Disaster management in Bangladesh and its challenge

Bangladesh is a highly disaster-prone country. Particularly in the context of widespread poverty, disasters often assume great proportions; both risk and vulnerability to various disasters are extensive. Some disasters, such as floods and drought, are annual and cause national loss at a regular frequency. Others, such as cyclones and earthquakes, wait in the offing, and it is not hard to imagine the destruction that could occur in a severe earthquake in the rapidly growing and densely populated urban areas. There is thus an important need for disaster management in this context where disasters are a part of life.  
Coordination and preparedness are the two main challenges of disaster management. Coordination and disaster preparedness and collaboration in disaster management among public and private sector agencies and organizations at the community, city, local, state, national, and even international levels have become increasingly urgent.
To overcome these challenges, survey of emergency managers on the role of coordination needs to be emphasised.
The role of the coordination in emergency management is of special importance. The impact of coordination on emergency management is a topic of great concern during all phases of a disaster, but is particularly critical during the final phase of disaster preparedness and the initial phase of disaster response. Coordination helps emergency managers to prepare and respond to disasters, especially in the immediate post-impact stage of a disaster.
Improving coordination is a requisite to overcome disaster management and its challenge. In response to the question as to how coordination might be improved, 93 percent of emergency managers responded that training is the most important means to improve coordination. Typical responses on improving coordination among emergency managers include the following:  To improve coordination, ensure lower level managers know the system and can take command.
Coordination can always be improved. And this can be done through more drills which involve all levels of government.
To take someone off their primary assignment to participate in training or tabletop exercise requires a replacement.
Coordination can be improved by achieving common communications protocols, real-time field training and brief and concise written policies and procedures that are Web-based shared and are updated at least once a year.
As for the community, improvement can be achieved by the CERT programme. This training is designed to prepare the community in the event of a catastrophic disaster and residents are trained to help their family and neighbors in a disaster.
Improving coordination with the private Sector is also important. In response to the question as to how to improve coordination with the private sector, 85 percent of the emergency managers responded that there should be more proactive approaches to include the private sector. Examples of proactive approaches include the following:
Providing training, education, and information for the private sector prior to disaster.
Use of memorandum of agreement (MOA) with relevant private sector organizations that detail the nature of coordination and responsibilities of all parties.
Establishing trust with the private sector prior to a disaster to facilitate communication during a disaster.
Creating and expanding “partnerships” with private-sector volunteers.
Creating a system of continuous monitoring of the community to increase awareness of new private-sector groups and organizations that should be involved.
Including private sector representatives on government emergency preparedness committees to work together to develop policies and standardize emergency procedures and operations.
Again improving coordination with the media is another aspect which we can take in to cognizance and consideration. In response to the question as to how might the media assist in emergency coordination before, during, and after disasters, most emergency managers felt that coordination with the media is essential to effective disaster management. Respondents noted the following ways to improve coordination with the media:
Including media representative and those journalists whose responsibility is to report on disaster in government sponsored emergency management coordination training sessions.
Developing a closer working relationship between first responders and the media.
Developing a closer working relationship between designated government agencies for disaster response and the media.
Embedding media representatives within the disaster management organizations and community level disaster drills and exercises.
Developing a plan to increase the mutual effort on the part of media and emergency managers to provide accurate information in a consistent and timely manner before, during, and after disasters.
Developing a plan to reduce turnover among disaster reporters to improve continuity of public reporting.
Effective disaster preparedness and management require coordination and collaboration among public and private agencies and organizations on the local, state national and even international levels. The massive potential and actual loss of life and property due to natural and man-made disasters compel emergency planners and managers to improve upon existing disaster readiness and response plans and actions to minimize the devastating consequences.
The technical, resource, political, and bureaucratic problems that surfaced seemed to be eclipsed by the woeful lack of coordination and collaboration among key elements in the emergency response systems. For example, the lack of inter-operable communication systems, the inadequate training and equipment, and the interagency rivalries, may well have been addressed prior to the disasters through intra- and interagency coordination and collaboration among rank and file.
Bangladesh has made steady progress in achieving MDGs as reflected in the various socioeconomic indicators in recent years despite having extreme exposure to natural hazards. The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters estimated that close to 75 million people have been directly affected by natural disasters between 2000 and 2011 with economic damage of US $ 5.8 billion. A combination of geographical location and topography in one hand, and dense population, unplanned rapid urbanization with persistent poverty in the other, the natural hazard events often results in high loss of life and economic damages. Effects of climate change exaggerating the frequency and intensity of disaster impacts. Therefore, Bangladesh remains to be fifth most natural disaster prone among 173 countries in the world by the World Risk Report 2012.
To address the emerging challenges, ahead of the global trend in early 2000s, Bangladesh has crafted a comprehensive risk reduction approach covering all hazards, all phases of disaster management, in both rural and urban setting, involving all sectors and actors, at all levels of governance, Since last decades the country has been venturing a disaster management paradigm shift from the conventional relief and rehabilitation to a more comprehensive  approach  putting emphasis on risk reduction and climate change. This paradigm shift has helped Bangladesh reduce the cyclone-related casualties from hundreds of thousands in the seventies, to tens of thousands in the eighties and nineties, to merely thousand in the cyclone Sidr and Aila.

The writer is Deputy Director General & Commandant (PRL), Ansar-VDP Academy, Safipur, Gazipur.

 

Disaster management in Bangladesh and its challenge

Bangladesh is a highly disaster-prone country. Particularly in the context of widespread poverty, disasters often assume great proportions; both risk and vulnerability to various disasters are extensive. Some disasters, such as floods and drought, are annual and cause national loss at a regular frequency. Others, such as cyclones and earthquakes, wait in the offing, and it is not hard to imagine the destruction that could occur in a severe earthquake in the rapidly growing and densely populated urban areas. There is thus an important need for disaster management in this context where disasters are a part of life. Coordination and preparedness are the two main challenges of disaster management. Coordination and disaster preparedness and collaboration in disaster management among public and private sector agencies and organizations at the community, city, local, state, national, and even international levels have become increasingly urgent. To overcome these challenges, survey of emergency managers on the role of coordination needs to be emphasised. The role of the coordination in emergency management is of special importance. The impact of coordination on emergency management is a topic of great concern during all phases of a disaster, but is particularly critical during the final phase of disaster preparedness and the initial phase of disaster response. Coordination helps emergency managers to prepare and respond to disasters, especially in the immediate post-impact stage of a disaster. Improving coordination is a requisite to overcome disaster management and its challenge. In response to the question as to how coordination might be improved, 93 percent of emergency managers responded that training is the most important means to improve coordination. Typical responses on improving coordination among emergency managers include the following: To improve coordination, ensure lower level managers know the system and can take command. Coordination can always be improved. And this can be done through more drills which involve all levels of government. To take someone off their primary assignment to participate in training or tabletop exercise requires a replacement. Coordination can be improved by achieving common communications protocols, real-time field training and brief and concise written policies and procedures that are Web-based shared and are updated at least once a year. As for the community, improvement can be achieved by the CERT programme. This training is designed to prepare the community in the event of a catastrophic disaster and residents are trained to help their family and neighbors in a disaster. Improving coordination with the private Sector is also important. In response to the question as to how to improve coordination with the private sector, 85 percent of the emergency managers responded that there should be more proactive approaches to include the private sector. Examples of proactive approaches include the following: Providing training, education, and information for the private sector prior to disaster. Use of memorandum of agreement (MOA) with relevant private sector organizations that detail the nature of coordination and responsibilities of all parties. Establishing trust with the private sector prior to a disaster to facilitate communication during a disaster. Creating and expanding partnerships with private-sector volunteers. Creating a system of continuous monitoring of the community to increase awareness of new private-sector groups and organizations that should be involved. Including private sector representatives on government emergency preparedness committees to work together to develop policies and standardize emergency procedures and operations. Again improving coordination with the media is another aspect which we can take in to cognizance and consideration. In response to the question as to how might the media assist in emergency coordination before, during, and after disasters, most emergency managers felt that coordination with the media is essential to effective disaster management. Respondents noted the following ways to improve coordination with the media: Including media representative and those journalists whose responsibility is to report on disaster in government sponsored emergency management coordination training sessions. Developing a closer working relationship between first responders and the media. Developing a closer working relationship between designated government agencies for disaster response and the media. Embedding media representatives within the disaster management organizations and community level disaster drills and exercises. Developing a plan to increase the mutual effort on the part of media and emergency managers to provide accurate information in a consistent and timely manner before, during, and after disasters. Developing a plan to reduce turnover among disaster reporters to improve continuity of public reporting. Effective disaster preparedness and management require coordination and collaboration among public and private agencies and organizations on the local, state national and even international levels. The massive potential and actual loss of life and property due to natural and man-made disasters compel emergency planners and managers to improve upon existing disaster readiness and response plans and actions to minimize the devastating consequences. The technical, resource, political, and bureaucratic problems that surfaced seemed to be eclipsed by the woeful lack of coordination and collaboration among key elements in the emergency response systems. For example, the lack of inter-operable communication systems, the inadequate training and equipment, and the interagency rivalries, may well have been addressed prior to the disasters through intra- and interagency coordination and collaboration among rank and file. Bangladesh has made steady progress in achieving MDGs as reflected in the various socioeconomic indicators in recent years despite having extreme exposure to natural hazards. The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters estimated that close to 75 million people have been directly affected by natural disasters between 2000 and 2011 with economic damage of US $ 5.8 billion. A combination of geographical location and topography in one hand, and dense population, unplanned rapid urbanization with persistent poverty in the other, the natural hazard events often results in high loss of life and economic damages. Effects of climate change exaggerating the frequency and intensity of disaster impacts. Therefore, Bangladesh remains to be fifth most natural disaster prone among 173 countries in the world by the World Risk Report 2012. To address the emerging challenges, ahead of the global trend in early 2000s, Bangladesh has crafted a comprehensive risk reduction approach covering all hazards, all phases of disaster management, in both rural and urban setting, involving all sectors and actors, at all levels of governance, Since last decades the country has been venturing a disaster management paradigm shift from the conventional relief and rehabilitation to a more comprehensive approach putting emphasis on risk reduction and climate change. This paradigm shift has helped Bangladesh reduce the cyclone-related casualties from hundreds of thousands in the seventies, to tens of thousands in the eighties and nineties, to merely thousand in the cyclone Sidr and Aila. The writer is Deputy Director General Commandant (PRL), Ansar-VDP Academy, Safipur, Gazipur.