CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

Presentation by Mr Jeremy CollymoreCoordinator, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency for

“Reform of the State and Institutional Development: Building National and Regional Systems for Risk Mitigation and Disaster Prevention” WorkshopMarch 25 - 26, 2000 (New Orleans)

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PRESENT APPROACHInterventions have generally occurred without the definition of overall policy framework

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PRESENT APPROACHDetermined by event driven opportunities influenced by recovery and rehabilitation needs

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PRESENT APPROACH Nature and Medium of support determined by donor interests and less on country priorities

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

NEW APPROACH To benefit from past and recent

experiences suggest the following:• Reflection on institutionalization and

implications for the nature and framing of policy

• Capacity for What?• Capacitation for Whom?

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

NEW APPROACH

Need strategic framework built on consultation and consensus building

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PROCESS ELEMENTS: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

AND NETWORKING• Skills, technology, transfer,

education, training public information• Horizontal Cooperation• Technology Transfer

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

CURRENT STATUS• Event Driven• Mono Hazard• Response Focussed• Institutional (donors) programme

directed• Disconnected from development

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

REFORM FOCUSAddress above - Specifically• What is the policy framework/ environment-

society relationship– Committed to removing risks and fail only when

uncertainty is high– Vulnerability reduction. Who is vulnerable? How is

this generated?– Solution - Application of measuring/monitoring

technology structural management strategies

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

CARIBBEAN STRATEGY

• Define a policy framework for CDM

• Seek political endorsement for the policy process

• Incorporate into the agenda of critical institutions of the community

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

CARIBBEAN STRATEGIC• Engage major sector players - tourism,

agriculture, health, education and utilities• Develop a programming framework built on

consensus - strategic objectives, indicative results, intervention package

• Define stakeholders in the above• Sociological - human behaviour impact on

society functions

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

ASSUMPTIONS: MITIGATION• Most vulnerable societies are those

unable to reconstruct their livelihoods following a disaster. Become more vulnerable

• Changes in the frequencies of the event. Do not have to occur for vulnerability to increase

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PAST CHANGE AGENTS1. 1979: Hurricanes David, Frederick &

Volcanic Eruption in St Vincent

- Establishment of PCDPPP

- Donor Cooperation

- Emergency Institutionalization of disaster management

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

PAST CHANGE AGENTS2. Hurricanes Gilbert (1988) and Hugo

(1989)- Establishment of CDERA- Inter-governmental cooperation- Enhanced national focal points- Inter-Agency Programming

Consultations

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

GOAL OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN

Establishment of mechanisms at regional and national levels that allow for the institutionalization of disaster management as a major decision factor in development planning

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

CHANGES NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE GOALS

• Policy Framework that promotes public service inter-sectoral and inter-ministerial consultations

• Community based programmes that are empowering

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

CHANGES NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE GOALS

• Self-reliance oriented programming• End-user directed public education and

training• Introduction and promotion of economic

preparedness planning

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACCOMMODATING CHANGE

• Links with coastal zone management programmes

• Creating a niche in national sustainable development programmes

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACCOMMODATING CHANGE

• Use of sustained development councils to promote idea of hazard resistant communities

• Establishment of programming partnerships with poverty reduction and alleviation programmes

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

• Rational decision-making can impose institutional restrictions thus improving stability.

• Also open to a number of manipulative strategies

Sayer 1999

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

• Institutions by definition are the more enduring features of social life

Giddens 1984

CDERAThe Caribbean DisasterEmergency Response Agency

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY/REFORM

Institutionalism refers to the embedding of specific practices in a wider context of social relations that cut across the landscape of formal organizations and to the active processes by which individuals in social context constructs their way of thinking and acting

P.Huley P112