A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

Policy and public commitment: the foundation of disaster risk reduction3Institutional frameworksHigh-level programmes forpromoting preventionPrevention plansPrevention in developmentplans and controlmechanismsFlood mitigation projects.NDMO have initiated a veryactive program on public educationthrough the Teachers Collegein Port Vila and several highschools.The National DisasterManagement Act providesmore power for NDMO toundertake its nationalresponsibilities and for thesix provincial councils tobecome more proactive indisaster management.Further important areas ofpublic policy are now inprogress, including thereview and revision of theNational Disaster EmergencyPlan, development ofsupport plans, institutionalsupport for the NDMOand training and educationprogrammes.CaribbeanCase: Dominican RepublicFollowing the destruction caused by hurricaneGeorges across the Caribbean in 1998,the IADB and the World Bank providedalmost US$ 100 million to the DominicanRepublic for reconstruction work. Reflectingon the magnitude of such losses and furthermotivated by the subsequent social and economicconsequences of hurricane Mitch feltthroughout the entire region, the IADB providednearly US$ 12 million in 2000 to theOffice of the Presidency in the DominicanRepublic for the development of disasterreduction sub-programmes.These funds were targeted to help modernizethe country’s strategic approach and institutionalframeworks for disaster risk management.The following year, three consultingconsortiums developed a national hazard andvulnerability information system, trainedtrainers in community-level risk and environmentalmanagement, and conducted trainingin modern risk management techniques forcivil servants. They also advised on the developmentof national public awareness campaignsand on the design of revised legal andinstitutional frameworks for risk management.Finance was provided to acquire materialsand equipment needed by risk and disastermanagement organizations, including scientificinstitutions.103