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Education Center forDisaster ReductionUniversity of Hyogo 

Call for Participation

Second UN ESC O Youth Forum Looking Beyond Disaster

Sendai, Japan

16-19 August 2012 

We invite you to participate in an international forum with youth from different

countries of the world, especially Asia and the Pacific, to share experiences of disasters andto develop realistic action plans to rebuild communities that meet the needs and aspirations of

young people.

On 11 March 2011 Tohoku area experienced a record magnitude 9.0 earthquake that

!" !$% &' (!")$*% +*, $- $.* /-0+,1% (-%$ *23*"%!4* ,!%5%$*0 , and a tsunami (that was 15m

high in places). Since then they have experienced several major earthquakes and many

thousands of aftershocks. Over 15,000 people died and thousands are still missing. The

debris has spread across the Pacific Ocean. Sendai airport was flooded by the tsunami. While

Sendai city has rebuilt, all that remains at the site of coastal villages are the concrete

foundation stones of houses that were washed away. Some areas still suffer from debris. The

first day of the forum, 16th August, will be a full day bus trip with chances to see some of the

affected area, as well as Matsushima, one of three famous sightseeing spots in Japan that has

rebuilt already from the tsunami.

While hazards are natural, disasters are not. Young people need to not only be aware

of the risks and impacts of hazards, but also have take action to prepare for and respond to

disasters. Young people have shown already their potential to create a world that takes a

 proactive stance against tragedies caused by disaster. Disasters can destroy communities but

also rebuild them. As key agents of promoting change UNESCO has gathered young

community leaders in the Youth Looking Beyond Disaster programme. The first UNESCO

Youth Forum: Looking Beyond Disaster, was held in December 2011 in Christchurch, New

Zealand, with 100 participants from around the world. Youth developed 25 action plans to

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rebuild communities from disasters.1 Some of these will be presenting the implementation of

their action plans. Many new participants with experiences from rebuilding communities will

 join the network in the Sendai meeting from other communities around the world.

Th e  e xp ec t  e d ou t  c o m e s  in c lud e :

!  Strengthening a new global network of young people across Asia and the Pacificempowered to share experiences and exchange ideas on disaster and community;

!  Saving lives and reducing the suffering from disasters;

!  Giving hope in concrete ways for self-recovery of communities from disasters;

!  Support for youth-led projects to be implemented in different countries;

!  Development of evaluation skills to assess efforts already made;

!  Learning lessons from the rapid recovery in this region;

!  Examining the psychosocial issues and challenges of community rebuilding, and

stigmatization of communities faced with fears of low level radiochemical exposure;

!  Getting communities and the policy structures ready for rapid response to disasters;

!  Following up on recommendations on information flow in disasters; youth resilience,rebuilding communities and disaster response;

!  Considerations of academic and community infrastructures that can assist youth;

Who can come?

The conference is especially for youth who have experienced natural disasters, and

the challenges that means for their communities. There will also be some students

specializing in disaster recovery, and a few experts to assist in mentoring. We seek

 participants in their late teens through their twenties. There will also be some older persons

who are setting up structures to enhance youth community service, and youth involvement in

recovering from communities. If you have any inquiries you can write to the organizers.

How to apply?There is no application fee. Applications to participate should take the form of an

expression of interest email composed by you that outlines (in less than 500 words) why you

would like to participate in this forum, post-disaster activities you have been involved in,

and/or suggestions for an action plan to develop with other participants. Please also explain

what you have learnt from facing a disaster in your community.

Send your email to sawa@eubios.info and d.macer@unesco.org 

Dr. Sawa Kato and Dr. Darryl Macer,RUSHSAP, UNESCO Bangkok, 920 Sukhumvit Road, Prakanong, Bangkok 10110, THAILAND

1 The action plans along with general objectives of the forum and recommendations are on the UNESCO

website http://www.unescobkk.org/rushsap/youth/youth-looking-beyond-disaster/

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Organisers The organisers include the Regional Unit in Social and Human Sciences for Asia and

the Pacific (RUSHSAP) at UNESCO Bangkok, Miyagi International Association (MIA), and

Eubios Ethics Institute, in collaboration with Sendai International Relations Association

(SIRA), Asia-Pacific Cultural Center for UNESCO (ACCU), National Federation of

UNESCO Associations in Japan, Japanese National Commission for UNESCO (to beconfirmed), Hyogo University of Education and several other collaborators.

General The conference will be informal, and meals, lunches and tea breaks will be provided

in the conference package. English is the working language, but some interpretation into

Japanese will be available. It is possible to develop action plans in other languages, but an

English translation should be provided. It is intended to make the conference a memorable

time together in sharing lessons and friendships, in various ways across cultures.

Financial issues 

We are seeking financial support for assistance but we do not expect to be able tocover the travel of participants, therefore registrants should be prepared to gather their own

expenses to travel to Sendai, and pay the meal and accommodation package at JPY25,000 for

non-students, JPY22,000 for university students, and JPY20,000 for high school students for

the meals and accommodation from 15th afternoon checkin to 20th morning checkout. Early

registrants will be accommodated in either Western or Japanese style communal rooms at a

central venue, Espol Sendai (www.seinenkaikan.or.jp), where the forum will also occur.

There is no wifi there. An alternative venue which has wifi, involving a free 20 minute bus

trip to and from the venue, will also be available for those who prefer.

No safety conce rns 

Sendai is 94km from the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant where therewere 3 meltdowns. The forum will not be going near this area, and we consider Sendai, a

 bustling and exciting city of over a million persons, safe for visitors to participate in the short

 period in the area. Although one of the topics of some participants will be recovery from

Fukushima disaster (and some are part of existing action plans), we do not encourage youth

to go near the exclusion zone which is 15km from the reactor site. Travel from Tokyo to

Sendai is not near the site also, by the highway bus, shinkansen, or air flight. 2 

You may wish to take the opportunity to travel in Japan to experience the beauty of

the country and hospitality of its people before or after the Forum. Ideas can be exchanged on

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2 The city of Fukushima which some trains stop to get passengers is 70km from the Nuclear Power Plant.

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Be a partner in this endeavour !" "$%&'"(% !)%*% %(%&+%,'-%*. 

Can you help youth participate by sponsoring delegates? In Sendai we plan to develop a

further 25 action plans, through ongoing communication and evaluation, and provide training

to participants. The ongoing programme fosters information exchange between members who

have faced many different types of disaster (not directly human-made, although many havesignificant contributory factors from human activity and environmental change). The training

forum focuses on the development of practical action plans, and the evaluation of ongoing

 plans, which meet the needs of people in different communities affected by disasters. These

forums will empower youth with a variety of skills and talents, and a heart to help others,

with further tools they need to activate and accelerate change in their vulnerable communities

through the (further) development of action plans with a focus on their successful

implementation and sustainability. By making clear, concise and actionable plans, young

 people will learn how to engage their peers and communities and monitor the progress of

their initiatives.

The programme is especially for youth who have already started to make a difference in their

community after experiencing natural disasters, and overcoming the challenges that means

for their communities, and persons who are actually doing things to rebuild communities. We

need your support to build upon their initiatives, please join us. The programme is seeking

applicants from diverse countries, including SIDS, LDCs and countries at risk of disaster, and

we also welcome suggestions to join us. Disasters happen at any time and we need support

for many of these plans for our communities to rebuild.  The updated information is available onhttp://www.unescobkk.org/rushsap/newsdetails/article/call-for-participation-unesco-youth-forum 

Participants can also join the facebook group.

The deadline for general registration will close 31 May 2012. Some  late applicants maybe considered on a waiting list.