Japan’s Kochi City Hopes to Cultivate Women Leaders in Disaster Management
KOCHI — Initiatives to develop women who can take on leadership roles in their communities in the wake of a large-scale disaster, such as a Nankai Trough earthquake, are underway in Kochi Prefecture.
Kochi City in Japan is striving to nurture women who can assume leadership positions in disaster management following significant calamities like the Nankai Trough earthquake. Since 2017, a women’s disaster management project training program has been organizing workshops, with 209 individuals completing them thus far. The program, managed by the Kochi gender equality foundation, aims to equip women with the skills to actively participate as female disaster management leaders, educating others about disaster preparedness during peacetime and overseeing evacuation shelters during emergencies.
The significance of incorporating women’s viewpoints into disaster preparedness became evident following disasters such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. These incidents shed light on matters like the absence of women's changing facilities in evacuation shelters and men handling the distribution of essential supplies, including sanitary products.
To address this, the foundation conducts workshops at places like Sole, a gender equality center in Kochi, with the objective of training personnel to execute disaster management and risk reduction activities that integrate gender equality.
Participants in these workshops gain insights into how women's perspectives are often sidelined during disasters and engage in practical exercises, including a visit to the Niida Shrine monument dedicated to the 1854 Ansei Nankai Earthquake. During a July workshop, Mikio Yamasaki, a representative of the Sansui disaster management institution, discussed key considerations for establishing evacuation shelters.
Following this, the participants held a tabletop exercise, actively debating on ways to cater to evacuees while keeping in mind the needs of those requiring special care.
Marika Komatsu, a 48-year-old resident of Kochi, expressed her aspiration to join the evacuation shelter management team in the event of a future disaster, hoping to offer her unique perspective as a woman on the necessary supplies. A foundation representative highlighted their hope that each workshop participant would apply their newly acquired knowledge in their communities, becoming advocates for those who may have been overlooked.
Written by urgent.news from The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
