March 11 marks the passing of four years since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami devastated the country's northeastern coastline and triggered a further disaster in Fukushima, where Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s No. 1 nuclear power plant suffered meltdowns. As a result of the triple disaster, including the lingering nuclear contamination, nearly 120,000 people from Fukushima Prefecture remain unable to return to their homes. Most are resigned to starting new lives elsewhere.
Japan is a world leader when it comes to disaster-resilient engineering and early warning systems, but this disaster taught us that whatever safeguards we have in place, we must also anticipate the unimaginable.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has direct experience of addressing the long-term humanitarian consequences of nuclear disasters. In Chernobyl and Fukushima we continue to support the social welfare and health needs of the children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. At a global level we are scaling up our efforts to ensure that communities are better prepared for such technological disasters.