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
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