"10 Lessons" booklet distributed to UN Conference

March 18, 2015

FOUR YEARS AFTER: NGOs introduce '10 Lessons from Fukushima' booklet at U.N. disaster conference

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201503180061

By SHUNSUKE KIMURA/ Staff Writer

SENDAI--A booklet focusing on the plight of residents of crisis-hit Fukushima Prefecture and advising communities on preparing for nuclear disasters was distributed here at a United Nations conference that concluded on March 18.

The 70-page "10 Lessons from Fukushima" was assembled by the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), Peace Boat and other nongovernmental organizations to spread the message of challenges facing individuals affected by the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Available in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, "10 Lessons from Fukushima" was introduced at the March 14-18 U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai.

"We must share the knowledge and experiences of Fukushima," Masaaki Ohashi, JANIC chairman, said at a news conference. "We want the residents of nations that will be building nuclear reactors to be familiar with the contents of this booklet."

A French version of the booklet is currently being developed, and translations in more languages are also in the pipeline.

Lessons in the booklet include during an emergency, the basic premise must be for people to flee areas threatened with imminent danger; people affected by disasters have the right to a comprehensive health examination and disclosure of information; to ensure the safety of local agricultural, fisheries and forest products, such goods must be carefully checked for contamination with the cooperation of residents; the understanding made that complete decontamination is not possible; and the determination made how heavily taxpayers should bear compensation costs.

The lessons are driven home with descriptions of events that occurred as a result of the nuclear crisis caused by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

"At the time of the accident, most locals were likely unaware of terms such as 'sievert,' " Ohashi said.

The U.N conference was scheduled to be concluded on March 18 after adopting a new framework on disaster risk reduction for post-2015, updating the Hyogo Framework for Action ratified 10 years ago.

"10 Lessons from Fukushima" was distributed to participants of the conference at an exhibition space on disaster management and reconstruction efforts.

The booklet can be downloaded online at (http://fukushimalessons.jp/en.html).