Disaster Management
Capacity Building in Emergency Services Management
Disaster Mitigation & Disaster Risk Reduction; Emergency Preparedness; Disaster/Emergency Response;  Disaster Recovery: and Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
 
Disaster Mitigation focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk. The implementation of mitigation strategies can be considered a part of the recovery process if applied after a disaster occurs. Mitigating measures can be structural or non-structural. Structural measures use technological solutions, like flood levees. Non-structural measures
include legislation, land-use planning (e.g. the designation of nonessential land like parks to be used as flood zones), and insurance. The topics covered in this course include the following: Engineering / Spatial Planning / Societal Measures / Economic Resources / Management and Institutionalization / Conflict Resolution / Timing / Political Support / Long-term Development. Participants will engage in the development of a draft disaster mitigation strategy for their own localities.

Emergency Preparedness

Mitigation and risk reduction are longer term emergency measures. Preparedness is the sum total of actions taken to plan for and build the capacity to respond to an emergency. Topics covered in this course include the following: Vulnerability Assessment / Planning / Institutional Framework / Information Management / Resource Management / Warning Systems / Response Mechanisms / Public Education and Training / Rehearsals

Participants engage in the development of a draft disaster preparedness plan for their own localities.
Disaster / Emergency Response

Some say that emergency response is the "sharp end of the disaster management stick."

Coordinating and / or supporting the coordination of emergency response efforts is one the most fundamental life-saving interventions an organization can make in a crisis. Topics covered in this course include: Local Warning and Communication Systems / Evacuation / Search and Rescue / Disaster Assessment / Emergency Relief / Logistics and Supply / Information Management / Survivor Response, Coping and Security / Emergency Operations Management

Disaster Recovery: Reconstruction and Rehabilitation

Disaster recovery is perhaps the most difficult of all emergency management phases. It often takes far longer than the response phase. Recovery requires a focus on two very different, but sometimes directly linked areas if action. Reconstruction generally refers to rebuilding of infrastructure - roads, bridges, etc. Rehabilitation involves capacity building. Individual leaders or members of several organizations may have been directly or indirectly impacted by a disaster. Helping to get orgaintions and institutions back to pre-disaster levels of operation and service is significant challenge.

The topics covered in this course include:

Damage Assessment / Capacity Assessment / Institutional Arrangements / Income Generating Activities / Community Organizations / Capital Resources / Recovery Planning / Timing / Emergency Settlement Management