Twelve young Filipino professionals will be chosen to study disaster preparedness and management in Japan under the Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) for Young Leaders in 2021, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced Thursday.

JICA said the KCCP training will help build the capacity of the Philippines in disaster management and recovery by training its human resources on innovations and technology that Japan adopted from its experiences in disasters.

“Like the Philippines, Japan is prone to natural disasters because of our geographical location. JICA is committed to sharing our lessons and experiences on disaster management and recovery with the Philippines to promote sustainable, inclusive economic recovery, and development,” JICA Senior Representative Kano Aya said.

The selected Filipino trainees will visit Iwate Prefecture to see the role of collaboration in disaster response, as well as schools to learn the application of disaster education.

Iwate Prefecture and other coastal areas in the Tohoku Region suffered huge devastation during the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Community life, business development, and infrastructure projects have been restored in the area.

Aside from the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines has been battered by torrential rains and back-to-back typhoons that devastated Bicol, Metro Manila, and northern parts of the country, including the Cagayan and Isabela.

A 2019 United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Report identified typhoons and floods as perennial hazards in the Philippines, accounting for 80 percent of the country’s natural disasters.

In another report, the Philippines ranked ninth globally in the World Risk Report 2020 published by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft.

Due to the pandemic, the program will consist of online modules (Feb. 15 to March 29, 2021) aside from study visits in Japan (May 11-23, 2021).

Over the years, more than 40,000 Filipinos have undergone training under JICA’s KCCP.