Sasakawa finalists ‘shape the future’

SENDAI, 12 March 2015 – The three finalists of the 2015 United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction have been short-listed because “they are shaping the future, not just reshaping the past”.

The Sasakawa jury, currently locked in deliberations at the Sendai venue for the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, said the final trio had been chosen because they are doing excellent work that is “influential, extensive and encompassing, permanent and innovative”.

One of the three – Allan Lavell (a disaster risk researcher and consultant, based in Costa Rica), the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities, or the Jeffrey Town Farmers’ Association (Jamaica) – will be named the Sasakawa Laureate on Tuesday 17 March at a signature event of the World Conference.

The Jeffrey Town Farmers’ Association was created in 1991 to use agriculture as a platform for sustainable development and as a means to redress risk and a lack of investment in marginalized areas.

That philosophy has provided a springboard for a community-driven programme which has also had an influence on national policies in Jamaica. Ongoing work to address hazards includes reforestation, building gabion walls and terraces, checking dams and cleaning gullies, as well as replacing roofs and adding hurricane straps to buildings.

Other cornerstones include community training in response and reconstruction, the mobilization of teams to prepare for and tackle disaster impact, and an award-winning radio programme to share valuable lessons.

Ms Ivy Gordon, Director of the Association, said they were overwhelmed by the honour of being a Sasakawa finalist.

“It is truly humbling to know that our efforts to increase our own resilience and those around us should place a traditionally marginalized community on the world stage,” Ms Gordon said. “We are proud because we didn't begin or continue for glory, we did this for survival and quality of life.”

The Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities, set up in 2012, brings together six leading CEOs – of the Australian Red Cross, Insurance Australia Group, Investa Property Group, Munich Re, Optus and Westpac – to influence public policy via evidence-based reporting on the unsustainable cost of disasters on life, property and the economy.

Speaking on behalf of the Roundtable, Insurance Australia Group Managing Director and CEO Mike Wilkins said: “The Sasakawa judging panel has acknowledged the vision and creative dedication of the Roundtable in its efforts to change the way natural disaster impacts are managed nationally. We hope the Roundtable’s collaborative approach of business, government and the not for profit sector inspires other nations in their efforts to reduce the significant costs of natural disasters.”

Australian Red Cross CEO Mr Robert Tickner added: ”The great achievement of the Roundtable is to help put resilience right up on the agenda of Government and help convince them that investment up front in disaster preparedness will strengthen communities and save lives as well as huge costs in the longer term.”

Mr Lavell, born in Britain but based in the Americas for much of his career, is a highly respected researcher and practitioner in disaster risk reduction whose work spans four decades and adopts a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach.

A founding member of the Network of Social Studies in the Prevention of Disasters in Latin America (LA RED), Mr Lavell pinpoints three main areas of professional pride.

“First, as a university teacher and researcher in seeing those who have been introduced, encouraged and inspired in some way, going on to become active, imaginative and committed members of the Disaster Risk Management community in many different walks of life,” he said.

“Second, having had the opportunity through the networks we have helped to bridge generational and social group divisions, working with the young and the old, academics, students, workers in city and countryside, governments and NGOs.

“Third, to have persisted in and, I think, advanced in breaking down disciplinary barriers and sectoral views of disaster risk in order to construct more integral and holistic views in the frame of development.”

The spokesperson for the Sasakawa jury, Prof. Dr Murat Balamir, said the three finalists are “shaping the future, not just reshaping the past”. He added: “Although from totally different backgrounds and contexts, each finalist is making an outstanding contribution to disaster risk reduction.”

The Award, which is themed ‘Shaping the Future’, attracted a remarkable 88 nominations from 44 countries. Previous Sasakawa Awards saw the jury focus on ‘organizational action’ (2013) and ‘local safety’ measures and mitigation efforts (2011).

The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction opens on 14 March. The Conference is due to adopt the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction, charting a new era of strengthened disaster risk management and building on the achievements of ten years of implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action.