At the 2011 general meeting of the Society for Social Management Systems (SSMS) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, today (9/14), Prof. Jenn-chuan Chern, Deputy Minister of the Public Construction Commission and Deputy CEO of the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council, was sworn in as new president of SSMS during the opening ceremony.

The SSMS is an international organization established in 2007, and the executive committee is made up of representatives from the US, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asian nations and Taiwan. The mission of the SSMS is to combine international industry, government and academic resources to promote the structural reform of social systems and the development of new technologies. Deputy CEO Chern of the Reconstruction Council noted that administrative management, local socio-economic management, disaster management, infrastructure management and education management are all disciplines that have an influence on social systems. To prepare existing social systems to face new challenges, software/hardware infrastructure, manpower and financial-economic resources must be utilized in an effective manner. It is essential for sociologists (social psychology, economics and public administration) and engineers to pool their efforts. 

Chern pointed that Secretary-General of the United Nations highlighted the increased frequency of massive natural disasters since 2007 in the annual report in August this year. These compound disasters have threatened to overwhelm affected countries. To cope with massive disasters, on July 1 the United Nations proposed the establishment of an international coordination mechanism. In addition to establishing a more robust humanitarian response system with predictive capabilities, other proposed initiatives included closer partnership between UN members and non-members, strengthening of joint civil-military emergency response capabilities, building a partnership between business and society, and joint exercises on the use of emergency resources.

During his report on Taiwan's experience with post-disaster reconstruction after Typhoon Morakot, Deputy CEO Chern said that Taiwan had previously introduced legislative changes that strengthened the role of the military in disaster response. NGO and business resources were also brought to bear for homeland and industry reconstruction. During the post-Morakot reconstruction efforts, Taiwan's NGO as well as the compassion of the population provided ample demonstration of Taiwan's soft power. The donation of money and effort to domestic and overseas disaster reconstruction efforts have gradually grown into a powerful force for international non-government assistance.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated Sri Lanka, Taiwanese NGOs such as the Red Cross Society, Tzu Chi Foundation and Dharma Drum Foundation immediately led the way in disaster relief and reconstruction. These efforts are still ongoing today. Deputy CEO Chern also visited Mr. Abeysinge, the President of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society as well as government agencies involved with the reconstruction effort to exchange their experiences and pave the way for future collaboration.

Deputy CEO Chern said that all countries should construct a social management system with a high degree of disaster prevention awareness for the sake of sustainable development. The system should be capable of providing disaster prevention, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction in the event of massive disasters. The experiences with Typhoon Morakot showed that Taiwan is beginning to construct a social management system that can effectively integrate government, NGO and business disaster prevention & response capabilities. The principle of "Prevention is better than response; evacuation is better than prevention" is being embraced as well. As a result, no serious loss of life was reported in the Morakot disaster area despite the occurrence of six further typhoons and storms. In the future, the emphasis will be on strengthening international disaster prevention and response as well as post-disaster reconstruction, stepping up of cooperation and joint exercises between civilians and the military in Taiwan, and sharing Taiwan's experience with other countries.
 

陳副執行長與國際社會管理系統學會代表成員合影

陳副執行長就任SSMS會長發表莫拉克災後重建經驗