May 12.

2008
April 28. 2010

WENCHUAN & THE SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE

LIVING WITH DISASTER

Epicenter of the Earthquake in Wenchuan

The delegation from Friends of the UN and local
leaders photographed in front of a bold stone thrown
from a mountain during the earthquake
[1]
 SHUIMO
April 28 Celebration
Shuimo Town:
April 28. was
celebrated by the
ribbon cutting at
the Foshan Bridge.
Local people were
proud of their
achievements

RIBBON-CUTTING AT FOSHAN BRIDGE

The local leaders and the delegation of the
Friends of the UN from New York visited Shuimo
Town in southwest China's Sichuan Province,
April 28, 2010.

Shuimo Town was hit by the earthquake on May

12, 2008.

In the past two years, a construction team from

Foshan of south China's Guangdong Province
helped Shuimo Town to be more livable and now
the town became a cultural and tourist spot.

According to provincial government data the

massive earthquake claimed the lives of 5,335
schoolchildren.

Shortly after the massive earthquake struck Sichuan ISC (Institute for Civil
Over 100 NGO leaders, community leaders,
Society) issued an appeal for donations to help people in the affected areas
government officials, and experts convened for a
day of discussion and sharing of best practices recover over the long term
and lessons learned.

[2]
 Sichuan Tragedy Sparks
Cultural Shift
SHUIMO
In the aftermath of Sichuan's devastating
earthquake last May, which killed 69,181
people and injured 374,171, individuals and
companies from all over the world have
donated money and supplies in huge
numbers to the victims. Even more
significant perhaps, an unprecedented
number of individuals in China have
volunteered to help in the earthquake zone
or contributed money, as well.
In a nationwide campaign, students and
even children have been encouraged to
donate portions of what little they might
have to earthquake relief in what appears to
reflect shifting public attitudes toward
charitable giving.
Li Kike, a 21-year-old student at Shanghai's
Donghua University, thinks the late spring
snowstorms that snarled nationwide travel
and transport earlier in the year, combined
with protests abroad over the progress of
the Olympic torch, and most lately the
Sichuan earthquake, have helped changed
how China's youth feel and how older
Chinese feel about them.
"This generation is very unique," Li said. "We
don't have very hard times in politics or
lifestyle. Now we are just being more and
more supportive to our country and we really
want to help people who were in the
earthquake."
The new School is a pride of the local people
[3]
Li recalled reading an online message board,
or what is referred to in China as a BBS, on
which some called his generation the "ruined
generation." But the earthquake, he said,
gave older Chinese a chance to reconsider
the role of Chinese youth in society: "Our
reactions and responsibilities changed
people's minds - they reconsidered our
strength."
In recent years, older Chinese have
characterized the the countrys youth as the
Me Generation, one that, according to a
2007 story in Time magazine, is
characterized by its "self-interested,
apolitical pragmatism."
Yet the "Me Generations' generous response
to aiding earthquake victims may be the
start of something new. One recent poster
on the China Dailys BBS asserted her
willingness to donate to the earthquake
victims despite describing herself as "a poor
college student." "I donate[d] several
hundred yuan to the earthquake," she said.
"It is tiny, but we have 1.3 billion [people] like
me. The Chinese are unconquerable."
It may be too early to say whether or not
there will be a major rise in the willingness of
Chinese citizens across the board to make
donations and volunteer on a long-term
basis. But if the reaction to the earthquake is
any indication, a more long-lasting change
could be on the way. http://
www.chinaonthebrink.com/content/sichuan-
tragedy-sparks-cultural-shift
New Babies Bring the Hope two
Years after Sichuan Earthquake
Wednesday will be the second anniversary
of the magnitude-8.0 quake that hit
southwest China's Sichuan Province on
May 12, 2008, and left more than 87,000
people dead or missing.
The massive earthquake claimed the lives
of 5,335 schoolchildren, according to
provincial government data.
Bereaved mothers received free
reproductive services, including counseling,
health checks and delivery services,
according to the Sichuan provincial
population and family planning commission.
Even after two years of healing, one cannot
say the quake's survivors have recovered
their lives, as many are yet to move into
new homes and there are still problems to
be solved.
But for thousands of couples who lost their
children, the joy of each birth tempered the
pain of their loss.
By the end of April, 2,087 bereaved
mothers had given birth to a new baby and
another 467 were expecting. LIFE IS BACK AFTER TWO YEARS
Still, things are not good for everyone. A
large number of the bereaved mothers are
older than 35 years, making conception a
more difficult task.
In Dujiangyan, a city 48 kilometers west of
provincial capital Chengdu hit hard by the
quake, "about 85 percent of the bereaved
mothers who wanted to have a new baby
were older than 35 years, and 65 percent of
them were older than 40," said Chen Zhixi,
vice director of city's family planning
bureau.
The local government provided free
assisted-reproduction technologies to help
these women get pregnant.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/
indepth/2010-05/10/c_13285839.htm
[4]
 MEETING WITH THE PARTY
SECRETARY OF QINZHOU CITY
Friends of the UN: Perspectives
Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Province, is not only the
political, economic and cultural center of the province, but also
plays an important role in the economic development of southwest
China. Nanning borders Vietnam, is neighbor to Guangzhou, close
to Hong Kong and Macau, and faces Southeast Asia. This
advantageous location makes the city a commercial and
communication center, opening China to Southeast Asia.
Pleasant climate endows the city with evergreen trees and fragrant
flowers all year round, hence the name 'Green City.' In such a
beautiful land, more than 30 ethnic minority groups have been
living harmoniously for 1,680 years.
As the linking point of the tour route from Guilin to Beihai, Nanning
has a lot of attractions to offer: grand De Tian Waterfall, beautiful
Mt. Qingxiu and Mt. Daming, quiet Yangmei Ancient Town,
Qinzhou Leaders introduced FOUN Delegation to their Smart Future Construction Plans of the City;
Miss Xiao, the Mayor of the City was a gracious hostess
[5]
Dr. Noel Brown
presented to the Party
Secretary the book: Water
& Human Settlements in the
21st Century (Global Forum
on Human Settlements 2009)
mysterious Huashan Mural as well as scattered parks and
gardens.
Nanning is a modern city. Accommodation and shopping are
diverse and well developed for visitors. Hotels and hostels of
different standards can meet various needs. In the city's
commercial center, supermarkets, department stores, specialty
commodity streets, bookstores and other retail markets offer a
variety of merchandise. When night falls, colorful street lamps lit
the city. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/guangxi/nanning/
The leaders of Nannign city were proud to introduce Dr. Brown
and Ms. Grigolia to the Smart City Development Program. FOUN
was impressed with their Port development efforts and suggested
that this would be an ideal location for a Coastal Citys Summit.
Resilience in the Time of Disaster Sichuan province, and 374,176 injured, with But China is not alone.
18,222 listed as missing.
Across the world for example, in another
It is a special pleasure to be here this hemisphere and another continent Haiti one
The earthquake left about 4.8million people
afternoon - - to be in a city, blessed by of the worlds poorest countries in the
homeless, though the number could be as
nature and rich in culture, art and cuisine, Americas experienced an earthquake with a
high as 11 million, a significant number
but which unlike some other cities such as devastation that tested the worlds
since an estimated 15 million people lived in
Beijing and Shanghai, is perhaps best response capabilities and led the United
the affected area.
known to the world through a tragedy. Nations to concede that this was one of the
worst disasters that the world organization
It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China
This is a city however which also presents has had to confront.
since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which
another face of China, one that has killed at least 240,000people, and the 21st
recovered from one of the worlds worst And here the statistics well known:
deadliest earthquake of all time.
natural disaster in recent times and which
h o l d s m a n y l e s s o n s o f i n t e re s t t o Thanks to the electronic media, with instant On 12 January 2010, a catastrophic
international community on how to build it communication, which increasingly unites magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake hit an area
better. west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital,
humanity, especially in moments of shared
killing an estimated 230,000 people, injuring
sorrow, the world joined in grieving as the
In many respects this should not be city morned its dead and calculate its loss. 300,000 and rendering more than a million
surprising for even a remote city since it is homeless. It was also estimated that
part of China, a country which clearly Today, hopefully the world will also join the 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial
knows how to build - - having built the city in celebrating its recovery and there is buildings had collapsed or were severely
great wall, one of the few man made much to celebrate. Wenchuan has become damaged effecting more than three million
structures visible from the space. people.
a beacon of hope and a dramatic example
of humanitys problem solving genius and Once again, the world responded both
In order to more fully appreciate the creative ingenuity in both design and urgently and generously to appeals for
miracle of restoration and reconstruction, engineering skills. humanitarian aid pledging some 9 billion
however, one needs first to comprehend the It also provides a beacon of hope for other dollars to help the restoration efforts, and
scale of the disaster, as well as arrange of cases of natural disasters, which are dispatching rescue and medical teams,
sound policy initiatives which were firmly occurring all too frequently and with engineers and support personnel.
grounded in the spirit of resilience of the increasing intensity.
people of Wenchuan. These efforts were seriously handicap
On April 14, 2010, for example, China h o w e v e r, n o t o n l y b e c a u s e t h e
By now the grim statistics are well known to experienced another earthquake, this time a communication and transportation systems,
the world. On 12 May 2008 - - a mere 2 city of Kyushu and registered 7.1 killing which were already in poor conditions had
years ago, an 8 magnitude earthquake hit 2,183 people and injuring 12,135 many of collapsed, but also because of poor
the city of Wenchuan leaving 69,197 whom are severely injured. governance and confusion over who was
confirmed dead, including 68,636 in actually in charge.

[6]
Without strong leadership and clearly relevant skills greatly enhanced the safe spaces where people may be secure.
defined authority at the management prospect of meeting deadlines in a This two remains a challenge.
center the recovery efforts are likely to be timely fashion.
3. The creation of disaster Depots.
ineffectual with the process of recovery
3. Availability of the necessary
slowly. Where supplies including water, building
resources, both human and
materials, medicines, emergency power
This in turn raises a number of questions financial at the required scale. On
supplies may be stored in order to be
when compared to the post-disaster November the 6th 2008 for example
readily available to assist threatened
response when compared to Wenchuan. the central government committed 1
population.
For example it would be unreasonable to trillion (YUAN )about ($146 Billion) to
ask: rebuild areas ravaged by the earth 4. Vulnerability management
quake. training.
- - What will Haiti be like in two years?
4. Community involvement - - which In view of inevitable recurrence of natural
- - Will it as in the case of Wenchuan
encouraged the strong support and and man made disasters it would seem
build it better?-
p a r t i c i p a t i o n b o t h f ro m l o c a l
desirable to establish centers and
- - Will the lessons of Wenchuan be communities and the Chinese programs for vulnerability management
applicable? community at large. training, where the necessary skills would
be available to deal with the range of issues
- - And can Chinas experience in 5. One-on-one rebuilding system
in a sensitive and orderly manner.
Wenchuan be utilized Haiti? reflecting a unique characteristics of
the social structure whereby the For example in many instances pat rescue
- - Is there room for a new kind of developed area cities and the during disasters presents a major problem
partnership between Haiti and disaster area would collaborate in as often critical choices have to be made
Wenchuan in disaster, preparedness, reconstruction process. as to who gets priorities. Yet in some
and the management of vulnerability?
instances pats seem vital to the well being
No doubt, effort should be made to decode
These are the questions which we hope will of those to be rescued and there is much
the secret and to learn of the magic
be explored during our meeting today. sorrow in leaving them behind.
formula, which must have been employed.
In the meantime and in attempting to This naturally will occupy students of post Much pre planning has to be devoted to
assess the lessons to be leaned one must disaster management and reconstruction these and other sensitive matters.
first recognize that the restoration process for sometime. Hopefully the experience gained over the
in Wenchuan was not a matter of luck of years could be organized in a way that
In the meantime Ladies and Gentlemen, let
chance, but grounded in well tested would give more society the tools
me conclude by suggesting five ways
scientific principles generated by a necessary to address these issues.
which the world might wish to consider in
coherent philosophy of restoration and dealing with the growing roster of natural 5. Closer collaboration with the
recovery. disasters and mitigating their impacts: United Nations
This was clearly in evidence in the position 1. Creating a culture
o f International Strategy for Disaster
adopted by the Chinese authority which preparedness. Reduction (ISDR) which could become an
maintained that by adhering to the
effective partner in pre disaster planing.
principle of people-orientation, respect for The challenge here is not simply the
nature, overall planing, and scientific accuracy of early warning systems or the At the same time the City of Wenchuan
reconstruction, the Chinese Government reliability of all monitoring devices, but the given its successful experience and
enacted a scientific plan to guide its Post extant to which the population at large have innovative and pioneering leadership in
Disaster efforts, and by establishing a Post been trained to read and heed the warnings Post Disaster Reconstruction might give
Disaster one- on-one aid mechanism led by in a timely fashion. Few societies can claim consideration to the establishment of a
the Chinese People, the city was able to that they have mastered this process. Center for Disaster Mitigation and
c o n d u c t w e l l - p l a n n e d , l a rg e - s c a l e , Vulnerability Management Training.
Cuba for example, thanks to the experience
reconstruction Campaign, which
of a number of deadly Hurricanes has a This would be a fitting legacy to the miracle
contributed to the dramatic success of the
well advanced preparedness system, but of Wenchuan and an opportunity to share
process.
few other Caribbean states can make this that legacy with a disaster prone world.
M o re o v e r t h i s b a s i c p h i l o s o p h i c a l claim. Naturally building the culture of
Thank you.
framework gave momentum to the preparedness is not an easy task but one
reconstruction process and brought into which remains essential to the protection of
play a number of key element including: disaster prone societies. Dr. Noel Brown (Dujiangyan city, The
1. A firm commitment at the highest 2. Establishment of safe spaces. Best Practice of Reconstruction Award
levels, which signaled to all Ceremony
There comes a point in most disasters
concerned, the importance attached
where large number of people have to be
to the reconstruction effort.
evacuated. This not only requires well
2. Leadership, the deployment of the p l a n e d m o d e s a n d r o o t s f o r
most competent managers and transportations, but also the existence of

[7]

Global Forum on
Human Settlements
(GFHS)
The Global Forum on Human Settlements
was established in 2005 in Shenzhen, a
window of Chinas Reform and Opening
Up, jointly initiated by the Organization
Committee of China City Construction &
Development Expo(CCDE),China Research
Society of Urban
Development,Communication Coordinating
Committee for the United Nation (CCC/UN)
and United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)The
forum has been consecutively and
successfully held for 5 times.
Our Mission :
Building Sustainable Human Settlements
and Promoting the UN Habitat Agenda
Our Purpose:
To support and participate with related
programs of UN to educate the general
FRIENDS OF THE UNITED NATIONS
866 UN Plaza
Room #544
NYC NY 10017
Tel: 212 355 4192
E-mail: friendsofun11@aol.com
noelbrown@aol.com
www.FOTUN.org
public on the efforts of the United
Nations and its member countries
in improving the ecological
environment and human
settlements in various parts of the
world, to promote United Nations
Habitat Agenda and the ecological
civilization and to help the poor
and suffering achieve a better
quality of life, to promote the world
harmony and sustainable
development.
As an open organization, GFHS
welcomes officials, scholars and
professionals participating and
cooperating to build a green and
harmonious future.
Friends of the UN is a partner with
GFHS and is working actively to Mr. Lu Haifeng - Executive & Chief Editor UN
HABITAT WOrld Best Practices Magazine
promote their mission and to
(Asia/Pacific edition)
enhance its support for the work of
the United Nations and especially Mr. Lu is committed to the exchange and
cooperation in the sector of city
with the Habitat and Human
Settlements Program. construction, environment protection and
human settlements. His aim is to build a
global platform for Human Settlements
exchange and sustainable development.