Some goals and priorities for disaster response

New preventive measures must be sought by all people and organizations.

Focus on prevention, mitigation and preparedness

Disasters and emergencies, many of which are complicated and multi-faceted, call for a close look at root causes with the focus on prevention. New preventive measures must be sought by all people and organizations. Emphasis must be on peace-making and weapons reduction to prevent initial conflicts. Prevention of human-caused, technological and environmental disasters must be given the highest priority at local, national and international levels.

Disaster preparedness and response involves a matrix of evolving education and awareness building, resource planning and sharing, and communication at all levels: from village councils to regional and national governments, and to international coordinating bodies. More sophisticated diplomatic and political skills are needed at all levels. The effectiveness of the response depends on the level of mitigation and preparedness, involving representatives of all people, from the village to the national level.

For disasters that cannot be prevented, mitigation and preparedness must be the highest priority. When catastrophe occurs, effective cultural and gender-appropriate responses must be carried out. These responses must be fully integrated into sustainable development.

Improved criteria for organizational funding and accountability

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To receive funding, organizations should focus on the above priorities and assist those most in need: those vulnerable before the disaster occurred, such as the children, women, elderly, developmentally disabled, physically challenged, and others with special needs.

Priority funding for disaster response should go to groups with a high priority on social justice that work with and emerge from vulnerable grassroots communities. Program priorities should include awareness-building and prevention of human-caused disasters, including peace-making, low-cost disaster mitigation measures, leadership training and exchange, and communication linkages that cut across geographic, class, and political boundaries. All programs must be planned integrally within long-term sustainable development systems.

Each organization’s accountability is of vital importance. Many times, however, the groups that are well organized and have a “track record” of public relations receive the lion’s share of funding in disaster situations. Their commitment to relate culturally or geographically to those most in need is essential to consider. International organizations have special responsibilities to uphold the highest ethical standards in their roles as enablers, coordinators and facilitators to meet human need.

Q. Describe a disaster situation in which you were involved (or which you know about) and list the local resources, knowledge and skills that were available and utilized versus those that were imported. Can you identify ethical strengths or violations related to the utilization of resources in your example?

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Q. Based on your experience, give an example of inequitable power relations and identify the ethical issues created by such inequity.

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Q. Read the following excerpt from Disasters and Development by Fred Cuny and identify the ethical issues involved.

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“No longer are just food, clothing and blankets provided to disaster victims; often an entire range of goods that would make a department store owner envious are shipped to the scene. When the distribution system is set up, it is almost always controlled by the relief agency acting through its representatives in the community.

When disaster strikes a community, the economic systems of the community are also affected. Physical facilities may be destroyed or damaged, and the distribution of goods and services disrupted. If the community is to return to normal, it is essential that these systems be restored as quickly as possible. But just as these systems are struggling to recover, new systems in the form of relief and reconstruction programs appear and compete directly with them. A recent example occurred on Fiji. One island group was severely affected by an intense hurricane that destroyed much of the agricultural production of the country and approximately 80% of the housing. Massive relief efforts were organized by the government. To qualify for the relief, family members had to show they were unemployed as well as being disaster victims. During the period that the aid continued, the normal economic systems (such as small stores, material suppliers, and their respective distribution networks) were bypassed. The aid, in effect, became a competing system. Thus the victims were denied much-needed capital that would have enabled them to recover more quickly. Several of the smaller stores eventually closed, and a number of suppliers put off reordering stock.

The relief program delayed recovery of the normal economic systems within the community.”

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