Disaster in Mumbai, India Photo courtesy of CITYNET

Climate change is happening.

The Asia Pacific has experienced repeated destruction and loss of lives due to climate-induced and hydro-meteorological disasters. To avoid being struck unprepared, appropriate measures need to be taken.

This capacity-building program helps local governments manage current and potential risks,

Committed to its mission to contribute to development and to play a role in the alleviation of poverty, TDLC strives to help disseminate Japanese knowledge and expertise abroad. Offering videoconferencing services, course design and coordination, multimedia and technical hub capabilities, TDLC has been playing a role as a bridge between Japan and developing countries.

From our ongoing programs, here is an introduction on a key partner since 2005, the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, or FASID.

On November 19 2009, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Kansai Research Center held a symposium in Kobe, Japan to discuss reduction of CO2 emission in household sector.  The symposium can be viewed by clicking here.

The second video conference and local discussion session for the sixth Microfinance Training of Trainers Course (MFTOT 6), launched on July 16, was held at TDLC on August 20.

The MFTOT course is a core program offered periodically at TDLC which aims to train trainers of the Microfinance Distance Learning Course through a blended learning method.

A video lecture and participating sites are captured on screen in Pakistan. Photo courtesy of NWFP University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar/TDLC

The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), established in Kobe, Japan in 1998 to enhance disaster resilience of its member countries and to build safe communities, is a strong partner of TDLC in knowledge-sharing activities on disaster risk management.

In a bid to share Japanese expertise in disaster risk management with fellow Asian countries, a video lecture was organized with our technical support in mid-August.

Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh were connected with Tokyo, where a renowned expert on building structure and earthquake engineering lectured on the ‘Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics’.

Program participants in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia raise their arms as they follow instructions from TDLC via video conference in an exercise to reduce stress, part of a lecture on psychological assessment and care during pregnancy and childbirth March 6, 2009. 

“Childbirth Nursing Training” or “Happy Mothers, Happy Children”, one of the core outreach programs at Tokyo Development Learning Center, is designed to train mother and child care specialists in Mongolia through distance learning. To date, hundreds of nurses have participated in the course. Here’s a look behind the scenes.

TDLC Manager Ryu Fukui speaks during a videoconference in Tokyo July 16, 2009.  TDLC/KK

TDLC Manager Ryu Fukui recently made a live television appearance as expert commentator on microfinance in the context of ‘social business ’in a news documentary ‘Kyo-no Sekai’ (today’s world) …

MORE...

With MFTOT6 now underway, TDLC’s newest staff member has seized the learning opportunity. Mirei Nishimura will be providing personal reports as the course progresses, beginning with her reflections from Day 1.  TDLC/KK

ADBI’s John West kicks off the opening of MFTOT6 at TDLC as participants are linked from six overseas sites as shown on screen July 16, 2009.  TDLC/KK

TDLC Technical Operations Officer Iain Mitchell works on a videoconference connection at the Tokyo hub July 13, 2009.  TDLC/Eriko Sugita