SUBJECT 3. Prevention and mitigation: Post disaster / Post crisis management DAMAGE AND RECONSTRUCTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT MODULE

Disasters do not happen in a void

Appropriate level of prevention and mitigation Commensurate with severity, strength and recurrence of disastersCommensurate with severity, strength and recurrence of disasters Appropriate to satisfy more than reconstruction needsAppropriate to satisfy more than reconstruction needs Promote policies to better manage riskPromote policies to better manage risk Include structural, organizational and financial tools for risk reduction and risk transferInclude structural, organizational and financial tools for risk reduction and risk transfer

Post-disaster response is in reality the management of a crisis

What do prevention and mitigation provide, both positive and negative? With prevention and mitigation you save:With prevention and mitigation you save: –Lives (by maintaining services and the resilience of infrastructure) –Investment capacity (you do not lose the opportunity cost of new investment which must be channeled to reconstruction) –Prevention capacity in contrast to passive curative interventions

Is there any negative outcome of prevention and mitigation? –Investment in these measures may be seen as competing with other priorities in resource-limited developing countries. –Prevention and mitigation may increase resources needed in project’s design and implementation, thus requiring further indebtedness in already heavily indebted countries. –Prevention and mitigation provide medium to long term hard to estimate benefits while resources allocated to these will either compete with other perceived needs or politically urgent and prioritary investments, and / or will be funded by credits that have to be repaid in the short to medium term. Appropriate cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness in prevention and mitigation are not self-evident, thus opportunity cost in these is often not as politically or financially attractive as other investments that yield more visible gains.Appropriate cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness in prevention and mitigation are not self-evident, thus opportunity cost in these is often not as politically or financially attractive as other investments that yield more visible gains.

Prevention and mitigation’s purpose and appropriation

Actors: may be public or private, central or local

Incorporating mitigation in the project cycle

Disasters, conflict and crisis management How to approach the different interventions required: conceptual aspects, definition problems and purpose of the interventionsHow to approach the different interventions required: conceptual aspects, definition problems and purpose of the interventions Are they different sides of the same coin: crisis managements associated with disasters and / or conflict?Are they different sides of the same coin: crisis managements associated with disasters and / or conflict? Methodological problems: needs assessments vs. Causal analysisMethodological problems: needs assessments vs. Causal analysis Operational problems: setting priorities andOperational problems: setting priorities and differentiating emergency from urgency: simultaneity and sequencing Policy problems: positive vs.Policy problems: positive vs. negative intervention; resource allocation vs. policy change promotion

Comparison of prevention and mitigation and post-disaster and post conflict analysis / interventions

PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES Promote a mitigation culture and consider risk management and reduction as a productive and profitable investmentPromote a mitigation culture and consider risk management and reduction as a productive and profitable investment Understanding that “normalcy” implies not reproducing pre-existing vulnerability but increasing resilienceUnderstanding that “normalcy” implies not reproducing pre-existing vulnerability but increasing resilience Acknowledgement of vulnerability implies appropriation of risk reductionAcknowledgement of vulnerability implies appropriation of risk reduction Prevention and mitigation are specific to local, cultural and social conditionsPrevention 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 stakeholdersIncorporation of prevention and mitigation into the culture does not imply imposition by technicians or politicians but negotiation with stakeholders

Summary of basic concepts Prevention, mitigation and disaster reductionPrevention, mitigation and disaster reduction Risk management, risk appropriation and risk transferRisk management, risk appropriation and risk transfer Mitigation and the project cycleMitigation and the project cycle Cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit and financial cost and profitability of investmentsCost-effectiveness, cost-benefit and financial cost and profitability of investments Disaster, conflict and crisis managementDisaster, conflict and crisis management Resilience and development strategyResilience and development strategy Different levels of mitigation and risk managementDifferent levels of mitigation and risk management Different actors in mitigation and risk managementDifferent actors in mitigation and risk management