Disaster, What is A? 16
Disaster, What is A? 16 : Disaster and Crisis Management 4: Further Information: (a) About Disaster Management: The Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, supported by the International Federation, work with communities to reduce risk, mitigate the effects of, prepare to respond, respond to and recover from disasters. Disaster Management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters. The first people to respond to a disaster are those living in the local community. They are the first to start rescue and relief operations. The Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies therefore focus on community-based disaster preparedness, which assists communities to reduce their vulnerability to disasters and strengthen their capacities to resist them. When the capacity of a community or country to respond and recover from a disaster is overwhelmed, and upon request from the National Society, the International Federation uses its regional and international networks, assets and resources to bring assistance to the communities and National Red Cross Red Crescent Society which is assisting them. At an international level the International Federation advocates with Governments, international organisations and humanitarian donors for better practice and accountability in disaster management and greater respect of the dignity of the vulnerable people. (b) About Disasters: A disaster is not a single event; it may have various causes and consequences, and so each disaster is unique. (c) Preparing for Disasters: Disaster preparedness refers to measures taken to prepare for and reduce the effects of disasters. That is, to predict and, where possible, prevent disasters, mitigate their impact on vulnerable populations, and respond to and effectively cope with their consequences. Disaster preparedness provides a platform to design effective, realistic and coordinated planning, reduces duplication of efforts and increase the overall effectiveness of National Societies, household and community members disaster preparedness and response efforts. Disaster preparedness activities embedded with risk reduction measures can prevent disaster situations and also result in saving maximum lives and livelihoods during any disaster situation, enabling the affected population to get back to normalcy within a short time period. Disaster preparedness is a continuous and integrated process resulting from a wide range of risk reduction activities and resources rather than from a distinct sectoral activity by itself. It requires the contributions of many different areas - ranging from training and logistics, to health care, recovery, livelihood to institutional development. (d) Responding to Disasters: Disasters impact on entire communities. The immediate effects include loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure, with the survivors (some of whom may have been injured in the disaster) traumatized by the experience, uncertain of the future and less able to provide for their own welfare, at least in the short term. More than likely, they are left without adequate shelter, food, water and other necessities to sustain life. Rapid action is required to prevent further loss of life. The Red Cross and Red Crescent aims to respond to disasters as rapidly and effectively as possible, by mobilizing its resources (people, money and other assets) and using its network in a coordinated manner so that the initial effects are countered and the needs of the affected communities are met. The primary aims of disaster response are rescue from immediate danger and stabilization of the physical and emotional condition of survivors. These go hand in hand with the recovery of the dead and the restoration of essential services such as water and power. How long this takes varies according to the scale, type and context of the disaster but typically takes between one and six months and is composed of a search and rescue phase in the immediate aftermath of a disaster followed by a medium-term phase devoted to stabilizing the survivors' physical and emotional condition. The social, economic and political consequences of disasters are frequently complex. For instance, the disaster may: disrupt vital community self-help networks, further increasing vulnerability; disrupt markets over a wide area, reducing the availability of food and opportunities for income generation; destroy essential health infrastructure such as hospitals, resulting in a lack of emergency and longer-term medical care for the affected population. Moreover, the situation may be compounded by a secondary threat, such as earthquake aftershocks or epidemics. It is essential that disaster response activities do not make a bad situation worse by fostering dependency or destroying existing community-support mechanisms. Rather, they should lay the foundations for the subsequent recovery of the affected population. Disaster situations are highly fluid, evolve rapidly (often in unpredictable ways) and therefore require a close degree of coordination and cooperation between those involved in the response, including the affected community itself. (e) From Crisis to Recovery: Recovery refers to those programmes which go beyond the provision ofimmediate relief to assist those who have suffered the full impact of a disaster to rebuild their homes, lives and services and to strengthen their capacity to cope with future disasters. Following a disaster, life-saving assistance is the most urgent need. The rapid provision of food, water, shelter and medical care is vital to prevent further loss of life and alleviate suffering. However, practical experience, backed by research, supports the view that even at this stage, relief must be conducted with a thought to the affected community's longer-term benefit and certainly should not be prejudicial to it. And as people begin to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives, aid agencies need to help them to strengthen their resilience to future hazards. Just restoring the pre-disaster status quo may inadvertently perpetuate vulnerability. Likewise, development programmes need to take into account existing risks and susceptibility to hazards and to incorporate elements to reduce them. The two approaches are interdependent, complementary and mutually supportive. The International Federation is a leading humanitarian organization active in post-disaster and post-conflict relief and rehabilitation. Whatever the nature of the disaster - flood, earthquake, industrial accident or civil disturbance - there is an opportunity to link and integrate relief, rehabilitation and development. To do so effectively requires an analysis of the broader political, social and economic context. In structural crises, for instance, the provision of emergency relief should not create social or economic distortions. In a protracted disaster, there may be a need to rehabilitate livelihoods even while the emergency is ongoing. Root causes need to be identified and exposed. For the International Federation, the key to ensuring that both short-term and longer-term needs are addressed is in supporting and strengthening the capacity of the National Society to work with vulnerable communities
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