circle consists of an organized, though seemingly chaotic, indoor and outdoor market areas, where one can find practically anything: from live animals and produce to cheap imported goods. This area, though, lacks proper plumbing and trash collection—despite the fact that vendors here pay fees to the city for being there.

Others contend that the city has indeed changed, for better and for worse. With more foreigners in the city, rents and food prices have gone up, and there is increased road congestion. There are large, newly built villas, hotels, and bank buildings in the city. While a public school teacher or taxi driver makes less than US$300 a month, monthly rents for a three-bedroom house in the wealthier neighborhoods range from $2,000 to $5,000.

Given the myriad development issues facing Sekondi-Takoradi, the question is not if change will take place but how, at what rate, and who will benefit from this oil boom.

References:

Ampratwum-Mensah, Akwasi. 2015. “EPA Holds Public Hearing on Proposed Takoradi Mall.” Accessed May 30. http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/43877-epa-holds-public-hearing-on-proposed-takoradi-mall.html.

Gary, Ian, Steve Manteaw, and Clive Armstrong. 2009. “Ghana’s Big Test: Oil’s Challenge to Democratic Development.” Oxfam America. Ghana Statistical Service. 2014. “Gross Domestic Product 2014.”

Ghana Statistical Service. www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/GDP/GDP_2014.pdf.

Hufstader, Chris. 2008. “The Coming Oil Boom in Ghana.” Oxfam America. October 1. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories//the-coming-oil-boom-in-ghana/.

Mohan, Giles. 2010. China in Ghana: Easing the Shift from Aid Dependency to Oil Economy?(ARI). Real Instituto Elcano. http://biblioteca.ribei.org/1965/1/ARI-149-2010-I.pdf.

“Takoradi Port Expansion: Breakwater Nears Completion.” 2014. May 16. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=309576.

Walker, Rob. 2011. “Oil Boom Changes Face of Ghana City.” BBC, March 8, sec. Africa. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12646359.

Wilde, Alberto, Ishmael Adams, and Brian English. 2013. “Fueling the Future of an Oil City: A Tale of Sekondi-Takoradi in Ghana.” Global Communities. http://www.globalcommunities.org/publications/2013-ghana-fueling-the-future-of-an-oil-city.pdf.

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A Disaster-Resilient, “Frugal” Information System

September 26, 2014
By 19642

In March 2011, the Tohoku region of Japan suffered the worst earthquake and tsunami disaster to ever hit the country. Hampering rescue and relief activities in the immediate aftermath of the quake was the serious damage to the communications infrastructure. How can an information system be built that is more resilient to major disasters? Mihoko Sakurai, a Sylff fellow at Keio University, believes that the key to such a system is “frugality.”

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The Arch, the university’s academic symbol.

The Arch, the university’s academic symbol.

My current research on disaster-resilient information systems (IS) was prompted by the March 11, 2011, earthquake in northern Japan—the largest quake the country ever experienced. The Great East Japan Earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, making it one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. The tsunami caused by the quake reached 40 meters in height and hit Tohoku’s eastern coastline, severely damaging a very wide area and triggering great confusion. Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency reports that 18,958 people died, 6,219 were injured, and 2,655 are missing as of March 2014; 127,291 houses were totally lost, and more than 1,000,000 were partially destroyed.

Field Survey in Japan

The earthquake and tsunami exposed the vulnerability of Japan’s information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, as the loss of communication greatly hampered rescue and relief efforts and more than likely increased the death toll.

From November 2011 to February 2012, eight months after the earthquake, I and other members of our research team conducted structured interviews with 13 municipal governments in the areas hardest hit by the earthquake. The objective of the survey was to ascertain how ICT systems inside municipal offices were affected by the earthquake. We visited Miyako, Otsuchi, Kamaishi, Rikuzentakata, Kesennuma, Minamisanriku, Ishinomaki, Higashimatsushima, Sendai, Minamisoma, and Iwaki, as well as evacuation centers in Namie and Futaba.

These municipalities are located in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Under the administrative structure of the Japanese government, municipalities occupy the third rung. At the top of the ladder is the national government; this is followed by the 47 prefectural governments and 1,742 municipal governments (as of May 1, 2013) at the local level. The size of municipal governments varies enormously; while big cities like Osaka and Yokohama have a few million residents, some small villages have a population of less than 1,000.

There are several types of municipalities in Japan, namely, shi (cities with a population of over 50,000), cho or machi (towns variously defined by each prefecture), son or mura (villages), and tokubetu-ku (the 23 special wards of Tokyo). The populations of the municipalities we visited varied from 2,000 to 70,000. Almost all of them were small cities. Legally speaking, the role of municipal governments is to provide public services to citizens and, perhaps most importantly, to maintain a registry of all residents—the data that serves as the foundation of government. Prefectures are defined more loosely as wide-area governments.

Our survey included questions on preparedness, the level of damage, and the recovery process of ICT equipment, including power supply, network connectivity, information systems, and related facilities.

Need for Disaster-Resilient Systems

Analyses of these cases led us to conclude that building a robust system that never fails is impossible and to recognize that creative field responses are of crucial importance. The immediate problem after the March 2011 earthquake was the failure of the supporting infrastructure needed to run the information systems. The physical destruction of servers also meant that residential records were lost in some areas. The survey also revealed that a uniform plan across all municipalities would not have been appropriate, since the situation in various towns and cities—and the necessary responses—were continually changing. Government buildings were generally sturdy, and most survived the tsunami. But this did not mean that the ICT system survived intact. Some municipal offices did not recover their information systems for four months.

This should prompt a rethinking of ICT system design to ensure that communication can be maintained, especially in the immediate aftermath of a major disaster. Resilient systems are needed that can maintain or recover their core functions flexibly and quickly. Flexibility is required to enable creative responses in a disaster situation using minimal resources. Such systems are particularly important for municipal governments, which need to embark on rescue and life-saving activities immediately after a disaster.

This is a totally different approach from that required during normal times. The national government has tried to create robust and special systems for disaster situations, but they have not always had the required resilience in the face of actual severe situations. Once they are destroyed, moreover, they cannot be restored quickly.

“Frugality” as an Essential Concept

The “frugal information system” concept can be useful in building such a resilient system. This is an information system that is “developed and deployed with minimal resources to meet the preeminent goal of the client.” Such a system would be important under disaster situations, when people have limited access to resources. A frugal system is characterized by the four U’s: “universality,” the drive to overcome the friction of information systems’ incompatibilities; “ubiquity,” the drive to access information unconstrained by time and space; “uniqueness,” the drive to know precisely the characteristics and location of a person or entity; and “unison,” the drive for information consistency.

Mobile devices can serve as a standard platform to meet these “4U” requirements.

They were indeed the most widely used means of communication by individuals in the wake of the 3.11 disaster. The mobile infrastructure was restored with greater ease than other systems (ubiquitous network). They have open interfaces (universality). The phone number or SIM ID can be used for the identification of individuals (uniqueness). And as soon as the networks are restored, data can be backed up on cloud data storage (unison). There is the additional benefit that power can be easily supplied to the handsets.

Smartphones can be particularly useful devices in a disaster situation. People are gaining familiarity with these phones through daily use, which is very important under panic situations. Following a disaster, people are unlikely to use tools with which they are unfamiliar.

Future Research

I am currently working on a project to build a prototype smartphone application that employs the principles of resilient design. A test will be conducted in October 2014 at Tome, Miyagi, which was one of the cities heavily affected by the disaster. The initial test will involve the use of smartphones as part of an evacuation center’s operations during the first week. Three key functions will be tested, namely, (1) the identification and registration of people at the center using their phone numbers or SIM IDs, (2) recording people’s arrival and departure, and (3) creating an evacuee database. Using the smartphone’s number, the application can enable the transmission of information on such required items as medicine and milk for infants.

Smartphone applications designed to support disaster victims already exist. But none are suitable for municipal disaster relief operations. If municipal officials use the same applications as residents, the sharing of information can be greatly facilitated, enabling a smoother delivery of relief supplies. What we need to do is to make sure such applications are operational and widely used before they are needed and are quickly made available after a disaster.

The Great East Japan Earthquake posed what might have been the biggest possible challenge to an information society, making us acutely aware that our daily life—as well as government operations to help people in need—rely heavily on the ICT infrastructure. The performance of nearly all activities in advanced economies has become dependent on ICT, and disasters illustrate the fragility of this dependence. The earthquake shook our confidence in technology, and a study of its effects indicates the importance of designing systems with a recovery model in mind.

The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

Massive disasters are likely to become more common around the world in the years to come 1, as suggested by the fact that there were three times as many natural disasters between 2000 and 2009 as between 1980 and 19892. I believe that a correct understanding of resilience and the development of information systems designed to withstand severe conditions can make the world a safer plain which to live. This research is certainly not over.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to the Tokyo Foundation for supporting my research abroad. Thanks to an SRA award, I was able to conduct research at the University of Georgia, where my ideas were greatly enhanced under the supervision Dr. Richard Watson—regents professor and J. Rex Fuqua distinguished chair for Internet strategy in the Department of Management Information Systems at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business—who advocates the notion of a frugal information system.


1http://www.emdat.be/natural-disasters-trends, last accessed June 8 2014.
2http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/climatechange/steady-increase-in-climate-rel/19974069, last accessed June 8 2014.

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Response of Indian Industries to Global Environmental Sustainability

April 6, 2014
By 19659

How does the response of one industrial sector affect other sectors of an economy? To gain insights into this question, Shyamasree Dasgupta, a Sylff fellow at Jadavpur University in India, has been analyzing the response over the past four decades of India’s industry to the country’s climate change action plan. In this article, she reports on her research conducted in the United States with an SRA grant has broadened her perspective.

* * *

As a student of social science I always wondered how the response of an individual decision maker shapes up in conjunction with the responses of the bigger community to which the decision maker belongs. It became more interesting to me as I initiated my doctoral research to explore the responses of Indian industries to climate change mitigation goals.

As reduction of carbon emissions is a “global goal,” the most aggregated pledges are taken at the international level (such as the Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen Accord). Specific climate change mitigation policies are, however, mostly formulated and implemented by the national government or a set of national governments in line with such global pledges. Finally, different economic sectors take their decisions with regard to the pattern of their operations to curb energy use and emissions in line with the pledge and policies.

The response of a particular economic sector (such as the industrial sector) is not a stand-alone phenomenon. The responses are triggered by the actions of other sectors of the economy and at the same time have an impact on the rest of the economy. In fact, the aggregate impact of the decisions taken by one economic sector depends on its relation with the rest of the economy. For example, if an industry substitutes coal by electricity as an energy input, then emissions from that particular industry will come down, but from a macro perspective, aggregate emissions will be reduced only when electricity is produced with a fuel that is less carbon intensive than coal.

My doctoral research seeks to understand how Indian industries have responded during the past four decades under various domestic policy domains, with a special emphasis on the country’s recent climate change mitigation policies. Having estimated such response parameters (for example, price elasticity of energy demand—the change in industrial energy demand when energy price changes), I wanted to explore how the same industrial sector can be expected to behave in a future time horizon while interacting with other sectors in the global economy if some global emission reduction pledge becomes binding.

I got the opportunity to explore this issue with my SRA award along with mentoring and support from my home institute, Jadavpur University in India, and my SRA host institute, the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI, a collaborative institute of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland in the United States).

An Integrated Assessment Model for India

The author working on the Global Change Assessment Model at JGCRI

The author working on the Global Change Assessment Model at JGCRI

JGCRI has developed the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), an integrated assessment model representing the world economy that explores the links between energy, land use, water resource sectors, and a climate model. It incorporates both energy producing (such as electric power) and energy consuming sectors (such as industry). It creates a market where all the sectors are recursively solved for price and quantity, and the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted are estimated. The model could be used to explore responses of these sectors to several climate change mitigation pledges and policies.

GCAM divides the world into 14 regions, and India is one of them. The existing model employed the aggregated data for the Indian industry sector. Hence the responses towards any mitigation policy—can be so far analyzed only for the aggregate industry sector for India. My aim was to further develop the model with disaggregated industrial sectors for India, breaking up the industry sector into subsectors such as iron and steel, chemicals, and cement, along with a residual subsector named “other industries.” This would enable the user to analyze responses not only at the aggregate level but also for different subsectors in the context of Indian industry. The challenge was to break up the aggregate industry sector in an appropriate manner supported by authentic data so that the model would offer plausible solutions for years up to 2100 for all sectors and regions.

Being new to integrated assessment models, this was a true learning experience for me requiring several trials with different adjustments to obtain valid results! It was a stimulating experience solving the unforeseen errors cropping up during each trial run until I succeeded. I was greatly supported by my mentors and other colleagues at JGCRI in the process. In the course of my research, I came across fellow visiting scholars who were working on or had worked on several other sectors in other countries, including China and Brazil.

The research was greatly supported by the mentors and other colleagues at JGCRI

The research was greatly supported by the mentors and other colleagues at JGCRI

The model also used average values regarding how demand changes in response to changes in price in different industrial sectors. I substituted the average values for those specific to India that I had estimated prior to my SRA. Data were derived from the “Energy Statistics” and “Annual Survey of Industries,” published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. The scenario demands a sharp decline in emissions from nonenergy-intensive industries, the phasing out of coal, and a significant increase in the use of clean electricity in industrial production. The use of biofuel emerged as one of the most effective medium-term solutions for Indian industries to meet the mitigation target.

Case Study in Climate Mitigation

Another objective of my SRA was to visit an energy-intensive industrial unit in the United States in order to compare its production and mitigation practices with its Indian counterparts. I was put in touch with the US Department of Energy through my mentor at the home institution, enabling me to visit such a facility. Things shaped up well, and I got a chance to accompany members of the American Forest and Paper Association on a visit to a pulp and paper company in Virginia. The day-long visit to the paper mill and discussions with the managers provided insights into their production processes and mitigation practices.

Visiting a paper mill with the members of the American Forest and Paper Association

Visiting a paper mill with the members of the American Forest and Paper Association

The mill was established in 1914 and has gone through changes in ownership and technology. It mainly produces corrugated paper from both raw wood and recycled paper. The pattern of energy utilization became a major issue of concern, as a result of which the mill became more energy efficient with greater emphasis on recycling and enhanced use of renewable energy. Over 80% of the electricity used by the mill is generated internally using multiple fuels, including black liquor, wood waste, and sludge. According to the company, it was the rise in fuel prices, rather than any particular energy or climate policy at the federal or state level, that drove it to reduce its dependence on purchased energy.

The SRA experience was extremely enriching for me. It not only helped me to augment my doctoral dissertation, which I am aiming to finalize in the coming few months, but at the same time provided me with an opportunity to work in the multidisciplinary and multiethnic environment of my globally renowned host institution.

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From Promise to Reality: Kisumu Leadership and Development Conference

October 25, 2013
By null

In August 2013 Sylff fellow Otieno Aluoka (read his report)—the first recipient of the Tokyo Foundation’s recently overhauled Sylff Leadership Initiatives program—used his SLI award to organize a groundbreaking seminar in Kenya on ways to build a government that works for the people. Mari Suzuki, the Tokyo Foundation’s director for leadership development, offers a first-hand report on this seminal conference, which attracted over 150 civic leaders and public officials from Kisumu County, one of the semi-autonomous entities established under the country’s new democratic constitution.

* * *

Kism7

Kenya today is in the midst of a historic transition, the most important change the nation has experienced since achieving independence from Britain 1963. In 2010, Kenya adopted a new constitution centered on democracy and devolution of power. In 2013, the nation’s newly established semi-autonomous counties held their first-ever elections to select representatives to the national legislature under the new constitution.

For such democratic institutions to function as they were intended, however, it is vital that voters and officials understand the principles of the new system and their role within it. This was the aim of the Kisumu Leadership and Development Conference, held on August 26–27 with funding from the Tokyo Foundation’s Sylff Leadership Initiatives support program, administered in conjunction with the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund. The following is a report on the background and outcomes of the conference, which I attended as a representative of the Tokyo Foundation.

Sylff and the Kisumu Initiative

Sylff is a fellowship program established by the Nippon Foundation and administered by the Tokyo Foundation with the aim of “nurturing future leaders who will contribute to the common good of humanity, transcending the confines of nationality, religion, and ethnicity, even while respecting differences in culture and values.” Since its establishment in 1987, Sylff has grown into a fellowship program encompassing 69 institutions of higher education in 44 countries, benefiting more than 15,000 students.

Sugarcane is transported to a mill for processing

Sugarcane is transported to a mill for processing

One key feature of Sylff is that it follows through with fellowship recipients even after graduation. The Tokyo Foundation’s Sylff support programs provide ongoing assistance designed to help former Sylff fellows grow into effective leaders who can make a positive contribution to their own societies at the local or national level. One such program is Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI), which supports various social action projects initiated by current or former Sylff fellows. The Kisumu Leadership and Development Conference was the first project selected for an SLI award since the program was relaunched in modified form in February this year.

The Kisumu conference was organized at the initiative of Otieno Aluoka, a 1999 Sylff fellow at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Since graduating, Aluoka has worked as a governance consultant to international organizations and foreign governments in Nairobi. At the same time, he has been deeply involved in community action in his native Kisumu, to the west of Nairobi. The networks Aluoka built in both regions helped make the Kisumu leadership conference possible.

Village women walk with baskets balanced on their heads.

Village women walk with baskets balanced on their heads.

Kenya’s new constitution is a groundbreaking charter that seeks a wholesale reform of the political process. The aim is to move the nation from a system oriented toward preserving a balance of power among Kenya’s 40-odd ethnic groups to one focused on long-term problem solving via democratic processes. Yet the majority of Kenyans continue to vote along strictly ethnic lines. Aluoka realized that Kenyans had to begin casting their votes on the basis of the candidates’ policies, rather than their ethnicity, if democracy was to function properly in Kenya. And for this to happen, elected politicians had to begin rewarding their constituents in undeveloped areas by representing their interests at the national level and working on their behalf to promote development.

With this in mind, Aluoka decided that the best way to contribute to the development of Kenyan democracy was to organize a conference of county-level politicians (all of whom are new on the job), local officials, and community leaders to enhance their understanding of the new constitution, and the role of local leaders within the new system. It was the first such conference ever held in Kisumu—located far from the capital in Nairobi—where democratic reforms have been slow to take hold.

Historical and Political Context

To better appreciate the significance of the Kisumu conference, we should take a moment to establish its historical and political context. The chronology below lists the major historical milestones leading up to the promulgation of Kenya’s new constitution. Brief Political Chronology

1963
Kenya gains independence from Great Britain; early constitution provides for multi-party parliamentary system and elected provincial assemblies.
1966
Kenya become de facto one-party state; provincial assemblies abolished.
1982
After attempted coup d’état, National Assembly officially declares Kenya a one-party state. Country is divided into eight provinces under provincial commissioners, who are appointed by the president.
1991
Constitution revised to permit multi-party elections and limit presidents to two terms.
2002
President Daniel arap Moi steps down after 24 years in office; movement for constitutional reform picks up steam.
2007
Presidential election held under new election law. In post-election violence, some 1,500 Kenyans are killed and tens of thousands are forced to flee their homes.
2010
New constitution enacted with the aim of preventing further violence, devolving political power to local districts, protecting the rights of minorities, and solving long-term problems.

Government under the New Constitution

Previously, Kenya was divided into eight provinces, which were under the direct control of the central government. The new constitution (specifically, Article 11) provides for the devolution of power to the local level. It divides the country into 47 counties, each of which has a locally elected governor and deputy governor. (Governors are typically male, while deputy governors are most often female.) Elections and lawmaking are governed by the rules of multi-party parliamentary democracy. The constitution also features special provisions designed to guarantee that marginalized groups, such as women, disabled persons, and youth, have representation at the local and national levels.

Kenya’s 47 counties are each divided into anywhere from 2 to 12 constituencies, depending on their population, and each constituency is further divided into 5 wards. Each ward elects a representative to serve on the county assembly, which works with the governor to govern the county. In addition to ward representatives, each county assembly has six nominated members chosen to represent marginalized groups. Members are also selected as necessary to ensure that neither male nor female members control more than two-thirds of the seats in any given county assembly.

Figure 1. Kenya’s Bicameral Parliament

Figure 1. Kenya’s Bicameral Parliament

At the national level, Kenya has a bicameral Parliament made up of the Senate and the National Assembly. The Senate consists of 67 members. Of these, 47 are elected from each county by direct ballot. In addition, 20 seats are reserved for marginalized groups: 16 for women, 2 for youth, and 2 for the disabled. These are filled by party nomination according to each party’s share of the vote.

The National Assembly consists of 349 members. Of these, 290 are elected by popular vote, one from each constituency. Another 47 seats are filled by women elected from each county. Finally, 12 members are selected by party nomination to represent the disabled and other marginalized groups.

The legislators elected from counties and constituencies around the country gather for parliamentary sessions in Nairobi, where they represent the interests of their respective districts while participating in important decisions regarding budget allocations. Kenya’s least developed counties are entitled to allocations from an “equalization fund” amounting to 0.5% of state revenues, but only on request. How much a county receives hinges largely on the efforts of its representatives in Parliament.

Kisumu and the Leadership Conference

Kisumu County is located in western Kenya, far from the nation’s capital. (To the southwest, in neighboring Siaya County, lies the village of Nyang’oma Kogelo, birthplace of Barack Obama senior.) The city of Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, has historically functioned as a major center of East African commerce. Because of its location along Africa’s largest lake, the area is ideally situated for fishing and fish processing, but the central government has long controlled key concessions on the lake, and economic development has left many of the inhabitants behind. Fishing, sugarcane farming, and rice farming are the county’s principal industries. Kisumu has long been riven by a fierce political rivalry between the Luo and Kikuyu peoples, and these ethnic tensions erupted into deadly violence following the controversial outcome of the December 2007 presidential election. SLI_Kism3

The Kisumu Leadership and Development Conference was held on August 26 and 27 at a community complex in Chemelil ward in Muhoroni, one of Kisumu County’s seven constituencies. The conference drew more than 150 participants, including members of the Kisumu County Assembly, various community leaders from each constituency (including representatives from the farming and fishing industries, business, nonprofit and civic organizations, research entities, the legal profession, the teaching profession, women’s groups, and so forth), and members of the Kisumu County Executive Committee, as well as a number of legal experts and civil rights experts from Nairobi. The region’s ethnic plurality was also on display at the conference: Along with the Luo, who make up the majority of the district’s population, the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Nandi, and other ethnic groups were well represented.

The plenary sessions featured talks by scholars, members of the Kisumu County Executive Committee, a National Assembly member (from neighboring Siaya County to ensure neutrality), and others regarding the principles of the new constitution and the political and administrative systems it established. Each of the speakers fielded numerous questions from the audience. In breakout sessions devoted to healthcare, education, transportation, water, and law and order, participants discussed the issues facing Kisumu and what must be done to resolve them.

By the end of the two-day conference, the groundwork had been laid for future meetings by citizens interested in formulating concrete proposals in each area and submitting them to the county government. Equally significant was the bonds newly forged among the county’s civic and economic leaders, many of whom met for the first time. Participants from diverse sectors pledged to work together to make the new constitution’s promise a reality.

A number of the conference participants provided positive feedback regarding the event and its significance. The following is a sampling.

Teresa Okiyo, a research officer at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, noted that very little information had reached Kisumu regarding the new constitution and the process of devolution, and she praised the conference for helping participants see what they needed to do to make their voices heard in government. (Okiyo has studied paddy farming in Yamagata Prefecture under a Japan International Cooperation Agency training program.)

Dr. Rose Kisia, Kisumu County Executive Committee member in charge of commerce, tourism and heritage, called the conference an important first step that had made Kisumu a model for other counties to follow.

Legal Resources Foundation Trust director Janet Munywoki, who arrived early in the morning on the first flight out of Nairobi, noted that she had traveled to Kisumu at her own expense, convinced of the importance of such a ground-breaking conference. She stressed the need to hold similar gatherings throughout Kenya.

Significance and Impact

Returning to Nairobi after the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with John Smith-Sreen, director of democracy, rights, and governance for USAID (US Agency for International Development) in Kenya. Noting that the new constitution had been 10 years in the making, Smith-Sreen stressed the importance of the next three to five years in laying the groundwork for a functioning democracy.

Political instability, corruption, and inefficiency have long stunted Kenya’s growth and development. Fair democratic elections and the devolution of power to the counties are critical to the nation’s future economic growth. This is why American, British, Canadian, European, and UN agencies are actively involved in supporting Kenya’s reforms. USAID has placed special emphasis on promoting effective coordination between the state and the counties. But another key task is to ensure that civil-society organizations are informed about the new constitution and to encourage their political participation at the local level.

By promoting public understanding of devolution and helping to forge linkages between the county government and the local citizens, the Kisumu leadership conference has made an important contribution to the local community and Kenyan society as a whole. It is a contribution made all the more significant by the fact that it occurred when it was most needed. In this period of sweeping change for Kenya’s government, society, and economy, the nation has scant resources to spare for such consciousness-raising efforts. This is why Otieno Aluoka’s initiative was such an effective use of SLI funds.

A Role Model for Young Leaders

Otieno Aluoka at the Kisumu leadership conference.

Otieno Aluoka at the Kisumu leadership conference.

Otieno Aluoka, who successfully organized the Kisumu leadership conference using a Sylff Leadership Initiatives grant from the Tokyo Foundation, has an excellent understanding of the Sylff mission to “nurture future leaders who will contribute to the common good of humankind.” Aluoka has been actively involved in the Sylff network for 14 years, ever since receiving a fellowship at the University of Nairobi. In March 2008, in the wake of the violence precipitated by the December 2007 election, Aluoka submitted an article titled “Kenya’s Post-Election Violence” to the Sylff website, in which he argued eloquently for the need for stronger legal and judicial institutions to create a just society in Kenya.

An anthropology major at the time he received his fellowship, Aluoka put his education to good use, subsequently devoting himself to law studies at the University of Nairobi. More important, he has used the fruits of these academic labors not merely to lift himself up but to build a better society. This is precisely the outcome envisioned by the Sylff program, and it is this impulse that SLI and other Sylff support programs were designed to encourage. Listening to the lively and passionate discussion among participants at the Kisumu conference—described by Aluoka as the starting point for the devolution of power in Kisumu County—I was struck by how closely his initiative dovetailed with the purpose of the Foundation’s Sylff support programs. This was truly money well spent.

By supporting the activities of Sylff fellows after they go out into society, SLI complements the fellowship program in an important way, defining Sylff’s long-term aims and expectations and encouraging concrete social action. As the program continues, the success stories of people like Otieno Aluoka will provide inspiration for other Sylff fellows and contribute further to leadership development around the world.

Leadership development is a long-term undertaking. But the young leaders that the Sylff program has nurtured over the years have continued to grow, and last August I was able to watch as one of those leaders made an important and timely contribution to his nation’s development during a period of political and social transformation. I am hopeful that Otieno Aluoka’s example will serve as a stimulus and encouragement to young leaders in Kenya and around the world.

Postscript

Following the conference, Otieno Aluoka compiled a list of proposals based on the discussions held at the conference and submitted them to the Kisumu County Executive Committee on September 9, with the cooperation of Chemelil ward representative Joseph Osano, who has pledged to push for their adoption. Issues and ideas raised at the conference received coverage in three of Kenya’s national newspapers, and they are already beginning to influence policy makers at various levels.

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A Friendly Midsummer Get-Together in Tokyo

July 29, 2013
By null

All participants of the Sylff Fellows Gathering

All participants of the Sylff Fellows Gathering

Around 20 Sylff fellows and steering committee members attended the first Sylff Fellows Gathering, a relaxed and informative midsummer evening get-together held on Wednesday, July 10, at the Tokyo Foundation.

The gathering was organized to update fellows and SSC members of recently launched Sylff support programs and to give an overview of the Tokyo Foundation, including its policy research activities, as well as to provide opportunities for visitors to ask questions, offer comments, share their own news, and, of course, to get to know one another better.

 Masahiro Akiyama

Masahiro Akiyama

The first half of the get-together featured presentations by the Foundation and two Sylff fellows: Jonathan Shalfi, a master’s degree student at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UC San Diego; and Takehiro Kurosaki, who received a doctorate in anthropology from Waseda University and is now the deputy director of the Pacific Islands Center.

Special guests included Dr. Vladimir Bumbasirevic and Dr. Ivanka Popovic, the rector and vice-rector of the University of Belgrade—Serbia’s largest and oldest university—and Professor Edgar Porter, a member of the Sylff steering committee at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Japan.

Welcoming remarks were made by Tokyo Foundation President Masahiro Akiyama, who expressed his hope that the gathering would be the first of many more productive forums for the exchange of ideas, and by Tatsuya Tanami, Executive Director of the Nippon Foundation, the donor of the Sylff endowments.

Tatsuya Tanami

Tatsuya Tanami

Tanami recalled that Sylff was the brainchild of the late Ryoichi Sasakawa, who, toward the last stages of his life, realized his dream of establishing a fellowship program that would produce leaders to bring positive social change in countries around the world.

The initiative has been highly successful, Tanami noted, providing opportunities for research and social engagement for around 15,000 graduate-level students in 44 countries. He added that Sylff is one of largest of around 25 human resources development programs involving the Nippon Foundation which may total more than 30,000 people, and expressed his hope that these people could one day be integrated into a single network to facilitate communication and understanding.

One of Japan’s Leading Think Tanks

Tokyo Foundation Director for Public Communications Akiko Imai then gave an overview of the Foundation’s activities, emphasizing the unique combination of policy research and the nurturing of change-makers that makes the foundation one of Japan’s leading think tanks.

Akiko Imai

Akiko Imai

“We’re financially independent of any political or commercial interests, and this allows us to set our own goals,” she noted. “Our central location makes it easy for members of the National Diet and senior government officials to join us for both small-group workshops and public forums.”

Policy research at the foundation covers a broad range of areas, ranging from foreign, security, and trade policy and energy resources to health and nursing care, tax reform, and corporate social responsibility. “These are all interrelated,” Imai said. “Healthcare issues, for example, are closely linked to tax and social security, and could be significantly affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership. So our research fellows work closely together in a cross-disciplinary way to ensure that our policy proposals are relevant from a cross-issue perspective, and we actively communicate those proposals through our network of leading policymakers, journalists, and scholars, and global think tanks.”

Cultivating Leaders of Tomorrow

Takashi Suzuki

Takashi Suzuki

A summary of the Sylff program and updates on additional support available for fellows from the Tokyo Foundation were provided by Director for Leadership Development Takashi Suzuki.

Sylff is one of four major leadership developments programs in which the Tokyo Foundation is engaged. The aims of Sylff, he said, are to cultivate leaders of tomorrow who will contribute to the common good of humankind while transcending national, ethnic, and other boundaries and respecting the diversity of cultures and values; and to support the education of outstanding students pursuing graduate-level study in the social sciences and humanities.

Suzuki introduced two fellows who have gone on to become outstanding leaders in their respective communities following graduation: Dejan Šoškić, a graduate of the University of Belgrade who was appointed governor of the National Bank of Serbia in July 2010; and Loukas Spanos, a Sylff fellow at the University of Athens who has played a key role in the reconstruction of the Greek economy as the director of the Minister's Office at the Greek Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Noting that one of the Tokyo Foundation’s main tasks regarding the Sylff program is to support the activities of fellowship recipients, Suzuki provided an outline of Sylff Research Abroad (SRA), which supports fellows’ research in a foreign country for their doctoral dissertations, and Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI), aimed at encouraging Sylff fellows to address important issues through social action initiatives or workshops to bring about positive change. “In addition,” Suzuki said, “we’re planning to launch global forums for Sylff fellows on an annual basis starting from fiscal 2015.”

Integrating Renewable Energy into the Grid

Jonathan Shalfi

Jonathan Shalfi

Two fellows then made brief presentations on their recent activities. The first was Jonathan Shalfi, a master’s degree student at IR/PS at US San Diego, who is conducting research this summer at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, on the challenges of integrating renewable energy into the electric grid.

“It’s one thing to place electric panels on rooftops and another to actually integrate solar-generated power into the grid,” Shalfi emphasized. “This is what I’m studying. There’s no question renewable energy is becoming a more important part of the energy mix, but the issue of integrating it into the grid hasn’t been studied much yet.”

He noted that Japan faces one of the toughest integration challenges, since there are 10 largely independent, investor-owned electric utilities in the country with very little transmission capacity between them. “Transmission presents great difficulties. Hokkaido has the most wind potential, for instance, but it’s isolated from the big population centers. The situation for solar is quite similar, with most of the potential being located in rural areas. Another challenge is stability, since there must be a way to meet power deficits when the sun suddenly goes away or the wind dies down.”

Looking at Japan, where the production of renewable energy has risen sharply with the introduction of the feed-in-tariff system during the administration of the Democratic Party of Japan, is very important as a test case, Shalfi added, for there are many lessons to be learned by other countries.

Close Ties with Pacific Island Countries

Takehiro Kurosaki

Takehiro Kurosaki

The second fellow to make a presentation was Takehiro Kurosaki, deputy director of the Pacific Islands Center who was a fellowship recipient in 2007 while studying cultural anthropology at Waseda University.

He recalled that the fellowship enabled him to conduct fieldwork in the Marshall Islands and neighboring countries, interviewing high-level bureaucrats, business leaders, and politicians—including the president—about the cultures and political systems of the region.

The fellowship, Kurosaki said, opened doors to his subsequent academic and professional career and to his current position at the PIC, an international organization established in October 1996 by the Japanese government and the Pacific Islands Forum—a consortium of 16 independent Pacific countries, including Australia and New Zealand—to promote the sustainable economic development of the Pacific region, encourage trade and investment from Japan, and bolster tourism.

“Japan has very close historical ties to these countries,” Kurosaki noted. “The president of Micronesia, Emanuel Mori, is the great-grandson of a Japanese samurai from Kochi Prefecture who married the daughter of a traditional chieftain. The Moris are a large clan numbering around 4,000 people in Micronesia, and they have a big impact on the country’s economy and politics.”

Diplomatically, the Pacific islands are important supporters of Japan in international forums like the United Nations, and Japan depends on the region economically for around 80% of its imports of tuna and bonito and as a sea lane for the transport of mineral and energy resources. Japan will also be a major market for the liquefied natural gas produced in Papua New Guinea beginning early next year.

“Japan is one of the top donors of development assistance to the region,” said Kurosaki. “The support has been used to build these young countries’ socioeconomic infrastructure and address challenges posed by global warming and natural disasters, such as typhoons, tsunamis, and drought.”

PIC also organizes exhibitions and stage shows in Tokyo to enhance the visibility of the Pacific countries in cooperation with the Japanese government and the Pacific Islands Forum. “The Pacific countries regard Japan as a friendly and important partner, while Japan attaches great value to them in the global community. I think we need to expand our ties, not just among governments but also in the private and nongovernment sectors.”

Following the presentations, participating Sylff fellows and administrators had an opportunity to talk with Tokyo Foundation program officers and research fellows as well as with one another at the reception, sharing ideas and deepening friendships over food and drinks.

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Valentine’s Day and the Environment: A “Love Affair with Nature”

February 9, 2012
By 19608

I visited Palawan, the Philippines, in 2010 and February 2011 to conduct fieldwork for a master’s thesis. There, I was amazed by an annual project called "Love Affair with Nature: Mangrove Plantation" conducted in the city of Puerto Princesa.

"Mangroves are trees or large shrubs, including ferns and palms, which normally grow in or adjacent to the intertidal zone and which have developed a special adaptation in order to survive in this environment"(Spalding, Kainuma, and Collins 2010). Mangroves can be found in some northern latitudes as high as 32 degrees, even though they are usually found within 25 degrees north and south of the equator (Maltby 1986). Mangroves are considered a rare global habitat. They currently make up less than 1% of tropical forests worldwide and less than 0.4% of the global forest estate (39,520,000 square kilometers) (FAO 2006).

Dwindling Mangroves

Figure1

Figure1

There are two main reasons for the destruction of mangroves. One is pressure from increasing populations in coastal areas, and the other is over-harvesting of timber and other wood products. Figure 1 shows that between 1980 and 2005, there was a dramatic loss of mangrove forests in every region except Australia. Southeast Asia, North and Central America, Oceania, and East Asia showed the highest decrease of more than 20% in 25 years.
Figure1: Decline in Mangroves by Region, 1980–2005 (Source: Estimates based on 2007 FAO data)

Status of Declining Mangroves in the Philippines

The mangrove forest area in the Philippines was estimated to be around 500,000 hectares in 1918. This has declined due to conversion to fishponds and salt beds, the cutting of trees for firewood and other domestic uses, and the reclamation of coastal land for industrial and other development purposes. By 1995 it had dwindled to 117,700 hectares (Fernandez et al. 2005).

Figure2

Figure2

This is a rate of depletion of about 3,700 hectares per year. Between 1980 and 1991, in particular, some 20,000 hectares were lost annually.
Figure 2: Decline of Mangrove Resources in the Philippines (Source: Compiled by the author based on DENR Statistics, 1998)

Undoubtedly, mangroves are showing signs of degradation in every region of the world. There is one project, though, that is seeking to reverse this trend. It is an initiative in the city of Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Philippines, known as a "Love Affair with Nature."

Expression of Love

The program, spearheaded by Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn of the city of Puerto Princesa, is one answer to the problem of global warming. It was launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14, in 2003 with the planting of 2,500 mangrove seedlings along a two-hectare denuded area in the village of San Jose.

Figure3

Figure3

Approximately 2,500 Puerto Princesans participated in this mangrove tree-planting event, aimed at protecting and conserving the remaining mangroves and beach forest species and at reviving denuded coastal areas. As of April 2009, the Puerto Princesa city government has been able to enrich or revive 58.5 hectares of denuded mangrove areas in the adjoining villages of San Jose and San Manuel. Some 56,500 mangrove seedlings and 29,000 propagules have been planted, as shown in Figure 3, with a survival rate of 71.7% (City Environment and Natural Resources Office, 2011).
Figure 3: Planted Seedlings and Propagules, 2003–09 (Source: Calculations based on Puerto Princesa City ENRO statistics)

Mass wedding in 2011, followed by mangrove planting (photos by the author)

Mass wedding in 2011, followed by mangrove planting (photos by the author)

Mass weddings are now held as an added attraction to the tree planting event, with newly wedded couples planting seedlings as an expression of their marriage vows. In September 26, 2005, City Ordinance No 287 was issued declaring February 14 as Love Affair with Nature Day in the city of Puerto Princesa. This is aimed at institutionalizing Love Affair with Nature Day on Valentine’Day as an expression of not only romantic love but also love for Mother Nature and as a continuing call for the protection and sustainable use of natural resources. Mass mangrove tree plantings and mass weddings have been conducted concurrently ever since.

Reasons for the Continuation of the Program

  • The municipal government, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office have been the main providers of funds for environmental projects in the city.
  • Communicating the project’s benefits, such as protection from storms, prevention of rising sea levels, and creation of breeding grounds for fish, has promote participation among members of the local community. Anticipated long-term benefits, such as larger fish hauls, have been enough to convince locals to join without any cash incentives.
  • The project represents heightened ecotourism opportunities, and the city has begun actively promoting ecotourism.
  • These activities have become an important social function for the local community, and for some students it is a requirement in order to receive scholarships.
  • A series of meetings are conducted every year to educate village leaders and to spread the program’s message to local communities.
  • At this point, no company in the timber industry is involved owing to a law initiated by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1981. The industry has been a major cause of mangrove destruction, and only ecotourism activities that do not result in the cutting down a single mangrove tree are currently conducted today.
  • Many policymakers believe that once the trees mature, the task of rejuvenating the forests can be left to the forces of nature, and further plantings will become unnecessary.
  • Civic organizations have taken responsibility for protecting local areas and providing forest rangers to monitor the forests.

Halting the Decline

Figure4

Figure4

A study conducted by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development in 2005 with the support of the Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA) is the most reliable and up-to-date data available to evaluate mangrove forest cover in Puerto Princesa. This study shows that the current cover in Puerto Princesa is 5,896.40 hectares, as shown in Figure 4. The mangrove forest was 4,052 hectares in 1992. PCSD conducted the survey in 1992 using SPOT Earth observation satellite images. Figure 4: Mangrove Cover in Puerto Princesa (Source: PCSD, 2010)

There has been positive growth of mangroves in the province of Palawan as well as in the city of Puerto Princesa.

Figure5

Figure5

It was just 29,910.14 hectares in Palawan in 1992 and increased to 57,386.52 hectares in 2005, as shown in Figure 5. All these planted areas were granted protected status to form part of the Integrated Protected Area System (IPAS). The increase of mangrove forests in Puerto Princesa is backed up by these policies. Figure 5: Mangroves on Palawan Island (Source: PCSD, 2010)

Conclusion

There is clear evidence that mangrove forests in the world are declining. In the Philippines, this decline rate has been huge over the past few decades. However, there is one example that shows a different trend.

Scenes on a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa (photo taken by the author in 2011)

Scenes on a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa (photo taken by the author in 2011)

Government involvement, effective law enforcement, political will, proper leadership, community involvement, alternative livelihoods, an education campaign, involvement of local and national organizations, and the willingness of local communities are needed to change this trend of mangrove degradation.

A "Love Affair with Nature" is a successful project that combines all these ingredients. This project has been implemented and maintained by the personal efforts of Mayor Edward Hagedorn. Every citizen of Puerto Princesa is proud to be environmentally sound. The beauty of the project can be seen when flying from Manila to Puerto Princesa. The left side of the photo shows the view of Manila, where there is no greenery, while the right side shows the verdure of Puerto Princesa.

References

  • Fernandez, Cheryl Joy J., Rodelio F. Subade, and Paul Erwen T. Parreño. 2005. Paper presented at the 8th National Symposium in Marine Science, held at Palawan State University, Puerto Princesa, on October 20-22, 2005.
  • City Environment and Natural Resources Office. 2011. “Love Affair with Nature” internal communication document. Puerto Princesa.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization. 1994. Mangrove Forest Management Guidelines. FAO Forestry Paper 117. Rome.
  • Food and Agricultural Organization. 2006. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005: Progress towards Sustainable Forest Management. Rome.
  • Maltby, E. 1986. Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the World‘s Wet Places? London: Earthscan Publications.
  • Spalding, Mark, Mami Kainuma, and Lorna Collins. 2010. World Atlas of Mangroves. London: Earthscan Publications.
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Elections and Political Order: A Cross-National Analysis of Electoral Violence

August 25, 2011
By 19691

Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Eastern bloc, the international community has actively pushed for competitive elections in developing countries. This has led to the rapid proliferation of countries with "democratic systems" in the sense that the holders of public office are filled by means of regular public elections; indeed, by this definition, there are more democracies today than at any other time in history.

Underlying the push for elections were two optimistic beliefs: that they would reduce civil strife by providing a means for peaceful resolution of conflicts within a society, and that they would improve the quality of government by giving citizens the opportunity to replace unsatisfactory leaders. As elections have proliferated, however, these sanguine assumptions have being challenged by harsh reality. Continue reading

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Message for Japan: From the Participants of the “Building a Better Asia” Meeting in Nara

May 13, 2011
By null

In late April, a little more than a month following the Great East Japan Earthquake, a group of 32 young leaders from 14 Asian countries gathered in the ancient capital of Nara in western Japan to participate in a “Building a Better Asia” 1 retreat to discuss various key issues confronting society and to deepen friendships.

Among the participants were 12 Sylff fellows from 7 countries. Following their stay in Japan, the fellows offered words of encouragement and support for the country that has been devastated by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis.

The messages below are preceded by each fellow’s name, country, current position, and the institution where and the years during which they received Sylff fellowships.

Sherilyn Tan Siy (Philippines), writer, Eco+Waza magazine
Ateneo de Manila University, 2004-07

To the people of Japan, please know that your struggles have not been in vain. I share the deep pain of loss and grieve for the senseless deaths of so many people, especially children and the elderly. I believe that through this event, your humanity shines forth. May you find untapped sources of strength within you, and may you be filled with hope that tomorrow will be better. All shall be well . . . all shall be well.

Sadia Khan (Pakistan), executive director, Delta Shipping (Pvt) Ltd
INSEAD, 1995-96

May God give you strength to bear your loss and the courage to rebuild your lives. My home country, Pakistan, has faced two major natural disasters in the last five years: a terrible earthquake in 2005 and unprecedented floods in 2010 that affected more than 20 million people. We can relate to the suffering of the Japanese people at this time of national grief, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. We also know the resilience of the human spirit and, in particular, the indefatigable will and energy of the Japanese people; we are sure that the nation will rise to the occasion to provide for those in need. We wish you God speed in your recovery efforts.

Katherine Galang Lacson (Philippines), lecturer, Department of History and Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo de Manila University, 2003-06

I have been lucky enough to participate in several exchange programs in Japan, which exposed me to the beauty of the country, its people, and its culture. In 2004, one of these programs brought me to a beautiful prefecture called Miyagi, and I visited a very peaceful city called Sendai, where I met many wonderful people, including the very loving family of Michio and Kazuko Waku with whom I had the privilege of staying. We have lost touch over the years, but the memory of their hospitality has stayed with me. So it was a shock to see TV images of the tsunami devastating this beautiful city. I felt helpless as I watched the events unfold, so I did what I could do: I prayed. My prayers went to Michio, Kazuko, Kota, and all the other friends I met. I prayed that they were safe, and I prayed for a fast recovery. I believe in my heart that if there was ever a group of people capable of facing this triple crisis with strength and courage, it would be the Japanese, truly resilient and truly inspiring.

Kamrul Hossain (Bangladesh), senior researcher, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
University of Helsinki, 2001-02

I am writing to express my deepest sympathy to the Japanese people, who just recently suffered from a shocking tsunami that has taken thousands of lives. Thousands of others have lost their homes and relatives. There is no doubt that the pain suffered by the Japanese people will take a long time to heal. Personally, my relationship with Japan is very deep. I have been in Japan three times and stayed for a considerable period each time. I have had the opportunity to become close to the people in Japan and to know how wonderful, hospitable, and respectful the people are. The disaster has been painful not only for the Japanese people but everyone who knows Japan and its people. I hope and wish that Japanese people recover from the shock very soon.

Ngeow Yeok Meng (Malaysia), senior lecturer, University of Malaya
University of Malaya, 2001-02

During my recent retreat with other young Asian leaders in Nara, I was deeply touched and impressed by the resilience and patience of the tsunami survivors. Safe but cramped into emergency shelters, many were eager to return to the life they led before the tsunami. However, some seemed overwhelmed by the challenges before them. What can we do to show our friendship and commitment? From far or near, we can at least offer material donations. There are still donation boxes on many store counters, subway stations, tourist spots, restaurants, and street corners. I see that the victims have high hopes for themselves and their communities. Many young people are volunteering their time and energy, and they appear more aware of their social responsibilities than before. This is a nation full of hope, and we will see the sun rise again. As foreigners, we wish to express our condolences to those who have lost their lives, and we sincerely hope that peace and harmony will return to the lives and hearts of the survivors. We are with you always.

Payoshni Mitra (India), independent researcher and consultant with various sport organizations in Britain
Jadavpur University, 2005-08

I recently visited Nara and Osaka to attend the 9th BABA Retreat. Many people told me that this was not the right time to go to Japan. But I am glad I did not listen to them. From the moment I landed, I was amazed by the great courage and strength of the Japanese people, even in times of disaster. There is so much to learn from the Japanese people. I believe that if there is any country that is capable of handling the post-tsunami and nuclear situation, it is Japan. You inspire us with your determination and your ability to withstand hardships and still come out as a champion. I feel sorry for those who have lost near and dear ones in this disaster. I also strongly feel that Japan, as a nation, will overcome this loss soon.

Ma Xiangxiang (China), legal assistant, DLA Piper, UK LLP, Beijing Representative Office
Peking University, 2006

This was my second visit to Japan and the first to the Kansai area in western Japan. The friendliness of the Japanese people, as well as the country’s economic and commercial prosperity was very impressive. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Japanese people who helped me during my stay in Japan, even though I was a stranger to them. Also, I believe that the calmness and diligence of the Japanese people will help you go through this terrible hardship. May God bless all the Japanese people!

Kamei Aphun (India), assistant professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2004-05

World War II destroyed many parts of Japan, but in less than 20 years, the country was rebuilt. This time, the tsunami has caused great damage and suffering. My belief is that in less than 2 years, the country will come back much stronger, with greater unity among the people. My Nara experience speaks volumes about the people: very humble and yet focused, very hard working and yet generous, very determined but supportive. I see that Japan and its people have great potential in pioneering social and economic initiatives for the world. Natural calamities may come, but the people have learned to deal with it calmly and without panic. This is the biggest lesson that the world should learn.

Citra Wardhani (Indonesia), expert staff, Directorate of Research and Community Services, Universitas Indonesia
University of Indonesia, 2001-02

The Japanese people are facing many challenges in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami and the ongoing nuclear crisis. My heart goes to those affected. We faced the same problem here in Indonesia, except for the nuclear crisis. I saw firsthand how devastating natural disasters can be for people. The loss of family members and homes must have been very painful and difficult, especially for those having to survive the cold, winter weather in the affected areas. But from the disaster, we—the outsiders—have learned a lot from you, such as how you share and work together, how you hold onto your virtues during difficult times, and how you sacrifice for others. We see new heroes emerging. I hope you all recover soon. Many stakeholders in my country are involved with you and are trying to help in any way they can. Please know that you're not alone.

Sunitha B Nair (India), assistant professor, Payyanur College, Kannur University
Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2005-06

First of all, I would like to salute all my Japanese friends and the Japanese people for their spirit in facing up the challenge. They are so balanced. From my friends, I have heard that many youths are now volunteering in the tsunami-affected areas, and I really admire their desire to help others. My Japanese brothers and sisters, you can count on the support from all Sylff and BABA fellows. All of us who are the beneficiaries of fellowships are greatly indebted to The Nippon and Tokyo Foundations, and we will offer our support in whichever manner it is required in this period of crisis.

Sarojini Imran (Indonesia), lecturer, Tourism Destination Faculty and Architecture Faculty, University of Pancasila; lecturer of interior design, Binus University
University of Indonesia, 1999-2001

My dear Japanese friends, no one can avoid natural disasters. In my country, Indonesia, we also often experience earthquakes, tsunamis, and other disasters, as you know. Normally, we ask why we should meet such pain and suffering. We eventually realize, though, that we should really be grateful for the opportunity to think about the true meaning of life. In the face of destruction, the hard work and effort we made may appear to have been in vain, but no effort is really wasted. Nothing can prevent natural disasters, but sometimes we are too greedy and assume that we can ignore nature’s power. During times of disaster, our personal safety and the safety of our families and friends are foremost on our minds. How precious life is! All too often, we are too busy making money, and we have no time for others. But when a disaster strikes, it becomes clear that nothing is more precious than our lives, our families, and our friends. My hope is that the disaster will make us wiser so that we value the things that are most precious. The Japanese concept of gambaru should become a source of strength enabling the people to rise again.

 


1“Building a Better Asia” is administered by the Information and Resource Center with the support of The Nippon Foundation, the donor of the Sylff endowments. BABA 9 in Nara, Japan, was held over six days to discuss such important issues as “leadership and governance,” “peace and dialogue among cultures,” “human security,” and “promoting a greener economy in Asia.”