An Overview of Disaster Management (Department of Humanitarian Affairs/United Nations Disaster Relief Office - United Nations Development Programme , 1992, 136 p.): PART FOUR: DISASTER MITIGATION: Chapter 13. Mitigation 1: (introduction...)

An Overview of Disaster Management (Department of Humanitarian Affairs/United Nations Disaster Relief Office - United Nations Development Programme , 1992, 136 p.)

(introduction...)

Foreword to the 2nd edition

Introduction to this training module

PART ONE: HAZARDS AND DISASTERS

(introduction...)

Chapter 1. Introduction to disasters

(introduction...)

The disaster problem

Causal factors of disasters

(introduction...)

Poverty

Population growth

Rapid urbanization

Transitions in cultural practices

Environmental degradation

Lack of awareness and information

War and civil strife

Chapter 2. Disaster terminology and phases

Disaster terms

Phases of a disaster

(introduction...)

Rapid onset disasters

Slow onset disasters

Chapter 3. Linking disasters and development 1

(introduction...)

Introduction

Disruption of development by disasters

How development may cause disasters

Development opportunities afforded by disasters

Chapter 4. Natural hazards

(introduction...)

Characteristics of particular hazards and disasters 1

(introduction...)

Earthquakes

Tsunamis

Volcanoes

Landslides

Tropical cyclones

Floods

Droughts

Environmental pollution

Deforestation

Desertification

Pest infestations

Epidemics

Chemical and industrial accidents

Chapter 5. Compound and complex disasters 1

(introduction...)

Socio/political forces

Displaced persons

The role of the UN in complex emergencies

Safety of relief teams in conflict zones

PART TWO: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

(introduction...)

Introduction

Chapter 6. The disaster management team, roles and resources

(introduction...)

The UN Disaster Management Team

Country Disaster Management Team

Tasks, roles and resources of the UN

Roles and resources of UNDP, UNDRO, and other UN agencies

Coordination: the resident coordinator and the UN-DMT

Chapter 7. Disaster preparedness

(introduction...)

Components of disaster preparedness

Preparedness for slow onset and sudden onset disasters

Preparedness within the United Nations 2

Checklist of basic information required by a UN-DMT 3

Chapter 8. Vulnerability and risk assessment 1

(introduction...)

Risk management

Risk probability

Acceptable levels of risk

Assessing risk and vulnerability

How is risk determined?

Vulnerability evaluation

Reducing vulnerability for displaced persons

PART THREE: DISASTER RESPONSE

(introduction...)

Chapter 9. Disaster response

(introduction...)

Aims of emergency and post-disaster assistance

(introduction...)

Warning

Evacuation/migration

Search and rescue

Post-disaster assessment

Emergency relief

Logistics and supply

Communication and information management

Survivor response and coping

Security

Emergency operations management

Rehabilitation and reconstruction

Chapter 10. Disaster assessment 1

(introduction...)

Objectives of assessment

The assessment process

Assessments for different disaster types

How assessment data is used

Chapter 11. UN response to disasters 1

(introduction...)

Principal elements and actions in response to a sudden disaster

Sitreps - exchanging information with UNDRO

Alert message and field sitreps

The importance of coordination and information

Chapter 12. Rehabilitation and reconstruction

(introduction...)

Priorities and opportunities in rehabilitation and reconstruction 1

Zenon hurricane: A case study 3

PART FOUR: DISASTER MITIGATION

(introduction...)

Chapter 13. Mitigation 1

(introduction...)

Targeting mitigation where it has most effect

Actions to reduce risk

The menu of mitigation actions

Classification of mitigation measures

Timing for mitigation

Chapter 14. UN assistance to disaster mitigation

(introduction...)

Disaster mitigation as a development theme

Appraising disaster mitigation needs, policies, and capacity

Sources of information: needs for technical expertise

Project identification and formulation

Disaster risk appraisal of all projects in hazardous areas

Disaster risk reduction planning checklist

(introduction...)

Disasters and Development (DAD) Project Review Form

Appendix - GA Resolution 46/182, Strengthening of the Coordination of Humanitarian Emergency Assistance of the United Nations

(introduction...)

¹ Adapted from the UNDP/UNDRO training module, Disaster Mitigation by A.W. Coburn, R.J.S. Spence, and A. Pomonis, Cambridge, June 1991.

Figure

Mitigation is one of the positive links between disasters and development. Agencies, communities, and individuals can use their development resources to reduce the risk of hazards through mitigation projects. They can also ensure that their other development initiatives contain components that mitigate against future disaster.

In its broadest usage, mitigation has become a collective term used to encompass all actions taken prior to the occurrence of a disaster (pre-disaster measures). This includes long-term risk reduction and preparedness measures.

Many individuals and institutions, however, apply a narrower definition to mitigation. They use mitigation to mean actions taken to reduce both human suffering and property loss resulting from extreme natural phenomena. The concept of mitigation accepts the fact that some hazard event may occur but tries to lessen the impact by improving the community’s ability to absorb the impact with minimum damage or disruptive effect. More simply stated, for this group, mitigation is risk reduction.

Mitigation applies to a wide range of activities and protection measures that might be instigated: from the physical, like constructing stronger buildings or agricultural diversification, to the procedural, like standard techniques for incorporating hazard assessment in land-use planning.

In the 1990s, a major effort is underway to encourage the implementation of disaster mitigation techniques in development projects around the world. The General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted the decade of the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. The aim is to make a significant reduction in the losses of life and material damage caused by disasters by the end of the decade.

Disasters have, until recently, been seen in much the same way as disease was in the early 19th century: unpredictable, unlucky and part of the everyday risk of living. Concentrations of people and rising population levels across the globe are increasing the risk of disasters and multiplying the consequences of natural hazards when they occur. However, the “epidemiology” of disasters - the systematic science of what happens in a disaster - shows that disasters are largely preventable. There are many ways to reduce the impact of a disaster and to mitigate the effects of a possible hazard, accident, or conflict.

Just like the fight against disease, the fight against disasters has to be fought by everyone together. It must involve public and private sector investment, changes in social attitudes and improvements in the practices of individuals.

Governments can use public investment to improve their countries’ infrastructure and to promote a physical environment where a disaster is less likely to occur. Individuals must also learn how to act to protect themselves. Just as public health depends on personal hygiene, so public protection depends on personal safety.

The type of cooking stove an individual uses, and their awareness that a sudden earthquake could tip it over is more important in reducing the risk of a disastrous fire than having the community maintain a large fire brigade. The type of house individuals build and where they consider a suitable place to live affects the potential for disaster in a community more than large engineering projects to reduce flood risk, or landslide stabilization efforts or sophisticated typhoon warning systems.

Saving life and reducing economic disruption

The worst effects of any disaster are the deaths and injuries caused to the population. The scale of disasters and the number of people they are capable of killing is the primary justification for mitigation. Understanding the way that people are killed and injured in disasters is a prerequisite for reducing casualties.

Q. Summarize what you think are the principal objectives of mitigation.

A. ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

ANSWER

The principle objectives of mitigation include: saving lives: reducing economic disruption: decreasing vulnerability; increasing capability to resist disasters; decrease chance of civil conflict.