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Give2Asia 10/09/2012

Japan Ready to Share 3/11 Disaster Lessons

This week marks the opening of the “Sendai Dialogue” on disaster response lessons from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. The conference is co-hosted by the Japanese government and the World Bank as a part of the annual International Monetary Fund meetings which are held in Tokyo this year.

Delegates will visit sites in disaster-affected communities and will attempt to create a global consensus on how to prepare for disasters in the future, according to The Japan Times.

Read the full story from The Japan Times, by clicking here.

Give2Asia 06/28/2012

Asia Foundation at Google’s Big Tent on Open Data, Disasters

June 27, 2012
By Michelle Chang

On July 2 in Sendai, Japan, nearly a year and a half after the tragic earthquake and tsunami devastated the region, The Asia Foundation will participate in a Google conference to examine using open data in disaster relief. As the world is seeing stronger effects of climate change and other factors, floods, rising sea levels, tsunamis, and monsoons threaten the lives of millions, this is a timely moment to call attention to natural disaster management across both developed and developing countries. And, as nations across the globe embrace innovative information and communications technology tools to help support disaster management, the conference is a chance for leading experts in technology, emergency assistance, and development to come together to discuss progress and challenges ahead.Continue Reading

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Give2Asia 05/08/2012

To save mankind from itself, governance must catch up with technology

By Nicholas Benes

Nicholas Benes

Nowadays, we are seeing a lot of corporate governance and risk management blow-ups. Many of these failures result in massive risk externalization events, in which the company causes so much damage that it goes bankrupt or otherwise can’t compensate for the huge trouble and losses it has caused.

The list includes Lehman Brothers, AIG, Enron, Fannie Mae, and a major portion of the Japanese banking sector in the 1990s. It also includes a host of lesser-known firms that went under, and assorted events such as the BP oil spill and Tepco’s meltdowns.

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Give2Asia 04/18/2012

In Appreciation of Philanthropic Visionary Tadashi Yamamoto

By Barnett F. Baron
President & CEO
Give2Asia

Tadashi Yamamoto, founder and president of the Japan Center for International Exchange, passed away
on April 15 at the age of 76. He was an extraordinary person whose career was marked by extraordinary
accomplishment. He was a liberal internationalist, an optimist who believed wholeheartedly that cultural
exchanges and dialogue could bring peoples and nations closer together, especially those that previously
had been adversaries. He believed that people-to-people exchanges in all their forms were a formidable
vehicle for international understanding and peace. He committed his life to interpreting Japan to the world
and the world to Japan.Continue Reading

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Give2Asia 03/16/2012

One Year Later: Reflections on Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami Recovery Efforts

Gillian Yeoh

Gillian Yeoh has been in charge of Give2Asia’s disaster response efforts in the Asia-Pacific region since 2006. In September 2011, Yeoh authored a report on disaster philanthropy that outlines lessons and best practices for disaster giving compiled by Give2Asia over the course of the last decade. Click here to download the full report. She also authored a paper on the unique opportunities and challenges of disaster response in Tohoku, titled Lessons Learned: The 2011 Disasters in Tohoku, Japan, which you can read here.

This article originally appeared on the Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco blog.

As I reflect on the past year of recovery efforts in Japan, and what I have learned from the site visits I conducted, I am inspired by the resilience of the many people I have met whose lives are forever changed by the disaster that started a year ago. One particular story of survival, and now of leadership, still resonates with me as Give2Asia continues to analyze and assess the situation in Tohoku and the ongoing needs of the affected communities.Continue Reading

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Give2Asia 03/12/2012

Revitalizing Tohoku

Barnett F. Baron, President & CEO of Give2Asia

By Barnett F. Baron

This piece was originally published by the Council on Foundations, in their blog, RE:Philanthropy.

As we approach the first anniversary of the Tohoku disaster, my colleagues and I at Give2Asia are taking stock of our work for relief and recovery and considering the future. Tohoku will need business and philanthropy investments for several years to come, and we are encouraged by the innovative and entrepreneurial approaches of some Japanese social organizations that we have been privileged to support.

Prior to the disaster, Tohoku was already a marginalized area facing the twin challenges of a depressed economy and a rapidly aging population. The three Tohoku prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima accounted for about four percent of Japan’s GDP; their coastal areas directly affected by the tsunami accounted for less than half of that. The pre-disaster economy of coastal Tohoku was largely based on family-run farming and fishing. Under pressure from years of outmigration by younger and more educated people looking for better opportunities elsewhere, the average age of farmers was 65.2 years in Miyagi prefecture, 66.3 in Iwate prefecture, and 66.8 in Fukushima prefecture.Continue Reading

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Give2Asia 03/12/2012

Asia Needs US$40 Billion Per Year For Disaster Preparation

Vice President of the Asian Development Bank Bindu Lohani stated that the Asia-Pacific region must invest US$40 billion a year to undergo “transformational change” in its resilience and resistance to climate change and natural disasters.

“There are going to be more such frequent natural disasters and they will complicate the challenge of achieving sustainable development in Asia,” Lohani said. ”As the region’s economies become increasingly linked through commercial supply chains… the impacts of such disasters are no longer confined to the place of occurrence but have wider regional and local impacts,” he said.

Read the full story from the Economic Times, here.

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Give2Asia 03/08/2012

Lessons Learned: The 2011 Disasters in Tohoku, Japan

By Gillian Yeoh
Program Lead, Disaster Response
Give2Asia

The triple catastrophe that hit the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 affected over 300,000 people, killed 15,844 and has left 3,450 still officially missing (numbers as of January 10, 2012). Following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the tsunami devastated 280 miles of coastline, a distance further than from Boston to New York City. Over a million buildings were damaged and destroyed. The extent of the disaster’s damage, exacerbated by the Fukushima nuclear meltdown and Tohoku’s pre-existing social problems, made it very difficult for the government, social sector, and the international community to respond in a timely, efficient and effective manner.Continue Reading

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Give2Asia 02/10/2012

Cleaning the Streets of Ishinomaki: Before and After Gallery

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Give2Asia 02/10/2012

Cleaning the Streets of Ishinomaki: Before and After

For nearly a year, Give2Asia’s partner, Peace Boat Volunteers, has been helping to rebuild earthquake and tsunami-affected communities in Japan. Beginning in April 2011, Peace Boat cleaned the streets, buildings and homes of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, one of the hardest-hit communities in the Tohoku region. As one of thousands of nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations working in the area, Peace Boat witnessed the initial devastation and destruction in the region. Below are photos from Ishinomaki before Peace Boat’s cleaning projects began in April 2011 and after it concluded in August. Click through the slideshow to view Peace Boat’s work. If you are having trouble viewing the slideshow, you can view the photos as a gallery by clicking here.

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