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

process that emphasizes the participation of allrelevant organizations and sectors. This systematicapproach devolves disaster managementplanning activities from strictly a national concernto one involving state, district and localofficials.A decision was taken by the Indian governmentin early 2002 to alter almost 50 years of practiceby relocating all matters regarding disaster andrisk management to the Ministry of HomeAffairs. This reflects a departure from the previousassociation of natural disasters with the predominantconcerns of food supplies and agricultureand signals a promising opportunity toengage many additional functional responsibilitiesand authoritative aspects of government. Asthe influential Ministry of Home Affairs isdirectly responsible for the coordination andmanagement of the operational aspects of government,and its influence proceeds fromnational direction of the civil service all the waydown to local levels of implementation of governmentpolicies, this is an important step tointegrate disaster risk management issues morefully into many more national planning processes.Policy and public commitment: the foundation of disaster risk reductiongovernments. An additional advisory group of28 senior experts in relevant fields has beenformed to provide guidance to the nationalcommittee especially on applying science andtechnology in realizing disaster reduction initiatives.The office of CNCIDR and its secretariatare located in the Ministry of Civil Affairs.By embracing the importance of disaster reductionactivities, China has proceeded to integratethe subject into overall national economic andsocial development planning. The core elementof this process is the progressive implementationof the National Disaster Reduction Plan of the People’sRepublic of China (NDRP) running from1998 to 2010. The NDRP was launched by theChinese government in April 1998, and significantly,it was formulated on the basis of the overallnational development policies reflected in the“Ninth Five Year Plan for National Economicand Social Development”, and the “2010Prospective Target Outline” for national accomplishments.The formulation of the planreceived important support and technical assistancefrom UNDP, further demonstrating theessential links between disaster risk reductionand national development interests.3Case: ChinaChina presents another approach yet also displayssimilar emphasis. During the course of theIDNDR, the Chinese government recognizedthat working for disaster reduction wouldrequire a long-term commitment and it hasworked with dedication and political commitmentat the highest levels of responsibility to fulfilthose objectives by actively responding to thedirection of UN/ISDR.The Chinese government established the ChineseNational Committee for International DisasterReduction (CNCIDR) in October 2000 consistingof 30 official agencies, including the StateCouncil, ministries, national committees andbureaus, the military services and additionalsocial groups. CNCIDR is an inter-ministerialcoordinating institution led by a State Councillorresponsible for designing a national disasterreduction framework, developing guiding policies,coordinating relevant departments in theconduct of specific programs, and supervisingdisaster reduction works undertaken by localIt is very important for China to form an overall legislativesystem that relates to disaster reduction, and theexperience of other countries would be invaluable. To dothis will require financial and technical support fromUNDP and other channels.China response to ISDR questionnaire, 2001The NDRP was based on several fundamentalpolicies that demonstrate both the breadth andthe depth of interests that have been marshalledto develop and implement a national strategy fordisaster reduction. The primary orientation ofthe strategy of disaster reduction is to serve theadvancement of national economic and socialdevelopment. In this respect, a principle hasbeen formulated to assign the top priority to disasterreduction activities, while also recognizingthat there will still be the requirement to combinethese with disaster response and emergencyrelief efforts at the time of crisis. A focus is to beplaced on key elements of disaster reductionwork, while keeping a view throughout on thelong-term strategic objectives of disaster reduction.85