UNIT-III

CAPACITY BUILDING

The Concept of Natural Disaster Management

The definition of disaster is derived from the French word “Desastre” which compound of two

words ‘des’ mean bad and ‘aster’ mean star. Thus it refers to bad or evil star. Moreover, disaster

is defined as a sudden event, very complex in nature and causing fatality, loss of properties or

environment, and causing damage to the local society.

The disasters are often described as a result of the combination of the exposure to a hazard, the

condition of vulnerability that are present, and insufficient capacity or measure to reduce or cope

with the potential negative consequence.

The disasters happen when a hazard impacts on the vulnerable population and causes damage,

casualties and disruption. The disasters impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease and other

negative effects on human physical, mental and social well-being, together with damage to

property, destruction of assets, loss of services, social and economic disruption and

environmental degradation.

Moreover, disasters are a sudden adverse or unfortunate extreme event which causes great

damage to human, plants, and animals. Therefore, disaster occurs when hazard and vulnerability

converge. The trends of disasters are rapidly increasing. However, the definition of disasters are

not yet accepted universally, because of the definition depends on using the term, but in general

term, typical meaning or effects of disasters tend to be loss of life, loss of livelihood, loss of

national economic, injury, destruction of property, disruption of lifestyle, disruption to essential

services, damage to national infrastructure and disruption to government systems, sociological

and psychological after effects.

The disaster management is not only the management process during the disaster, but it is the

management which emphasis on before, during, and after disaster. For instance, concluded

activities which related to process of disaster management as the following.

1) Before disaster relate to reduce human and property losses caused by hazard. For instance,

fulfillment awareness campaigns, strengthening the weak structures, and preparation of the

disaster management plans at household and community level.

2) During disaster relate to activities which ensure damages of victims are minimized. Activities

taken under this stage is called as emergency response activities.

3) After disaster relate to activities which response to a disaster with a purpose to achieve early

recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities. This stage is called as response and

recovery activities.

Moreover, disaster management involves a range of very different systems, such as government,

politic, historic, social, economic, finance, and environment.

Hence, the definition of disaster management “is an applied science which seeks, by the

systematic observation and analysis of disasters, to improve measures relating to prevention,

mitigation, preparedness, emergency response, and recovery”.

The complete steps of disaster management process as the following.

1) Mitigation concerned with decreasing or eliminating the possibility or the effect of a hazard.

2) Preparedness concerned with providing people who risk to a disaster with the tools and

knowledge to enhance their opportunity of survival and to reduce their life and property losses.

3) Response concerned with action to reduce or eliminate the effect of disaster that currently

occurring and order to prevent further both life and property damage.

4) Recovery concerned with coming victim back to a regular situation after the effect of disaster.

Moreover, the disaster management should focus on all stages of the disaster management;

before, during, and after disaster which will reduce loss of human’s life and property from

natural disaster.

The Concept of Capacity Building

The capacity is defined as competency of individuals, organizations or systems to function

effectively, efficiently, and sustainably.

Moreover, capacity may consist of physical, institutional, social or economic means as well as

skilled personal or collective characteristics such as leadership and management.

The capacity also mean respond of individuals and social groups, to cope with, recover from or

adapt to, external pressure lay on their livelihoods.

Therefore, capacity building is the process which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions,

and societies increase their competencies to;

1) Perform core functions, solve problems, define and achieve objectives, and 2) understand and

cope with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner.

The capacity building in the broad sense is concerned with; 1) human resource development

which relate to the process of equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to

information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively, 2) organizational

development which relate to the elaboration of management structures, processes and

procedures, not only within organizations but also the management of relationships between the

different organizations and sectors (public, private and community), and 3) institutional and legal

framework development which relate to making legal and regulatory changes to enable

organizations, institutions and agencies at all level, and in all sectors, to enhance their capacities.

Furthermore, capacity building definition in term of disaster risk management is that efforts

aimed to develop human skills or societal infrastructures within a community or organization

needed to reduce the level of risk.

In extended understanding, capacity building also includes development of institutional,

financial, political, and other resources such as technology.

Moreover, capacity building means that on-going evidence-driven process to improve the ability

of an individual, team, organization, network, sector or community to create measurable and

sustainable results.

Sometime, capacity building was used replaceable with institution building, institutional and

organizational development, and institutional capacity building.

The capacity building has risen to a higher level of prominence since the mid-1990s and has

important trends in disaster management thinking, policy, and practice. The capacity building of

an institution have to harmonized taking into account areas, such as policy, resource

mobilization, and human resources development.

Therefore, the crucial feature of capacity building is promoting the ability of individuals,

institutions, and systems to manage with change and unexpected challenges.

The capacity building is important for disaster management because of it should involve the

development the disaster management system, which comprises of the local, provincial, national,

regional, and international levels. The controlling natural hazards are difficult, thus enhancing

social capacity to cope with disasters is one of the most effective ways to manage and reduce

disaster risks.

Enhancing disaster management capacity of the central government alone is insufficient to

manage or reduce the damages caused by disasters. Especially, communities are the first

organization to respond when a disaster happen.

Therefore, enhancing disaster management capacity of the communities and local governments

on the ground has been globally recognized as the more effective way to improve disaster

management and has been coped with disaster in a timely and effective method.

This involves being able to assemble appropriate resources at the local and national levels and

ensure a better coordination with key international actors.

Moreover, capacity building is expected to cover all process of disaster management, including

pre-disaster planning, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, post-disaster, recovery, and

reconstruction. Enhancing the capacity to cope with disasters and reduce damages caused by

disasters require capacity to take adequate actions in the phases of disaster prevention (mitigation

and preparedness), response, and recovery and reconstruction.

The capacity building is mostly referred at three levels; individual, organization or community,

and institution or system.

The capacity building at the individual level is the most fundamental factor, because of it also

includes knowledge, skills, value, attitude, health, awareness, and motivation. The capacity

building on an individual level requires the development of conditions that allow an individual to

participate.

The capacity building at the organization level mention to process or mean that will influence an

organization's performance which includes human resources (capacities of individuals in the

organization), physical resources (facilities, equipment, materials), intellectual resources

(organization strategy, strategic planning, management, business know-how, production

technology, program management, process management), inter-institutional linkage (network,

partnership), incentive and reward systems, and organizational culture and leadership of

managers. The capacity building at the organization level will determine how individual

capacities are utilized and strengthened.

The capacity building at the institution level refer to the environment and conditions necessary

for proving capacity at the individual and organizational levels. It also contains systems and

frameworks necessary for the formation or implementation of policies and strategies beyond an

individual and organization.

It can be concluded that capacity building in term of disaster management mean that increasing

ability of communities, local, province, and national levels in cope with disasters and reduce

damages from disaster.

Structural and Non-Structural Measures

Structural measures: Any physical construction to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards,

or application of engineering techniques to achieve hazard-resistance and resilience in structures

or systems; 

Non-structural measures: Any measure not involving physical construction that uses knowledge,

practice or agreement to reduce risks and impacts, in particular through policies and laws, public

awareness raising, training and education.

Common structural measures for disaster risk reduction include dams, flood levies, ocean wave

barriers, earthquake-resistant construction, and evacuation shelters.

Common non-structural measures include building codes, land use planning laws and their

enforcement, research and assessment, information resources, and public awareness

programmes.

Note that in civil and structural engineering, the term “structural” is used in a more

restricted sense to mean just the load-bearing structure, with other parts such as wall

cladding and interior fittings being termed non-structural.

Emergency Management can involve the Mitigation that is practiced in either a Structural or a

Non-structural sense.

Structural Mitigation is the physical changes or act of protection from disasters or hazards. For

example, structural mitigation would be when a family reinforces there home to make it more

wind proof, or earthquake proof. In addition, other structural mitigation examples would be

things like creating a sandbag barrier around the home when a flood might occur. In general

structural mitigation is the direct actions that people take, build, or move in order to better

preserve their life and or property.

Non-structural mitigation in emergency management involves what people can do on a personal

level that is not structurally or physically evident as a protective defense such as a surge wall or a

storm shelter. Non- structural mitigation in general would involve things such as having flood

insurance. In addition another example would be a family creating a family emergency plan. 

Any mental preparedness, training, insurance, discussion, and planning would be considered

items of non-structural mitigation.

It is important to note that these types of mitigation are equally important, and are best utilized in

combination with one another. Education about local hazards and practicing a plan is equally

important as having a physical barrier of protection from those threats like a storm shelter or a

reinforced foundation of a house in an earthquake prone region. It does not make sense to

prepare half way yet so many people do. Even more people fail to prepare at all, hopefully we

can change that in the years to come.

Other terms used for disaster management include:

-Emergency Management which has replaced Civil defense, can be seen as a more general intent

to protect the civilian population in times of peace as well as in times of war.

-Civil Protection is widely used within the European Union and refers to government approved

systems and resources whose task is to protect the civilian population, primarily in the event of

natural and human-made disasters.

-Crisis Management is the term widely used in EU countries and it emphasizes the political and

security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the immediate needs of the civilian

population.

-Disaster risk reduction An academic trend is towards using the term is growing, particularly for

emergency management in a development management context. This focuses on the mitigation

and preparedness aspects of the emergency cycle.

CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Capacity Assessment Framework

The capacity needs assessment is a structured analytical process designed to assess and evaluate various dimensions of capacity within the broader institutional or environmental/ systems as well as assessment of the capacity specific units and individual within the system.

The capacity needs assessment framework of Disaster Risk Reduction is

Capacity is defined as “the ability of individuals, organizations, organizational units and / or

systems to perform functions effectively and in a sustainable manner”. The capacity is the

combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, society

or organization that can be used to achieve agreed goals. Capacity may include infrastructure and

physical means, institutions, societal coping abilities, as well as human knowledge, skills and

collective attributes such as social relationships, leadership and management. Capacity also may

be described as capability.

Capacity assessment is a term for the process by which the capacity of a group is reviewed

against desired goals, and the capacity gaps are identified for further action

Capacity Development: Capacity development is the process by which people, organizations

and society systematically stimulate and develop their capacities over time to achieve social and

economic goals, including through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions.

Capacity development is a concept that extends the term of capacity building to encompass all

aspects of creating and sustaining capacity growth over time. It involves learning and various

types of training, but also continuous efforts to develop institutions, political awareness, financial

resources, technology systems, and the wider social and cultural enabling environment.

The key dimensions of capacity are

The capacity for disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management at local government and

community levels is assessed along the five components of disaster risk. They are:

1. Institutional and legal systems,

2. risks identification and assessment,

3. knowledge management,

4. risk management applications

5. Preparedness and response.

Community coping mechanisms and traditional early warning systems were treated as important

elements of disaster preparedness and response.

Coping capacity

The ability of people, organizations and systems, using available skills and resources, to face and

manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters.

The capacity to cope requires continuing awareness, resources and good management, both in

normal times as well as during crises or adverse conditions. Coping capacities contribute to the

reduction of disaster risks.

Early warning system

The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning

information to enable individuals, communities and organizations threatened by a hazard to

prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss. 

Comment: This definition encompasses the range of factors necessary to achieve effective

responses to warnings. A people-centred early warning system necessarily comprises four key

elements: knowledge of the risks; monitoring, analysis and forecasting of the hazards;

communication or dissemination of alerts and warnings; and local capabilities to respond to the

warnings received. The expression “end-to-end warning system” is also used to emphasize that

warning systems need to span all steps from hazard detection through to community response.

The different terminology shares some common messages. One is the concept of capacity which

is a country’s overall capability to manage its own development process. A second is that

developing capacity is an ongoing process of change that needs to take place over time. Third is

that the capacity issues and priorities will very much depend on a country’s own level and path

of development –there are no set formulas or blueprints. Fourth is that capacity issues are multi-

dimensional and complex in nature and relate as much to broader societal challenges and

systemic issues as they do to training, skills development and technology transfer. In addition, it

is important to bearin mind that outside actors have an important role to play to help countries

achieve their own development goals and objectives –but the process needs to be nationally

owned and led.

The Three Levels of Capacity

Although the language on capacity development varies, increasingly there is an emerging

consensus that capacity resides at three interrelated levels and that capacity issues need to be

looked at from this perspective:

The Enabling Environment pertains to the broader system within which individuals and

organizations function that can either facilitate or hamper their existence and

performance. This level of capacity is not easy to grasp tangibly but it is central to the

understanding of capacity issues. This level determines the “rules of the game” for how a

society operates, including the interaction between and among organizations and

government units, and with the private sector and civil society. Capacities at the level of

the enabling environment relate to such things as policies, legislation, institutional

arrangements, leadership, political

processes and power relations and social norms (values, incentives, motivation, trust,

legitimacy, transparency) all of which govern the mandates, priorities, modes of

operation and civil engagement across different parts of society.

The significance as well as the complexity of the enabling environment cannot be over-

emphasised. It is here that the conditions are created that will allow for the effective

development of individual and organizational capacities. It sets the context for capacity

development and determines the changes that may be necessary to ensure results – which

may require a shift in values and approaches, in power dynamics and possibly even in

power relations.

The Organizational Level of capacity pertains to the internal policies, systems and

strategies, arrangements, procedures and frameworks that allow an organization to

operate and deliver on its mandate and that enable the coming together of individual

capacities to work together and achieve goals. If these exist, are well-resourced and well-

aligned, the capability of an organization to perform will be greater than that of the sum

of its parts. Capacities at the level of the organization include such things as leadership,

the organization’s ability to engage, to produce results and to manage change, as well as

to provide relevant rewards and incentives, to adapt and self-renew.

The Individual Level pertains to the skills and knowledge that are vestedinpeople

(individuals, communities, groups, teams). Each person is endowed with a mix of

capabilities that allows them to perform, whether at home, at work, or in society at large.

Capacities at this level are acquired through formal education, through training, learning

by doing and experience, and increasingly through coaching and mentoring, networks,

communities of practice and platform mechanisms.

The diagramme illustrates that the three levels of capacity are not stand alone nor are they

mutually exclusive. They have an interrelationship. Consequently, with capacity

development there are no recipes or blueprints – the context will be case-or country

specific and thus it will differ. All three levels need to be taken into account when

determining “who” needs “what” capacities for “what purpose”. Analysis of the three

levels of capacity development helps to develop an understanding of this context. There

are enabling conditions that increase the potential for success, such as peace and

economic development and the ways in which politics and society help to institutionalise

improved governance. What may at first seem an individual level issue may turn into an

organizational level concern when looked atfromthe perspective ofthe institutional

arrangements within which the individual stakeholders operate. Organizational

arrangements may or may not support effective performance or an individual’s ability to

effectively apply newly acquired skills, knowledge or experience. At the organizational

and societal levels, capacity development can lead to changes in roles and responsibilities

and a change in “power dynamics” which in turn can affect existing vested interests,

power structures, norms and values. These are all important factors to keep in mind.

Types of Capacity

Closely linked to the idea that capacity resides at three interrelated levels is the recognition of

two types of capacity that are interrelated yet distinct.

Functional capacities are cross-cutting in nature and are not associated with any one particular

sector or theme. “They are the management capacities needed to formulate, implement and

review policies, strategies, programmes and projects.”

Five categories of functional capacities which all focus on “getting things done” and include:

Capacity to engage stakeholders –which relates the ability to motivate and mobilize

stakeholders, build consensus, create partnerships and networks, plan and manage large

group processes, maximize and manage diversity, etc.

Capacity to assess a situation and define a vision and mandate –which includes the ability

to access, analyse and synthesize different sets of data and information, translate

information into a vision and/ or mandate;

Capacity to formulate policies and strategies –that set objectives for how a vision and/or

mandate will be executed- creates relevant organizational execution strategies, sets

objectives, formulates sectoral and crosssectoral policies, etc.

Capacity to budget, manage and implement –including managing human and financial

resources and procurement, managing change, setting benchmarks for monitoring

progress, etc.

Capacity to evaluate – including codifying lessons learnt, promoting, learning, collecting

feedback and adjusting policies and strategies, etc.

Technical capacities are those associated with particular areas of need and with particular sector

requirements or themes. Consequently, the process for deciding “who” needs “what” capacities

for “what purpose” needs to be based on a good understanding of both the functional as well as

technical capacity dimensions, particularly at the level of the individual and the organization. It

also opens up the potential that capacity development support may require a mix of interventions

-technical and cross-cutting in nature. Any decision making on capacity development assistance

or support needs to take into account what people or organizations are already good at –based on

a recognition and understanding of the capacity that already exists towards ensuring that any new

capacity development measures will further strengthen or build upon that capacity

Strengthening Capacities for Disaster Risk Reduction

The Capacity Development Process

Just as capacity development needs to be context and case specific, so also it needs to be viewed

as an “iterative” process of assessment-design-application-learning-adjustment”.

1. Engage stakeholders in capacity development. For a start, there needs to commitment to

and sponsorship of the process among all key stakeholders –local ownership and

participation is critical. This requires a good understanding of the relevant actors at

different levels and analysis of the critical types of stakeholders that need to be involved –

ones with need, resources, information, expertise, who can influence. Various tried and

tested tools and methodologies for stakeholder analysis, mapping and engagement are

available to support this.

2. Assess capacity assets and needs. The avoidance of a blueprint approach has already

been mentioned. In each case, a thorough assessment of what capacities are needed, why

they are needed and who they are for needs to be made before any capacity development

action plan can be set. A good starting point is some form of a capacity assessment

exercise, preferably undertaken with the active engagement by the relevant stakeholders,

at all stages of the capacity assessment exercise. The assessment will help determine what

capacity already exists and will help ascertain local partners’ commitment and constraints

they may face to drive the change process needed to improve capacity. Guidance and tools

on undertaking capacity assessments is also available from UNDP9 and through other

resources.

3. Formulate a capacity development response. In response to the assessment of capacity

assets and needs, a response needs to be formulated with the active participation of those

who were engaged in the assessment exercise. The response can be at the group,

community, organizational, regional or national level. It will likely include a mix of

actions, probably starting with some short-term interventions to generate some “quick

wins” or that will enhance known capacity assets before addressing more complex or

long-term capacity issues or needs. The response will identify evidence and indicators

against which progress can be measured, outcomes signifying the desired changes in

capacity. The capacity development response also needs to be costed to establish the

realistic funding needed for implementation. An exit strategy also needs to be developed

4. Implement a capacity development response. Implementation will be part of that

required for an overall programme or project. Experience shows that capacity

development needs to be embedded in strategy formulation and programme planning and

not added in as an afterthought or as a stand-alone measure. To ensure sustainability, the

delivery of any capacity development assistance is best managed through already-

established national systems and processes rather than through the creation of new or

parallel implementation units. Implementation can be a mix of short-term measures in the

form of performance or skills enhancement and more complex and long-term measures to

address more challenging organizational or institutional issues. Developing a monitoring

plan and respecting it allows to assess the implementation of the capacity development

response against fixed targets. It also provides the opportunity to monitor where advances

are slower than expected or faster, analyse the reasons and implement corrective measures

where needed. 5. Evaluate capacity development. To ensure that inputs are being

transformed into capacity development outputs and to support effective “learning from

doing”, implementation needs to be flexible and it needs to be monitored. This includes

allowing processes to evolve and paying attention to unplanned consequences that may

not have been anticipated and means having the necessary flexibility to adapt to those

changes. To ensure that outputs are translating into outcomes (capacity development) and

impact (development goals) an evaluation framework should be established to measure

results.

Capacity Development vs. Capacity Building

There are fundamental conceptual differences between capacity building and capacity

development and UNDP and others prefer to use the latter as capacity development is

generally considered to be more comprehensive and is about change and transformation

from the inside. Capacity building is more associated with “mechanical” processes and

with technical cooperation, suggesting that capacity do not exist initially and so has to be

built:

Disaster risk reduction (DRR)

The conceptual framework of elements considered with the purpose of minimizing

vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevent) or to limit (mitigate and

prepare for) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development

Capacity development (CD)

The process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and

maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time.

CD for DRR

A process through which the abilities of individuals, organizations and societies to minimize

vulnerabilities to disaster risks, to avoid (prevent) or to limit (mitigate and prepare for) the

adverse impacts of hazards are obtained, strengthened, adapted and maintained over time.

CD for DRR results

The actual or intended change in the levels of disaster risks or human development or

development conditions enabled by a system or a set of DRR interventions to move from an

existing state to a higher state of capacity, which then enables it to contribute to DRR in

particular and human development in general. It is a product of a chain of events, through the

stages of inputs-activities-outputs-outcomes-impact.

Counter-Disaster Resources and their utility in Disaster Management

The purpose of this section is to consider the resources that are available in most countries for

disaster management purposes.

The effective use of available resources is a major disaster management objective. To achieve

this objective, it is evident that there must be:

• Accurate identification of resource;

• correct assessment of their capability;

• Allocation of suitable roles to resource organizations; and

• Plans and procedures to use resource in a timely and effective manner.

Types of Resources

National resources:

1. Government resources :

Departments, section, and agencies covering the following responsibilities: • Ministry

Responsible for Disaster Affairs, • Police, • Agriculture, • Ambulance, • Attorney-General, •

Audit, • Broadcasting, • Civil Aviation, • Customs and Excise, • Education, • Electricity

Commision, • Environment, • Firefighting Service, • Finance, • Fisheries, • Foreign Affairs, •

Forestry, • Immigration, • Information, • Labor, • Lands and Survey, • Marine, • Medical and

Health, • Meteorology, • National Development Planning, • Natural Resources, • Post and

Telecommunications, • Prime Minister’s Office, • Public Service Commission, • Public Works, •

Statistics, • Social Welfare, • Transport, and • Treasury

2. Nongovernment resources

• Airlines, • Amateur radio operators, • Aviation resource (flying clubs, private owners, etc.), •

Chambers of Commerce, • Church and religious groups, • Community service clubs, • Food

supplier (wholesale and retail), • General agents, • public (volunteers, blood donors, etc.), • Red

Cross/Red Crescent, • Transport companies (private: land and sea), and • Welfare organizations.

International Resource

The use of international resources by any country is likely to depend on factors, such as:

• scale and effectiveness of its own resources; • bilateral assistance arrangements with allied

countries; • political implications, from a recipient country’s viewpoint of accepting

international assistance; and • suitability of international resources in a particular disaster

situation.

The type of international resources most generally needed by stricken countries fall into the

following broad categories:

• Pre-disaster Equipment and expertise for developing measures of prevention, mitigation,

and preparedness; for instance, providing emergency communications or developing plans

and organizational arrangements.

• During response operations - Monitoring and warning of a potential threat; and - Post-

impact survey and assessment; for instance, by photographic reconnaissance from the air.

Providing emergency equipment and facilities such as shelter materials, food supplies, and

medical assistance and, if appropriate, personnel to help distribute and use this equipment

and facilities.

• During recovery programs Technical and other assistance, usually in the form of building

materials, financial grants, agriculture redevelopment programs, etc.

• For future development Assistance from the resources of overseas governments and

international organizations, often as an extension of recovery programs.

Source of international assistance may vary for individual countries but usually comprise:

• Multilateral organizations and agencies, and • Bilateral organizations

Evaluation of Resources

It is important to evaluate national resource organizations to determine their suitability and

effectiveness for disaster management purposes. This can be done under the following headings:

1. Capability

The ability of resource organizations to carry out designated disasterrelated tasks; for instance,

first aid, search and rescue, emergency feeding, building repairs, welfare assistance, counselling

of victims and disaster workers, and so on. In this regard, the following need to be considered,

such as:

• Resource organizations produce their best results when used in their most applicable and

experienced roles. It is obviously not prudent to make fundamental changes to the role of a

resource organization when it switches to a disaster role.

• Some resource organizations are, by their nature, crisis-oriented; for instance, police,

firefighting services, ambulance services, and defense forces. Other resource organizations are

not normally crisis-oriented such as welfare departments. Yet these departments may have to

work under very difficult and traumatic conditions in providing help to disaster victims. Their

capability may, therefore, be reduced during disaster operations, especially if their members are

inexperienced. This has happened on various occasions.

• The disaster role capability of resource organizations may vary from time to time. This may

arise from changes at leadership levels and/ or extensive turnover of staff, both of which tend to

lower overall experience within the organization.

• The standard role of a resource organization may change for various reasons, such as

government policy and financial constraints. This may affect its capability in its disaster role.

The above factors indicate not only the need for careful basic evaluation of capability but also

the need to monitor and reevaluate as circumstances change.

2. Availability

This is primarily a question of whether the resource organization is immediately available to

undertake its disaster task, or whether there is a lead time (definite or indefinite) before it can

respond.

A number of different factors may affect availability such as:

• nondisaster (or normal) role of organizations. For instance, a hospital is unlikely to be able to

respond with all its resources to a disaster impact. It would have to continue normal

responsibilities— even if reduced and—therefore, its disaster availability might have to be made

on a graduated scale. This consideration indicates that, in some cases, a gradual availability of

resource organizations may have to be recognized and accepted;

• availability of volunteer organizations may be subject to some initial delays because of

difficulties in mobilization; and

• internal arrangements within resource organizations for switching over to disaster roles will

also affect availability time scales.

3. Durability

This concerns the degree to which resource organizations can carry out sustained operations and

when they need to be relieved by other organizations. Some considerations which apply to this

aspect are:

• operational circumstances such as extreme weather conditions, limited resources, heavy task

loads, high levels of damage and disruption, and community trauma and suffering.

• type of resource organization. A crisis-oriented organization is likely to be highly trained and

well equipped. It is usually independent (i.e., with own communications, transport, feeding

arrangements, and so on). Also, it is likely to have its own system for rotating personnel. Such

crisis-oriented organizations are likely to have high-durability levels. Organizations which are

not crisis-oriented are likely to have lower durability; and

• type of operations involved. Some operations (for example, search and rescue in a major

building collapse or train collision) can be very demanding physically and traumatic mentally.

Others are less so.

Durability assessment of resource organizations obviously needs to take these factors into

account.

4. Operational integrity

This concerns the ability of a resource organization to undertake an allotted task and complete it

satisfactorily without supervision or continuous detailed direction from the disaster

direction/coordination authority. This is a significant factor in the effectiveness of a resource

organization, since it can be relied on to:

• accept a task,

• complete it, and

• on reporting completion, be ready to accept re-tasking.

5. The Process of Evaluation

The process of evaluating resource organizations should be carried out mutually between the

disaster management authority (e.g., NDC or its NDMO) and the resource organization itself.

Experience has shown that if the disaster management authority tries to make a general

evaluation without consulting the resource organization, the evaluation will be inaccurate and

misleading.

Legislative Support at the state and national levels

Roles and Responsibilities of Resource Organizations

The roles and responsibilities detailed below will need to be adjusted to the circumstances of

individual countries. However, they do indicate the wide extent to which both government and

nongovernment agencies should become involved in disaster management.

In the following examples, it is assumed that there is an NDC and a Central Control Group

(CCG). Some suggested allocation of roles and responsibilities are:

1. Government Departments, Sections, and Agencies

Ministry Responsible for Disaster Affairs :

• Responsible for overall planning, organization, training, public awareness, and administration

in relation to disaster affairs; • Provides a permanent secretary as chair of NDC; • Administers

NDMO; • Maintains liaison with provincial authorities on day-to-day disaster management

matters; and • Provides administrative services necessary for functioning of NDC.

The Permanent Secretary :

• Responsible to minister for all disaster-related matters; • Acts as chair of NDC; and • Directs

activities of NDMO.

Police :

• Commissioner of police acts as member of NDC and chair of CCG; • Assistant commissioner

of police (Operations) acts as deputy chair of CCG; • Responsible, as in normal role, for

maintaining law and order and protecting life and property; reinforces critical areas as necessary

in times of disaster; • Uses police mobile force as necessary; • Undertakes and coordinates

survey and assessment duties, as required by CCG; • Controls movement in disaster areas and at

operational key points. • Undertakes and coordinates land search and rescue; • Supervises

evacuation operations, as required by NDC; • Develops disaster-related training within the police

force; and • Takes standard police action to deal with dead persons.

Agriculture

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Undertakes survey and assessment of

damage to crops, etc. • Advises on procedures to safeguard crops, livestock, and equipment from

effects of disaster; 88 Disaster Management • Advises and helps disaster victims whose crops

and equipment may have been damaged or destroyed; • Helps in providing replacement seeds

and livestock; • Operates an early warning scheme of food shortage by monitoring crop failures

and food prices, to give maximum warning of any forthcoming shortages; and • Monitors crop

programming aimed at minimizing possible damage and destruction during maximum risk

seasons.

Ambulance Service

• Deploys resources to maximum effect, as advised by CCG, and • Undertakes first-aid training,

as advised by NDC.

Attorney-General

• Acts as co-opted member of NDC; and • Advises on all disaster-related legislative matters.

Audit

• Audits disaster-related accounting.

Broadcasting

• Director acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Broadcasts warning and public information, as

required by NDC. • Maintain 24-hour broadcast capability during disaster periods, as notified by

NDC/CCG; • Advises, in broadcast format, of disaster-related warnings and public information; •

Advises on broadcast segment of public awareness programs; and • Helps, where possible, in

promoting public awareness as advised by chair of NDC.

Civil Aviation

• Provides controller of civil aviation as member of CCG; • Maintains plans and deals with

aircraft accidents and incidents, in accordance with international air regulations; • Helps, where

possible, with availability of aircraft for disaster operations; • Makes departmental

communications facilities available for disaster purposes, as far as possible.

Customs and Excise

• Facilitates entry of all official disaster assistance commodities and waives customs and excise

duties; Counter-Disaster Resources

Education

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; • On advice of CCG, or on other

indications of disaster, takes appropriate action to ensure safety of school children; • Makes

available, if required, school buildings nearest to disasteraffected areas as temporary welfare and

evacuation centers (as arranged with NDC/CCG); • Provides staff as administrative managers of

buildings being used as welfare and evacuation centers; • Coordinates with other agencies in

informing people of impending disaster, especially in remote areas; • Helps, where possible, in

assessing damage and reports information to police; and • Includes disaster awareness aspects in

school programs.

Electricity Commission

• Manager acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Ensures, as disaster preparedness measure, that

power lines and other installations are kept clear of trees and other possible obstructions to

power supplies; • Maintains power supplies at best possible level during emergency situations; •

Implements public safety measures in danger areas caused by damage to plant installations

equipment; and • Restores disrupted power supplies in accordance with priorities notified by

NDC/CCG.

Environment

• Permanent Secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; and • Advises NDC on environmental

issues that may affect disaster management.

Firefighting Service

• Advises NDC on fire hazards and fire prevention; and • Carries out firefighting, rescue, and

other appropriate operations. Finance • Provides permanent secretary as member of NDC; •

Authorizes release of funds to meet immediate disaster needs; • Reviews—in conjunction with

ministry responsible for disaster affairs and ministry responsible for planning—financial

requirements for longer-term relief and recovery, including distribution of monies from any

national disaster relief fund; and • Finances stock holdings of disaster-related stores. Disaster

Management

Fisheries

• Undertakes survey and assessment of damage to fisheries areas; • Assists in assessment of loss

or damage to fishing vessels, facilities, etc; • Renders advice and assistance on fisheries aspects;

and • Assists in providing boats, where possible.

Foreign Affairs

• Provides permanent secretary as member of NDC; and • Processes, through diplomatic

channels, offers of and requests for overseas disaster assistance.

Forestry

• Undertakes survey and assessment of damage to forest areas; and • Renders advice and

assistance on forestry matters, such as disposal and use of trees damaged by disaster.

Immigration

• Facilitates entry of approved international assistance personnel.

Information

• Chief information officer acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Advises NDC on media liaison

and all information aspects; and • Drafts approved information in form suitable for issue.

Labor

• Advises NDC on industrial safety and associated matters.

Lands and Survey

• Provides maps and mapping information; • Provides field teams (or team members) in

operations requiring special field knowledge and skills; and • Identifies areas suitable for

resettlement of disaster victims.

Marine

• Chief marine officer acts as member of CCG; • Provides support for sea movement of disaster-

related personnel, supplies and equipment; • Takes action to deal with maritime accidents; and •

Liaises with local shipping agents for support from foreign and local vessels.

Medical and Health

• Provides permanent secretary as member of NDC. Counter-Disaster Resources • Provides

emergency medical treatment of disaster victims and subsequent hospitalization, if necessary; •

Provides medicines and medical supplies; • Institutes preventive and curative measures to check

and control occurrence and spread of disease; • Exercises supervision of public health; •

Maintains sanitary conditions in disaster-affected area; • Checks potability of water supplies; •

Coordinates use of medical teams, medical supplies; equipment provided through overseas

disaster assistance; and • Provides medical certification for dead persons.

Meteorology

• Director acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Provides weather-related information of potential

disasters and monitors progress, as required; • Provides information for public awareness

programs; • Liaises with broadcasting service on broadcast of warning and other weather-related

public information; and • Provides advice to NDC on all meteorological matters.

National Development Planning

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Implements where possible, in

national programs, measures likely to assist in long-term disaster prevention, mitigation, and

preparedness; and • Takes action, as required by Cabinet, to ensure that recovery programs are

compatible with national development policy.

Natural Resources

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Provides information and advice to

NDC concerning possibility of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and • Chief geologist acts as

co-opted member of NDC.

Posts and Telecommunications

• Provides permanent secretary as member of NDC; • Ensures rapid repair of damaged

telecommunications; and • Provides emergency communications, as notified by NDC/CCG.

Prime Minister’s Office

• Provides secretary to Cabinet as member of NDC;

Public Service Commission

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; and • Assists in providing extra

personnel during an emergency period, as requested by NDC.

Public Works

• Permanent secretary acts as member of NDC; • Assists with survey and assessment of damage;

• Undertakes clearance of roads, airfields, and port areas; • Restores inoperative or damaged

public installations and facilities; • Undertakes special tasks as requested by NDC; and •

Develops and implements technical measures, such as physical planning, zoning, and building

codes, for mitigating effects of disasters.

Statistics

• Collects, collates, and issues disaster-related data and analyses.

Social Welfare

• Permanent secretary acts as co-opted member of NDC; • Has primary responsibility for relief

programs (in which it collaborates closely with NGOs’ disaster coordinating committee),

including the following main aspects: – Emergency feeding; – Emergency clothing and

household supplies; – Providing temporary shelter assistance; and – Providing and managing

government buildings as – evacuation and welfare centers.

Transport

• Permanent secretary acts as member of NDC; • Maintains in-country information on

availability of transport for use in counter-disaster operations; and • Coordinates use of transport,

as required by NDC/CCG.

Treasury

• See Finance

2. Nongovernment Organizations (NGOs)

Red Cross/Red Crescent

(Working in collaboration with NGOs’ disaster coordinating committee) • Secretary acts as co-

opted member of NDC; • Holds disaster relief stocks and equipment; • Provides relief items and

assistance to disaster victims; • Undertakes tracing of missing persons; • Carries out first-aid

training and welfare and education programs; and • Liaises with other NGOs in coordinating

relief work.

Other NGOs

(Roles and tasks regulated and coordinated by NGOs’ disaster coordinating committee) • First

aid; • Assistance with survey and assessment; • Clothing and household supplies; • Help in

tracing missing persons; • Assistance in providing temporary shelter; • Providing and managing

nongovernment buildings as evacuation and welfare centers; • Assistance in management of

government evacuation and welfare centers; • Assistance with transport; • Providing temporary

storage facilities; • Assistance with public education and awareness; and • Assistance with

preparedness measures at community level.