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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

earthquake

Web videos for a cause: using films to raise awareness, donations

Submitted by James I Davison on Mon, 2009-07-06 16:14

A while back, I saw this blog post, written by a Global Voices blogger Juliana Rincón Parra, highlighting storytellers using online videos to raise awareness about hunger in the Philippines. Among other videos, the blogger pointed out one film in particular, called Chicken a la Carte, a touching video that has been viewed thousands of times after spreading virally on the web through social media sites and email.

This got me thinking, and wondering, about how else online videos are being used to raise awareness of issues and spread word about charities and organizations. It is clear that a short film or video, if done well, can be an incredibly effective at turning an issue we’ve heard of into something much more personal and emotional. And as the Chicken a la Carte film shows, sites like YouTube can facilitate a video’s rapid and widespread broadcasting to mindboggling degrees.

Zai jian – Goodbye – See you again: a look back on China's progress upon leaving the World Bank

Submitted by David Dollar on Thu, 2009-07-02 10:46

This is my last week in the World Bank, after working at the institution for 20 years, the last five as country director for China and Mongolia.

A few weeks ago I had the unique opportunity to camp out on top of the Great Wall, which was a fitting exclamation mark at the end of my five years as the World Bank's China Country Director. It was a cloudy, drizzly day as we started, but then cleared up and turned into a lovely evening. The large group of kids we had with us slept in one of the guard towers along the wall, but I and a few others opted to sleep under the stars. The next morning opened with some mist, but then turned into a spectacular blue day. Some long-term Beijing residents hiking with us noted that they couldn’t recall ever seeing the countryside so green.

Beijing’s dry climate sets a limit on how green and blue it’s ever going to get, but the improvement over five years is noticeable and is one of the two most striking achievements of China in this period. In many cities, air pollution has declined as a result of policies that include banning the use of coal in inner cities, strengthening public transportation, discouraging car use (gasoline now costs 50% more than in the U.S.), moving heavy industry out of inner cities, and more stringent enforcement of environmental regulations.

From Wenchuan to L'Aquila, key after the quake is the work of volunteers

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Sun, 2009-05-24 22:17
A fireman showing the Bank's Global Disaster Management team around Onna.

Two countries, two cultures, a world apart, but I have learnt this week that the human face of the Wenchuan and L’Aquila earthquake tragedies is not dissimilar.  I am in the beautiful historic town of L’Aquila, devastated by the earthquake which struck the Ambruzzo region of central Italy at 3:30am on April 6, 2009. 

Sharing global best practice is one of our most important jobs as Bank staff.  This past week a group of eleven staff from all over the Bank, including four from country offices (Haiti, Aceh, Islamabad and Beijing), who all share the task of helping Bank clients prepare for and respond to disasters came to Italy to learn about the L’Aquila earthquake response.  We are here as guests of the Civil Protection Agency of Italy – a most gracious host – to learn from their experiences in managing the L’Aquila earthquake.  The mission has been organized by the Bank’s recently formed Global Expert Team for Disaster Management, of which I am a member. 

Day of reflection: One year after Sichuan earthquake, signs of recovery and hope in China

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Tue, 2009-05-12 09:21

We have heard stories of tragedy since the Sichuan - Wenchuan Earthquake, but we have also seen the signs of recovery and hope.

Today is a day of reflection in China. The Sichuan - Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, was an event of immense significance for the people of China. It was one of those events that occur maybe once in a generation, where for many years to come, much discussion will center on the question "where were you when you heard the news?"

Today is also a day of reflection for me. I am thinking about all of the people we have met in Sichuan over the last year who have been affected by the earthquake – the millions who have lost their homes, their land and their livelihood. I am also thinking about the many, many people who have lost loved ones – their children, parents, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers and friends. I have met and spoken with some of these survivors over the last year and they are in my mind today.

Cheerful colors reflect new hope for earthquake victims in Indonesia

Submitted by Nia Sarinastiti on Mon, 2009-04-13 15:27
The 2006 earthquake killed Tito Judi's adopted son and destroyed his house. He feels the cheerful colors of his new home help to lift his spirits.

On an early morning in 2006, an earthquake struck Special Province of Yogyakarta and Central Java in Indonesia. The place, known for its heritage, culture, scenery and humble life of its people, was devastated. The 6.2 Ricther Scale quake killed about 5,700 people and left more than 150,000 families homeless and 50,000 injured. But given the many life hardships that most of people have had to face since losing their homes and loved ones from the disaster, beneficiaries of the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) – managed by the World Bank – seem to have beaten the odds and have since long moved on with their lives.

What I found most interesting during my visits to the locations is the sense of style and creativity of the house owners.  Especially in the villages of Bantul, Yogyakarta – the hardest struck area – people can easily identify houses that were funded by JRF through the outstandingly colored, newly constructed houses, painted in cheerful tints of pink, yellow, green, blue, red, or somewhere in between.  How it all started was never revealed, but it seems everyone wanted to get away from the conservative colors of white, crème and grey.

China’s reform: 'Change the system, open the door'

Submitted by David Dollar on Tue, 2008-12-23 14:54

Chinese farmers prospered under the return to the household responsibility system. Nationwide, grain production jumped 20 percent as a result of strengthened incentives.

Last week was the 30th birthday of the launching of China's reform and opening up. During the week I got to travel around rural Sichuan with World Bank President Bob Zoellick. The purpose of the trip was to visit the earthquake-devastated Beichuan town and to see the reconstruction efforts, which will be supported by a $710 million loan from the World Bank. Mara Warwick described our visit on her blog.

With our visit falling during the week of the 30th anniversary, I naturally thought of my first trip to rural Sichuan. After teaching at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the spring of 1986, I traveled around the country by myself for about a month. The highlight was traveling by local bus through rural Yunnan and Sichuan.

Slowly but surely, life returns in earthquake-affected China

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Mon, 2008-12-15 13:30

Much that remains of Beichuan, China from the earthquake, is buried – reclaimed by the environment.

It has been seven months since the Wenchuan Earthquake devastated Sichuan Province and I have just returned from my seventh trip to the quake zone, this time with World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Yesterday we traveled three hours by bus from Chengdu to Beichuan, the town that was most severely affected during the earthquake. On May 12, the day of the 7.8- magnitude earthquake, buildings collapsed and mountains came crashing down, burying thousands. The ground literally opened up and swallowed people, cars and buildings. A staggering 12,000 people died in Beichuan on that day – about 74 percent of the town's population. More than a thousand children died at the high school alone.

Reducing risk from natural disasters takes partnerships, teamwork

Submitted by Zoe Elena Trohanis on Mon, 2008-11-24 13:55

Image credit: simonpocock at Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

If you want to know what movies are being shown on flights across the Pacific, ask me or my World Bank colleagues in the East Asia and Pacific region's Disaster Risk Management team. We have been passing one another by plane for the past month and a half. Responsible for coordinating disaster risk management efforts and activities for the region, we are a busy group, no doubt about it.

I have been in China for the past few weeks supporting the country team to appraise a package of support to China for recovery efforts following the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. One colleague participated in the recent Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery Consultative Group meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark and is now in Jakarta, Indonesia working with field staff, the country’s government, and partners on mainstreaming risk reduction into development programs. Another colleague of mine just returned from the Philippines and Vietnam, where she was stranded by flooding in Hanoi. In fact, she had to wade through knee-deep water when leaving a meeting at the Ministry of Finance. Of course, this represents just part of the team, since we work with a broader network of staff based in country offices who manage country-level programs and projects.

China ideas marketplace uses entrepreneurial spirit to tackle social issues

Submitted by David Dollar on Wed, 2008-10-22 10:51

A woman explains a project to restore education in the part of Gansu, China, hit by last May's earthquake. Grassroots civil society organizations proposed innovative project ideas this week addressing development issues at the China Development Marketplace.

I am glad that I did not have to be a juror in our second China Development Marketplace, which concluded with its award ceremony today. Grassroots civil society organizations (CSOs) from all over China proposed projects addressing environmental and social issues in innovative ways.

We received more than 500 proposals, and choosing 50 winners (download list in Excel) to receive funding was a very difficult task. Our expert panel of academics, civil society activists, and financial contributors chose 115 finalists, who came to Beijing for a colorful exhibition. One of our jurors, who was judging proposals for the second time, noted that the quality of proposals was much better than the last China Development Marketplace in 2006, indicating how quickly civil society groups here are strengthening.

October 8 is International Day for Disaster Reduction

Submitted by Zoe Elena Trohanis on Tue, 2008-10-07 17:34

Growing up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, every year in elementary, junior high and high school, we would participate in hurricane drills. An alarm would sound, and all the kids would file into the interior hallways, sit cross-legged on the floor, and cover our heads with our hands. Some of us, if there wasn't a hallway handy, would crawl under our desks until we were told it was safe to resurface. Thinking back on those drills, I knew they were important but never quite made the link as to why we had to do these exercises, since strong hurricanes never seemed to make their way that far inland while I was growing up. Of course then in 2004, Hurricane Ivan blew through my hometown and caused massive damage, and knocked out my parents' power and water supply for more than a week. I'm sure the local schools put their hurricane drills to good use during that storm.