1 PREVENTION AND MITIGATION: POST- DISASTER/POST-CRISES MANAGEMENT Ricardo Zapata Marti UN ECLAC

2 FROM DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TO MITIGATION - Assessment highlights affected regions, vulnerable groups and sectors, and the intensity of damage - Assessment calculates direct damages both with present value and replacement costs; the latter can incorporate mitigation investments -The total damage and looses estimated in the assessment can be further disaggregated according to useful criteria : Total damage to assets and to production, and increased costs or decreased income in the provision of services Total direct damage and indirect losses Total damage to public and private sectors

3 WHY FOCUS ON MITIGATION AND PREVENTION? Prevention and mitigation help save: –Lives (by maintaining services and the resilience of infrastructure) –Investment capacity (the opportunity cost of new investment which must be channeled to reconstruction is not lost) Face disaster risks proactively, not through curative intervention

4 APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF PREVENTION AND MITIGATION Satisfy more than reconstruction needs to reduce future risk Commensurate with severity, strength and recurrence of disasters Promote policies to better manage risk Include structural, organizational and financial tools for risk reduction and risk transfer

5 HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT MITIGATION Allocate resources –Promote a mitigation culture and consider risk management and reduction as a productive and profitable investment Provide training and organize, including at the community level –Prevention and mitigation are specific to local, cultural and social conditions –Incorporation of prevention and mitigation into the culture does not imply imposition by technicians or politicians but negotiation with stakeholders –Ownership of actions is fundamental to building trust Devise early warning systems

6 SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF PREVENTION AND MITIGATION INSURANCE: of public & private property REGULATIONS: safety, land use, zoning CODES: building & fire codes LEGISLATION: local ordinances on safety STRUCTURAL MEASURES: dams, levees, flood control structures PLANS: contingency plans, fire and earthquake plans EDUCATION: public information, rapid dissemination of info through mass media, population awareness TRAINING: orientation of local officials, deputized coordinators, auxiliaries, volunteers, drills & rehearsals RESOURCES: available response units, equipment, manpower, location, contact nos. & persons

7 CASE STUDY: COASTAL RECONSTRUCTION AND MITIGATION What is the cause of the disaster?:Identify the role that climate change plays Who and what will the disaster affect? Properly map the coastal/river infrastructure and vulnerability of coastal communities How will damages occur? Amass sound knowledge of the processes that can result in damage to coastal/river infrastructure and shorelines, and the efficacy of proposed defenses How to implement protection against the disaster? Design and construct coastal defense works, emergency relief planning, building setbacks and codes, etc. How to ensure longevity of defense investment? Properly maintain coastal/river defense works, monitor shoreline movement and residual life of defenses

8 RESILIENCE: IMPORTANT FOR MITIGATION Resilience is the ability of an individual or community to withstand external shocks Social sector recovery & mitigation seeks to put measures in place which balance risk and resilience: –Capacity for social mobilization –Access to public information –Educational levels or knowledge base of the community –A measure of social cohesion –Strength of social capital formation –Trust of authority –Credibility of national/community leaders.

9 WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES TO PREVENTION AND MITIGATION? The cost-effectiveness of prevention and mitigation measures is less apparent than in other productive investments: –Benefits are medium- to long-term –Benefits are hard to estimate due to unpredictability of disasters –Costs may have to be paid in the short- to medium-term and can aggravate indebtedness To correctly value future losses caused by recurring events, must recognize that mitigation reaps benefits in terms of losses not incurred over time

10 INCORPORATING MITIGATION IN THE PROJECT CYCLE Risk reduction: –Must be a stated objective in project design phase –Must be addressed in the profitability analysis, considered not only as investment needed but also as a return in terms of losses not incurred –Must be addressed in budgeting provisions –Must be part of project evaluation

11 THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTION AND MITIGATION

12 REQUIREMENTS TO FULFILL OBJECTIVES (Systemic character of disaster mitigation)

13 NEGOTIATING RECONSTRUCTION: From Damage and Needs Assessment to Policy Methodological problems: needs assessment vs. causal analysis Operational problems: setting priorities and differentiating emergency from urgency Policy Problems: resource allocation vs. policy change promotion

14 From Damage and Needs Assessment to Policy, Cont’d Different priorities, limited resources and competing interests can lead to different opinions about appropriate mitigation measures Mitigation projects must aim directly at reducing the vulnerabilities estimated in the damage and needs assessment The success of individual mitigation projects will contribute to general development goals, not vice versa

15 HOW SHOULD ASSESSMENT BE USED? Toward comprehensive, participatory and proactive disaster risk reduction To incorporate risk reduction measures into all development projects To create risk reduction policies that employ: –Economic instruments –Financial products (public and private, such as cat bonds, etc.) –Transparent mechanisms