The IASSW has been deeply saddened by the magnitude and scale of natural disasters that have visited planet earth during the past 12 months – Haiti, Chile, Pakistan, Australia, Christchurch, Japan, Qinghai and Yunan Provinces in China, to name a few.  The lives lost are irreplaceable. The property damage was extensive, and the rebuilding efforts needed to return communities to their former baselines substantial. In all cases, help from the international community was required to support and rebuild devastated communities and economies. 

The latest of these disasters, is a multiple hazard one which hit Northeastern Japan on 11 March 2011.  This combined an earthquake measuring 9.0 (raised from 8.9 on Friday) on the Richter scale, an ensuing tsunami that reached inland 10 kilometers, and explosions in nuclear reactors.  These have been compounded by failures in the communication, transportation and power infrastructures, fires, and shortages of food and water in the heavily devastated areas.  This scale of disaster is unprecedented in modern Japan, and despite being one of the best prepared, earthquake-proof nations in the world, the extent of human suffering and loss is beyond comprehension.  IASSW salutes the resilience of the Japanese people and wishes them well in their reconstruction efforts that will take some time.  Although the media stories focus on Japan as the country with the most serious consequences to deal with, IASSW is also aware that other countries have been affected by both the earthquake and the tsunami and these must not be forgetten either.  Included in these are the people of Yunan Province in China where people died and property was destroyed by an earthquake with a magnitude of  5.8 on the Richter scale.  Tsunami warnings were issued across nations bordering the Pacific Ocean, and this helped to reduce the death toll from this hazard and reflected lessons the world had  learnt from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

IASSW, as a community of social work educators is ready to support colleagues in Japan, China and other countries that need its help through its networks of educators and students as they attend to the needs of the disaster survivors. IASSW’s emphasis is on supporting disaster survivors in those initiatives that they define as useful.  IASSW established the Rebuilding People’s Lives Network to help in long-term reconstruction and capacity building following the 2004 Tsunami, and later created a Disasters Intervention Committee and policy document to guide its subsequent efforts.  Responses are driven by local colleagues in the areas affected.  The responses have included IASSW’s members donating money to the international relief effort, assisting in training those supporting disaster survivors, and developing a helpline for those simply wanting to talk about their ordeal.  IASSW also works for the recognition of the human right to assistance (Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and social and environmental justice in responding to those who are recovering from such disasters.  These principles are crucial given that research has highlighted that disasters impact differently upon people, affecting disproportionately children, older people and various minority groups.

We live in an interdependent world, so our actions must mirror this reality.  Having sustainable forms of development will benefit all of the world's population, and is an aim we must work to fulfil whenever there is an opportunity to reconstruct communities and change human behaviour.  Much more can be done if we collaborate and support each other, with those in unaffected countries working sensitively and respectfully with those who have survived a disaster.  On World Social Work Day, 15 March 2011, IASSW members across the world held a few moments of silence to honour those who lost their lives in recent disasters and celebrate the bravery, courage and other achievements of those who survived and those who are helping them to make their devastated world better.  Let us move forward together in building a peaceful, sustainable world.