1. Strengthening Disaster Readiness
Moving from capacity to capability
Peter Scott-Bowden
Senior Emergency Advisor
Operations Department of Emergencies
World Food Programme
17 November 2018

2. BACKGROUND 21st Century Disasters
Frequency and magnitude of disasters have increased substantially, affecting over 225 million people every year.
Combination of drivers:
Climate Change, financial & social instability, demographic growth, urbanization;
Trans-boundary threats (pandemics, nuclear incidents);
Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes;
Globalization and fast spread of social networks add momentum.
Disasters disproportionately affect developing countries.

3. EFFECTS OF DISASTERS All disasters have cascading effects 3rd Order
1st Order
2nd Order
3rd Order
Disruption of Critical Services
e.g. food, transport network, energy (amongst others)
Overload of services
Absenteeism
Stress on Security and Govt
Impact of event:
Destruction
Death, injuries
Emergence of Fear

4. LARGE SCALE DISASTERS Disasters response characteristics
Large scale disasters (LSDs) must be planned not just at the national and provincial and local levels BUT also for large urban contexts
LSDs demand a multi-sectoral response:
different ministries
different specialised agencies and programmes
dependent upon both common ops platforms such as national disaster management centres providing leadership and a clear and well functioning supply chain system
LSDs can affect regions + countries , but there is growing recognition that “whole of society” planning is required in disaster management
Confidence and trust enhancement between different actors including the military and civil authorities, private and public sectors amongst others
Will stress supply chain systems and access to critical services
Will stress leadership at all levels

5. Protection of minorities elderly, people with disabilities
WHOLE OF SOCIETY APPROACH
Key components
Gender
Rights-based management
Protection of minorities
Accountability
elderly, people with disabilities
Health
Defense
(a) Whole-of-society approach
READINESS
RECOVERY
RESPONSE
(b) Planning at all levels
Water
Local Gvt
District
National
(c) Critical interdependencies
(d) Severity-based response
Governments
Law & Order
(e) Respect for ethical norms
Local
Community
National
Regional bodies
Int’ NGOs
Int’l
Org.
Food
Civil Society
Int’l community
SMEs
Grassroot
Large
Finance
Businesses
Energy
Transport
Telecom

6. To download the book, visit:
TOWARDS A SAFER WORLD
Practical approaches to advance disaster preparedness
bio-security and animal health
community level preparedness
civil-military coordination
travel and tourism
health
communications
logistics
humanitarian assistance
private sector preparedness
whole of government planning
multi-sector preparedness in Asia
11 Themes
7 key tenets
Whole of Society
Multi-hazard
Political Support
Integration
Risk Communications
Centralized Planning / Decentralized Execution
Sharing of Lessons Learned
To download the book, visit:

7. Strengthening Disaster Readiness
Moving from capacity to capability
Peter Scott-Bowden
Senior Emergency Advisor
Operations Department of Emergencies
World Food Programme
17 November 2018