Disaster Management

Support for Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management in Member Countries

The Commonwealth Secretariat’s primary approach and progress in using networks and technical expertise from across the Commonwealth to give support to Governments to minimize the impact of disasters and develop new strategies to ensure the lives of all Commonwealth Citizens continues to improve for the better. Building on existing programmes and established partnerships, the programme takes an integrated approach at national, regional and international levels to strengthen disaster management and risk reduction through the provision of technical assistance and institutional capacity building.

In November 2005, the Communiqué of the Malta Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) included two paragraphs addressing the Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Assistance calling for:

Implementation of this mandate is currently co-ordinated by the Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD) in collaboration with other relevant actors in the Secretariat and funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CTFC), being the principal means by which the Commonwealth delivers development assistance to member countries. A programme has been developed through which member countries co-operate in capacity building for disaster risk reduction and disaster response management.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has a long track record in providing technical assistance that has included responding to member states’ requests for support in times of disaster, and in addressing their vulnerability to the impacts of future events. Early on, this included activities in the Asia Pacific regions; the exchange of ideas and experiences in the development of appropriate and effective low-cost building materials and codes; and work with the World Bank and others to examine critical issues such as insurance and re-insurance provision for small member states, and an examination of the vulnerability of small states and policy approaches to building their resilience.

Though disaster-related work is not separately identified in the Secretariat’s strategic plan, it has been an important element within some of the recent interventions following the events of Hurricane Ivan – which badly affected Jamaica and devastated 90 per cent of Grenada’s infrastructure – and the December 2004 Tsunami which rocked Sri Lanka and The Maldives and other countries in the Indian Ocean. These events were followed in 2005 by a devastating earthquake in Pakistan. The Commonwealth was called upon during each of these crises to provide assistance to affected member states. Drawing on its natural strengths and existing mechanisms the Commonwealth delivered practical assistance in the immediate aftermath of these events, and delivered advice and support to strategic interventions that would help to strengthen early warning systems, disaster risk management and inform future planning.

As a result of ongoing work and consultation, areas of focus have been identified that support existing initiatives and are aimed at establishing a programme through which member countries can co-operate in capacity building for disaster risk reduction and disaster management. Developments to date have focused on the integration of disaster risk reduction and disaster management within COMSEC/CTFC programmes and adaptation to climate change advocacy and policy work that:

• Compliments existing international efforts;
• Builds on existing work and investment;
• Develops knowledge networking and sharing of best practices;
• Advocates on sustainable environmental management and climatic change issues;
• Strengthens government institutional capacities for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction;
• Prioritizes needs of least developed countries and small states; and
• Responds to requests for assistance in times of emergency.

This work has been implemented through a range of activities, including capacity building workshops covering specific aspects of disaster management in the Asia and Africa regions and deployment of technical experts to support projects in response to requests from member governments in reconstruction efforts.

The programme of work developed and supported is to enable disaster preparedness, risk reduction and management to be integrated into existing areas of work with clear goals and priorities refined in consultation with a representative group of member countries and in response to future demands.