ReliefWeb

Executive summary

In the context of the Asia Pacific zone demographic, socio-economic and environmental trends, and the International Federation's strategic priorities, the East Asia region is at high risk from a wide range of disasters and health emergencies. There are five nations within the East Asia region: China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea (RoK), Mongolia and Japan. The countries in the region are plagued with both the threat of major earthquakes and flooding, which recently has intensified caused by changing climate and typhoons, and the high population density in the region accounts for a large portion of the world's disaster statistics. In China alone, just two disasters (a cold storm and an earthquake) resulted in 57 per cent of the world's disaster affected persons in 2008 and the Sichuan earthquake formed nearly 45 per cent of global economic losses in 2008.

Many East Asia populations are unable to recover quickly as poverty is still prominent in the region, with many populations left vulnerable to recurring disasters and the spread of disease. Migrant urban populations from impoverished or disaster stricken rural areas further complicate the social and economic structure of the countries, and make disaster relief or health promotion efforts of humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross increasingly challenging.

As auxiliaries to their governments, especially in times of disaster, each of the East Asia national societies provides needs-based services that centre on the

International Federation's four Global Agenda goals, which contribute towards meeting the Millennium Development goals as agreed upon by each of these nations. The International Federation has been actively supporting the Red Cross societies in the East Asia region for many years, with a regional office located in Beijing since 1999.

The overall purpose of this 2010 - 2011 plan is to coordinate and support International Federation efforts at country and regional levels to assist the national societies of the region to scale up their work in line with the new Strategy 2020 of the International Federation. The East Asia regional office continues to evolve in its role as a part of the new secretariat zone structure and operating model; a model which has been designed in order to create a more unified approach to International Federation support to national societies across the whole of Asia Pacific.

The goals, means of delivery and strategic framework of this plan fit within the International Federation's wider Asia Pacific zone strategy, guided by Strategy 2020. The priorities in the coming two years are to:

- Build safer and more resilient communities through services to member national societies that increase the reach and impact of their programmes;

- Strengthen Red Cross Red Crescent mechanisms and networks that build mutual capacity, improve knowledge sharing, and inrease leverage of collective voice;

- Influence changes in humanitarian policies and practices through improved access to and cooperation with governments and key institutions;

- Diversify financial and human resources for the benefit of programmes at the national level through a collective Red Cross Red Crescent approach;

- Lead and coordinate zonal, regional and country planning, performance and accountability mechanisms to increase Red Cross Red Crescent effectiveness and efficiency.

This plan aims to support the national societies' programmes in the areas of disaster management, health and care as well as the promotion of humanitarian values, with cross-cutting opportunities for organizational development and capacity building. This will be achieved through a balance of programme and technical support, as well as advocacy, coordination and international representation.

The total budget for 2010 is CHF 764,599 (USD 0.74 million or EUR 0.50 million) and for 2011 is CHF 1,261,390 (USD 1.22 million or EUR 0.82 million).