Transcript Community Coping Skills

Community Coping Skills
PAHO Leaders Course
November 2006
Jamaica
Lois Hue
Introduction
• Disasters create situations which require
enormous efforts on the part of
community members to survive. Several
skills are necessary, which if they are not
innate can be honed and fortified. In
addition there are several mechanisms at
various levels – national, regional,
international – which provide support to
communities to facilitate coping and
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recovery.
Objectives
• Through this session it is hoped that participants
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will:
1. Have a deeper understanding of the skills
necessary for communities to cope with
disaster;
2. Know the systems that are in place to help
communities
3. Be able to identify challenges, lessons
learned, good and bad practices at
community level
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Objectives contd.
• 4. Have gained an opportunity to examine
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problems associated with community coping
skills and have generated potential solutions
5. Review case of a major crisis and identify
strategies for coordinating and delivering an
effective response
6. Develop the skills and willingness to pass on
what has been shared in this session
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Brainstorming
• What skills do you think are necessary to
cope with community crises?
• Are you aware of any mechanisms in place
to address these issues?
• What are they?
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Skills
• Evacuation
• Risk awareness & management
• Organization of Search & Rescue
• First Aid
• Damage & Needs Assessments
• Decision making
• Communication
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Skills contd.
• Warning & predicting
• Media relations
• Sensitivity to needs of the aged and
differently abled
• Gender sensitivity
• Understanding how things work or are
supposed to work
• Psychosocial Support
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International Strategies &
Mechanisms
• International Strategy for Disaster Risk
Reduction
ISDR ensures effective international promotion
of, and coordination and guidance for, disaster
risk reduction. The secretariat, accountable to
the United Nations Under Secretary General,
serves as a broker, catalyst and focal point for
disaster risk reduction within the United Nations
and among the members of the ISDR system
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ISDR contd.
• The ISDR advocates for commitment to
disaster risk reduction and the
implementation of the Hyogo Framework
and reports on progress.
States/govs
Regional Orgs
International Orgs
ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)
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ISDR is responsible for
• Developing a matrix of roles & initiatives related
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to the Hyogo Framework
Facilitating the coordination of actions at the
international & regional levels
Developing indicators of progress (HFA)
Supporting national platforms and coordination
mechanisms
Stimulating exchange of best practices & lessons
learned
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Hyogo Framework for Action
• Governments of the world have committed to
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take action to reduce disaster risk, and have
adopted a guideline to reduce vulnerabilities to
natural hazards, called the Hyogo Framework for
Action
Collaboration is at the heart of the HFA. In
January 2005, 168 governments adopted this 10
year plan to make the world safer from natural
hazards. It offers guiding principles, priorities for
action and practical means for achieving disaster
resilience for vulnerable communities.
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Priorities for Action
• 1. Make disaster risk reduction a priority
• 2. Know the risks and take action
• 3. Build understanding and awareness
(use knowledge, innovation and
education)
• 4. Reduce risks
• 5. Be prepared and ready to act.
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United Nations Systems
• The United Nations Disaster Assessment and
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Coordination team is a standby team of disaster
management professionals who are nominated
and funded by member governments, OCHA,
UNDP and operational humanitarian UN agencies
such as WFP, UNICEF and WHO.
The UN can also make available Central
Emergency Response Funds (CERF) to
member states.
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The Sphere Project
• The sphere project was launched in 1997
to develop a set of universal minimum
standards in core areas of humanitarian
assistance.
• Aim – to improve the quality of assistance
provided to people affected by disasters
and to enhance the accountability of the
humanitarian system in disaster response.
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Sphere
• Sphere is based on two core beliefs:
• 1. All possible steps should be taken to
alleviate human suffering arising out of
calamity and conflict.
• 2. Those affected by disaster have a right
to life with dignity and therefore a right
to assistance.
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Inter-Agency Standing Committee
• IASC established in June 1992 in response
to UN General Assembly Resolution
46/182 on the strengthening of
humanitarian assistance. It is an interagency forum for coordination, policy
development and decision making. It
initiated among other things, sector
responsibilities allocated to individual
organizations.
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IFRC & shelter
• As the lead agency on emergency shelter,
the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies has signed a
MoU with the UN Office for Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
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Full members:
OCHA
UNHCR
UNICEF
UNDP
WHO
WFP
UNFPA
FAO
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Standing Invitees:
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
WORLD
BANK
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
IOM
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on
the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (RSG on HR of
IDPs)
Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR)
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American Council for
Voluntary International Action
(InterAction)
Task
• Develop a scenario and elaborate a plan
for a response utilizing the skills honed in
the community and drawing on the
mechanisms that are available at the
national, regional and international levels.
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Considerations
• Number and vulnerability type of
threatened people
• Possible actions to be taken by the
government, local authorities, NGOs
• Capacity of each stakeholder
• External aid that could be necessary, how
to ask for it, who should ask, protocols to
be followed
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Considerations contd.
• Previous community capacity and
experience
• Available aid – who supplies what
• Security – who is responsible
• Psychological support available human
resources
• Activities for reducing risks- who will carry
them out
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Remember
• “We cannot stop natural calamities, but
we can and must better equip individuals
and communities to withstand them”
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Thank you.
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