Jan. 17 marks the 28th anniversary of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, which devastated Kobe and the surrounding areas.

The earthquake underscored two complicated policy challenges related to disaster relief that repeatedly came to the fore in major natural disasters in the ensuing years, including the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

They are how to ensure effective cooperation between the government and private-sector organizations such as companies and how to coordinate disaster prevention and welfare policies.

The core question is what measures must be taken to protect the lives and health of disaster victims and help them rebuild their shattered livelihoods.

In addition to improving and enhancing existing programs and systems, it is also vital to tackle shortfalls of the disaster relief law, which provides the legal framework for policy responses in the immediate aftermath of disasters.

The disaster relief law defines policy measures that should be taken to provide relief and support to victims as well as steps to rescue and search for survivors.

They include not only housing-related measures, such as establishing evacuation centers, building temporary housing and providing temporary repairs for damaged houses, but also assistance to survivors, including providing food, drinks, clothing, bedclothes, school supplies, medical services and maternity assistance.

No major revisions have been made to the law, which was established in 1947. Critics say the law is out of touch with reality and riddled with deficiencies and inadequacies.

First of all, the law fails to clearly define the roles the private sector should perform in responding to natural disasters.

Since many people from across the nation traveled to areas struck by the Great Hanshin Earthquake to work as volunteers to help survivors, the year 1995 later came to be called “volunteer gannen” (the first year of large-scale disaster relief volunteering).

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) played important roles in coordinating volunteer activities with the needs of survivors. Their contribution led to the enactment of the NPO law three years later.

Now, in addition to NPOs, such organizations as social welfare councils, bar associations and companies are also vital partners for governments in dealing with the aftermath of major disasters.

But the law only mentions the “Japanese Red Cross Society and other organizations” as private-sector partners.

Many experts have argued that it would help promote cooperation between the public and private sectors in such emergencies to stipulate the names, categories and roles of various private-sector organizations in the law.

Disaster relief efforts based on the law are focused on facilities and goods and tend to be one-size-fits-all measures. It is vital to combine a variety of relief measures coordinated with welfare policies.

Since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, one notable trend has emerged in disaster relief.

Known as “disaster case management,” this increasingly popular approach to disaster response and recovery is designed to set up a special task force involving both public and private-sector players from various fields to provide services tailored to the needs of individual victims.

This is important because disaster victims face diverse challenges. The particularly vulnerable of people affected are elderly and disabled citizens who have unique needs.

A growing number of experts say this approach and the underlying principles should be incorporated into the disaster relief law.

In its proposal to improve disaster relief efforts announced last autumn, the National Governors’ Association called on the government to promote disaster case management and identify and correct shortcomings in the law, which is based on the principle of providing only goods and materials to victims.

Last spring, the Japan National Council of Social Welfare announced a set of proposals for improved disaster relief, including a call for adding provisions related to welfare to the law.

Last year, a council to discuss disaster relief issues composed of NPO members and experts was set up within the Cabinet Office. The council has made similar proposals as those put forth by the National Governors’ Association and the Japan National Council of Social Welfare.

We are eager to hear meaningful policy debate for a fundamental review of the system of disaster relief.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 17