Developing nations must collaborate with private and non-governmental organizations to help prevent and prepare for future disasters, according to a report released last week by Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International igration.
The report, “Disaster Management and Response: Capacity Building for Developing Country Institutions,” was based on a series of expeditions to developing countries and was written by ISIM Director Susan Martin and Senior Associate Patricia Weiss Fagen.
Researchers from ISIM traveled to Latin America, Africa and Asia from December 2003 to June 2005, to locate and improve regions lacking disaster-prevention capabilities. Administrators held workshops in Costa Rica, Kenya and Thailand, where they consulted with local officials, non-governmental organizations and professors on organizing and coordinating local disaster management efforts.
Recommendations provided in the report are focused on improving prevention management for different types of large-scale disasters. artin said that the report is concerned with “both natural and manmade disasters, including humanitarian emergencies that stem from conflict.”
The report recommends that a wide variety of organizations collaborate to prepare for future disasters and that institutions enlist the involvement of both local communities and larger establishments, such as training centers, NGOs, health ministries, government agencies and universities.
“What is called for is not a quick response with the latest `high-tech’ equipment, but a long-term society-wide program of training . beginning early and constantly updated,” the report said.
“It is imperative that the international community take steps to build capacity among the first responders, [who] will be at the frontline of disaster management,” Martin said.
Martin said that the results of these ventures, which were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provided the content for the report.
The report also said that government officials and healthcare professionals should receive more training in disaster response. This requires “learning to assess vulnerabilities, reinforcing expertise in relevant technical, social and scientific institutions and establishing partnerships of mutual learning,” according to the report.
The authors of the report said that these partnerships must extend from central governments to individuals and groups in local communities.
The report was published in the midst of several recent natural disasters, including the worst Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, a massive earthquake that ravaged Pakistan and last year’s devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, one of the most deadly natural disasters of the past century.
The report also stressed the importance of the media in spreading information to make people more aware of measures that can aid future disaster prevention and management. Martin said that no part of the world should feel safe from future disasters.
“The recommendations apply not only to developing countries, but also to local communities in wealthier countries that are affected by disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina,” she said.