GRV ADR2021 Inter-Agency Workshop Report v2

INTER-AGENCY WORKSHOP REPORT 6TH ANNUAL EVENT

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INTER-AGENCY WORKSHOP REPORT

On 26 February 2021, the culminating event of the 2021 Action on Disaster Relief (ADR) conference took place.

This was an Inter-Agency Workshop conducted by nineteen invited delegates, co-chaired by Elizabeth Riley, Acting Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and Anton Gash, former UK Defence Attaché to the Caribbean.

This report will set out some global themes and priorities and summarise the primary and secondary challenges identified during the workshop. It will then conclude by highlighting potential future work strands that could have strategic impact.

Global Disaster Management Action The World Meteorological Organisation 2020 State of Climate Services Report identifies that since 1970 some 11,000 weather, climate and water-related hazards have been observed, leading to the loss of 2 million lives (70% of these are in the poorest nations) at an economic cost of $3.5 trillion. In 2018 108 million people sought help from international agencies to cope with natural disasters: this figure is expected to increase by 50% by 2030, and to cost $20 billion per year.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) has four priorities: Understand disaster risk; Strengthen disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; Invest in disaster risk reduction for resilience; Enhance disaster preparedness for effective response.

Within its seven key targets are included those to increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies; international cooperation for developing countries; and availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems. Sendai’s “Expected Outcome” is the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.

It also aims to encourage “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

When considering only the Response stage in the aftermath of an event, Disaster Management can seem deceptively simple. The critical questions are: Where are

the affected people? What are their needs? Where are the resources? How do we get resources to the point of need? But the UN’s Disaster Continuum established the importance of considering Risk Reduction (comprising Mitigation and Preparedness) and Recovery (comprising Relief and Rehabilitation). Reconstruction can straddle the two phases, in that building back better can also contribute to risk reduction for the future. It is also inseparably linked to broader Development activity (activity outside the scope and timeframe of disaster response).

The process must be a fusion of international, regional, national and local activity. It must incorporate international and regional organisations, governments, NGOs, charities, the public and private sectors, as well as the media and academia, and – most importantly – communities. It requires a mindset that can encompass natural and manmade events, hybrid disasters, cascading situations and complex emergencies. It is these complexities and breadth that the Workshop sought to address.

Inter-Agency Workshop Methodology The purpose of the virtual workshop was to draw together themes that had arisen from ADR 2021’s six thematic panels, multiple one-to-one meetings, and chat forum discussions in order to identify persistent or enduring issues. Three working groups were established to look at (1) Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience; (2) Regional/International Support; (3) Communications, Technology and Logistics.

For each theme, the subject is shown in red, the summary of the problem in blue, and proposed solutions in green.

Academic references are shown in black (with a fuller bibliography at the end).

Responses must take into account local needs, perceptions and expertise.

Disconnect between what local communities need and how national/international agencies respond: aid being “done” to a community, not in coordination with it.

• True engagement in advance, not superficial consultation.

• Identify needs clearly and determine where to focus effort to overcome roadblocks.

• Make best use of local knowledge (where the only thing lacking is resource) rather than treating local volunteers as extensions of a remote agency.

• Build trust and reduce limitations on engagement by large donors.

• Identify lessons from historical models where local communities have been effectively engaged.

The importance of having pre-established relationships between responding agencies to maximise trust and efficiency.

It is easier to work with those you know and have experience of, or who come recommended by trusted interlocutors.

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Defined in this report as issues raised by more than one working group.

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Introduction

Primary Themes

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REPORT ON ACTION ON DISASTER RELIEF INTER-AGENCY WORKSHOP

Delegates came from International Organisations, National Organisations, National Governments, NonGovernmental Organisations, and the private sector (water, shelter, transport, logistics and communications).

Each group was asked to identify challenges to effective disaster response, and to discuss and prioritise potential solutions. In order to promote free discussion, the event was held under the Chatham House Rule – “participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed”.

The workshop identified five primary themes1 as areas where further work could be most effectively applied: • Responses must take into account local needs, perceptions and expertise.

• The importance of having pre-established relationships between responding agencies to maximise trust and efficiency.

• The importance of collaboration, not competition, between responding agencies, organisations, countries and companies.

• The need for unambiguous governance arrangements and improved standardisation and commonality in assessments, information management and situational awareness.

• The importance of committing budgetary spend to the full disaster continuum, especially the areas of preparation and resilience, not just response and recovery.

A further 4 secondary challenges were highlighted in individual working groups: • Communications challenges.

• Quick-fix responses causing secondary problems.

• The challenges of complex or cascading emergencies.

• Cost and availability challenges in Logistics.

The need for improved standardisation and commonality in assessments, information management and situational awareness.

Birkman (2006) highlights the lack of any standard for measuring community vulnerability, and the lack of common terminology, goals and indicators to measure gaps and capability.

• Improved situational awareness tools to provide real-time online visibility of assets, personnel and services.

• An accepted international standard for the damage and needs assessment processes.

• Share damage and needs assessments between agencies and with the affected public – establish a common open-access portal for information-sharing.

• Development of international disaster law to sit alongside existing humanitarian law, with a focus on systems as well as individuals.

The importance of committing budgetary spend to preparation and resilience, not just response and recovery.

Lack of investment in Preparation and Resilience.

Reluctance to invest resources in preparing for events that may not happen. Disaster resilience not receiving the same priority as other interventions such as health programmes.

“Emergency managers have narrowed their focus and directed their work almost solely toward response and

INTER-AGENCY WORKSHOP REPORT

he characterises in 5 ways: destruction of the majority of housing stock; impact on local officials; impact on local support; impact on community functions; impact on political processes. He sees this distinction as key in ensuring that a situation is rapidly elevated to the correct level of command and control.

High cost of air and sea transport, and general logistic procurement. Availability of air and sea lift assets.

• Encourage gifts in kind – bandwidth, communication equipment etc (strictly linked to needs assessments).

• Establish a regional strategic movement coordination hub, as a central point where visibility is maintained of regional transport assets’ location, cost, timetables and availability.

• Establishment of a regional strategic movement coordination hub, as a central point where visibility is maintained of regional transport assets’ location, cost, timetables and availability.

Secondary Challenges

Conclusion

The impact of loss of communications in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

• Flexibility in finding other solutions – radio, text messaging, couriers.

• Map existing community structures that could be used for passage of information – church groups, radio ham groups, etc.

• Build in redundancy to ensure business continuity.

• Improve offline data collection (for transmission when connectivity allows).

• Improve interconnectivity and interoperability of communication equipment.

• Leverage future LEO/MEO constellations to provide cost and connectivity benefits.

Birkman, J. 2006. Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Towards Disaster Resilient Societies. New Delhi: United Nations University Press.

A number of potential quick wins are apparent in areas such as incorporating waste disposal into disaster response planning, or the agile use of novel communications solutions, but four strategic themes stand out as potential game-changers: • Continue to consolidate ongoing work to streamline Civil-Military Coordination, in conjunction with the existing humanitarian cluster system. Authority potentially through the use of mandates as for peacekeeping operations.

• Development of international disaster law, with a focus on systems as well as individuals. Noting that international humanitarian law only applies to victims of conflict, and international refugee law only applies to victims of persecution. https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/what-we-do/disaster-law/ • Establishment of a recognised international centre of excellence for disaster management education and training, with common qualifications and accreditation.

Potentially under UN auspices, or regional.

Canton, L. 2019. Emergency Management: Concepts and Strategies for Effective Programs. Hoboken: Wiley

Quick fixes during responses can add to the problem – pollution, waste etc.

• Waste disposal to be costed in as part of the planning process.

• Building-back-better should mitigate the environmental consequences of intervention.

• Sustainability to be incorporated into resilience planning.

Complex Emergencies, where rapidly shifting scenarios make it impossible to rely on evidence-based planning.

• Plan for, and mitigate, barriers (political, cultural, physical, epidemiological) to entry into a disaster zone or country.

• Better understand the problems of cascading emergencies (for example health and hygiene problems as secondary impacts of natural disasters).

Quarantelli (2005) highlights the importance of distinguishing between disasters and catastrophes, which

Canton (2019, Ch.12)

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Personal interview by Coppola with Haddow, 2005.

Select Bibliography: Alexander, D., 2002. Principles of Emergency Planning and Management. Scotland: Dunedin Academic Press Ltd.

Coppola, D. 2011. Introduction to International Disaster Management (2nd Edition). Elsevier Science and Technology.

Bang, H., Fearnley, C., Gordon, R., Land, A., McAlister, R., and Miles, L. 2018. Introduction to Disaster Management for Military Staff Officers. UK: BUDMC. Quarantelli, E. 2005. Catastrophes are Different from Disasters: some implications for Crisis Planning. New York: Social Science Research Council.

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World Conference on Disaster Reduction (2015) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. Available from www.unisdr.org/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf.

World Meteorological Organisation. 2020. 2020 State of Climate Services Report. Library. Geneva. WMO. Available from www.public.wmo.int.

International Federation of the Red Cross International Disaster Response Law Guidelines. https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/what-wedo/disaster-law/

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It is recommended that advantage is taken of the networks and links established during ADR 2021 (and previous events since 2016) to consider how these themes could best be taken forward and operationalised.

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The importance of collaboration, not competition, between responding agencies, organisations, countries and companies.

Wasted effort and resources because of duplication, overlap or inefficiency.

• Use of events such as Action on Disaster Relief to break people and organisations out of stovepipes/ silos and encourage networking.

• Encourage vendor collaboration to support gap analysis, rather than one-off procurement.

• Encourage vendors to consider the international, not just national, dimension.

• Better understanding of the humanitarian coordination cluster system.

almost exclusively to the development of the emergency operations plan. Strategic issues related to mitigation and recovery are barely addressed. Continuity planning is completely foreign to many emergency planners.”2 Coppola (2011) quotes a US politician saying “I won’t lose my job for failing to mitigate, but I might lose my job if I botch a response”.3 This is particularly a challenge for less developed economies, with limited budgets, resources and manpower, who must decide how to prioritise the stages of the Disaster Continuum.

• Establish a recognised international centre of excellence for disaster management education and training, with common qualifications and accreditation.

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• Broader (inclusive) participation in exercises.

• Defined budgets for exercises.

• Formal induction system and accreditation for newcomers to a disaster area.

• An enhanced role for UN OCHA in coordinating international military responders to a disaster, in addition to the existing humanitarian cluster system.

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