Market-based micro-insurance solutions for disaster preparedness - Anuj Jain

"We need to design and offer micro-insurance products and services through people's institutions such as SHG federations; subsidised by the State and backed with financial education."  - Anuj Jain, Senior Fellow, Coady International Institute, Canada

We did something unusual. When we got an offer of Euro half a million grant from one of the largest insurance companies (donated by its employees and matched by the corporation); we politely asked if they would rather be interested in partnering with us to design and offer insurance to the Tsunami affected against future disasters. And to our pleasant surprise, they agreed. The logic of offering insurance against disaster is to try and find some market based solutions to disaster preparedness. It was an experiment. We jointly worked to design and offer life, assets, income and health insurance. Some of the key lessons were to know that the affected people preferred bundled products (combined insurance) that covered the family instead of individuals. The cost of sale and administration was brought down by having first layer of processing done by the SHGs and their federations, and also the local partner NGOs playing the capacity building and product education role. Within months, 200,000 policies were sold!  And the first test came rather quickly. A cyclone hit the same areas in 2008, within six months of insurance services being bought. And the company ended up shelling out over a million dollars in claims; bearing the losses. The product design and premiums were redesigned as a result, and the demand remained.

But the basic lesson that was understood was that it is much harder to pursue active market viability without participation and subsidization by the State. Well, why should State subsidize the premiums? the logic is a simple one. When citizens get affected by the disasters, the State has to take care of the response in any case. Hence, why not invest part of the resources in insurance? This logic is slowly been accepted by some governments, by indirectly subsidizing insurance premiums while offering the products to the poor and the vulnerable. But there is a long way to go for universalization of coverage. And private sector companies are unlikely to come forth and bear the losses in the longer run, even if small losses in the interim remain rather minuscule compered to the profits they make in the market, otherwise. Cross subsidization is possible, but perhaps undesirable; or so we learnt to an extent.

We also realized that life insurance and assets insurance are easier to design; health insurance are much harder; mostly because of weak health delivery infrastructure and malpractices that somehow appear when health service providers realize that their clients have health insurance.

We need macro level dialogue and understanding between the NGO, the private sector and the State to design and offer micro-insurance products and services through people's institutions such as SHG federations; reducing the cost of administration and perhaps, partly subsidized by the State, to make the products business viable for the private companies. In addition, there is the need to have financial education for people to realize the importance of insurance and to assess products that suit their situation and requirements.

And, last, but not the least, it is very important for the front line staff of the insurance companies to believe in micro-insurance market segment and see the poor as their worthy clients; and not see this as 'charity'. Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid need not be their primary motivation, social good needs to be the guiding principle that can help them build social capital with the society at large.

Address financial and manpower problems for preparedness - Gyana Das

"We need to address the financial as well as dedicated specialised manpower problems in order to push forward preparedness at all levels." -  Gyana Das, Commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Odisha, India

There was hardly any talk regarding tsunami preparedness in Odisha till the tsunami struct the Indian coast in 2004, though we had included tsunami preparedness in a reference book prepared by OSDMA for school children.

At OSDMA level, we prepared an action plan under GoI-UNDP DRM Programme which included:

• Mapping of villages prone to tsunami (328 villages in six coastal districts)
• GIS mapping of habitations in these 328 villages
• Networking with community volunteers through a database with telephone numbers so that warnings could be immediately disseminated.
• Inclusion of tsunami management plan in village/GP/Block/District level DM Plans
• Awareness and capacity building programmes at each level 

After a decade, we have not been able to progress much though the level of preparedness for flood and cyclone has reached new heights. Major problems have been mostly financial as well as dedicated specialised manpower. Due importance/thrust has also not been given.

We need to give importance to these issues and push forward the preparedness at each level so that we are not caught in an awkward situation in the time of need.

Public awareness is the building block for DRR - Anil Sinha

"Public awareness is the most fundamental building block of disaster risk reduction, and organised planning and investments towards this are critically important in the fight against disasters." -Anil Sinha, Vice-Chair, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, India

Although much has been done in the last ten years, from the state and district perspective, an area least addressed, both for action and budget allocations, is public awareness.  Knowledge abut risk is the first step towards disaster reduction.  However, in India the kind of public awareness and education campaigning required at national level led by NDMA and at state and sub state levels by SDMAs and other agencies has not happened. There is thus inadequate understanding of hazards and risks.  In Bihar itself, since there has been no major earthquake for 80 years, other than small events of 1988 and 2011, people have low recollection and appreciation of earthquake risks.  The problem is acute for such events that take place at long intervals, and for risks such as those arising from climate change, since there is no precedent. 

Building codes have been improved, guidelines for safe construction and non structural mitigation have been prepared, but basic demand for safety is not there since people are not aware and interested. People here need to understand that there are different kinds and levels of risk in North Bihar, Central Bihar and in other parts. There is a need for better public knowledge than the mere name of the hazard, though less than what a professional needs to know. At the local level the range of risks is lesser than the national spectrum. The High Powered Committee had identified thirty two hazards for India, but only about twelve are prominently valid in Bihar. This also means that there is greater need as well as scope to have better awareness and preparedness for these twelve.  

With the philosophy of 'be the change you want to see', we have embarked on office disaster management planning starting from our own offices. Within this realm also there is much to be done in government agencies cutting across all sectors such as health, education, rural development etc.; PSUs; private sector and so on. We initiated an intensive programme for training of officers across various sectors, as these duty-bearers are the spine of any change we want to bring about in the system.  This started as a one day training, carried out at least twice a month.  The interest from participants has been immense and they are demanding that the duration of the training be increased to 3 or 5 days.  We ourselves are going slow on this because the participation is higher in training programmes of shorter duration and we want to reach the maximum number of people before embarking on more in-depth training. 

In parallel we have invested heavily on preparation of primers, calendars, booklets, comic books, posters and outreach in mass media on disaster risk reduction. I believe that the need of the hour is to create a foundation with knowledge, appreciation and understanding that goes beyond the existing basic perception of disasters. Informed decision making by the general public and all stakeholders will lead to a cultural of prevention that we have spoken about for so long.  We are also working closely with the inter media committee at the state level for pushing this agenda. 

Lastly, generation of local content through research and documentation is a priority need for creation of appropriate knowledge tools and awareness campaigns. While we are very rich in traditional knowledge that has been socially validated over generations, it has remained oral and anecdotal, leading to a situation where we are sourcing our knowledge base from alien contexts of the developed countries. This is currently becoming very evident in the work on climate change action planning. I believe that valuing, collating and promoting such knowledge will yield most appropriate, cost effective and impacting tools in our efforts for disaster reduction.

Are we really building back better? - Anindya Sarkar

"Most housing, infrastructure development and structural vulnerability reduction are concentrated on only post-disaster and not in developmental policy and implementation. There is a bare minimal effort to create disaster-resilient housing stock, roads and infrastructure. So are we really building back better?" - Anindya Sarkar, Architect Planner, India

I, Anindya Sarkar, am an Architect Planner have been working as a Consultant in the fields of Shelter, WASH, Infrastructure development, guiding post disaster recovery and DRR with various organisations including the World Bank, UNDP, NDMA, State Govt. departments and various I/NGOs in India for about 15 years now. At the time of Tsunami of Dec 2004, I was in the province of Odisha working in UNDP in the DRR Shelter project towards promotion of appropriate climate change adaptive multi-hazard resilient construction technologies.

In the beginning of January 2005, I reached the province of Tamil Nadu, and on behalf of the UN (which later became UNTRS) led a team in conducting an intense field assessment of the habitat scenario and evolving shelter rehabilitation strategies. The proposal for shelter rehabilitation was primarily based on this assessment. We formed the 8 member Advisory Committee on housing in which I played a lead role in bringing out the Technical guidelines and Housing designs on behalf of Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

Post Tsunami of 2004, I also helped in designing and guiding WASH rehabilitation efforts, in Baratang islands, in the Andaman 7 Nicobar islands.

I would sum up the following:

Achievements:

The innumerable disasters that south and south east Asia have been pounded with in the last fifteen years along with concentrated efforts  from the administration have been able to put DRR as a strong agenda. The sensitisation regarding how to face calamities and design post-disaster recovery programmes among all stakeholders from Govt. at the centre to the state govts, IMD as well as local communities in India have been an achievement.

Challenges: 

Having said the above, however, mainstreaming of CCA and DRR in our developmental policies and programmes are still awaited. This, I feel, is the strongest challenge ahead. For example, in India, the most popular Indira Awaas Yojana targeted for housing the rural poor and the Rajiv Awaas Yojana for housing the urban poor do not necessarily account for basic DRR features in the grant, other than a simple statement as a guideline, nor is the grant varying for hazard prone regions.

Ground level capacity building is still required in terms of developing the required skill sets.

In a post disasters recovery project, speed of delivery is the most important agenda but the quality of intervention takes a back seat. Speed is of course of highest priority but then adequate measures for quality control are still amiss. Are we really Building Back Better?

Message to WCDRR:

Especially in the fields of Housing, Infrastructure Development and Structural Vulnerability Reduction, most and almost always all efforts are concentrated post disasters as part of Recovery projects, and not included in developmental policies and implementations of developmental projects. Barring a few projects for example, the WB funded National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, there is bare minimal effort to improve the housing stock, roads and infrastructure in a manner so that these are more disaster-resilient.

Importance of early warning and community response strategies - Pradipta Kumar Mohanty

"Investment in early warning systems are proving vital time and again. Future resilience requires community based DRR and climate change adaptation." - Pradipta Kumar Mohanty, Development Professional, India

• Tsunami 20004: Ten years on, it is important to reflect on what the tsunami has taught us various lessons about importance of EW, Preparedness and Community Coping & Response Strategies. 
• One clear lesson reinforced by the tsunami has been the importance of investing in disaster risk reduction (DRR) at both global and local levels. For a country of 1.2 billion, where nearly one-third of the population lives in coastal areas – at risk from not only tsunamis, but also cyclones and storm surges – these early warning systems are proving vital time and again. 
• In January 2005, The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) -- a global blueprint for disaster risk reduction efforts with a ten-year plan -- was adopted by 168 governments. Its goal was to substantially reduce disaster losses by 2015 by building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. 
• In June 2006, the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System became active, consisting of 25 seismographic stations -- used to detect earthquakes early -- relaying information to 26 national tsunami information centers. This has resulted in timely evacuations of mass populations when alerts are sounded. We can remember the successful management of Phailin and Hudhud Cyclones by Odisha and Andhra and the recent developments in early warning (e.g. Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu).

Future resilience requires community based DRR & climate change adaptation; gearing of preparedness activities based upon HRVA; development of various coping strategies and inclusion of those in developmental planning; massive awareness and IEC in Health, Education and Disaster Rapid Response.

Need a disaster management system that mentors not just monitors - Shriji Kurup

"We need a disaster management system that 'guides, mentors, monitors, evaluates and has a power to make corrections or give justice to the vulnerable' rather than just a monitoring system capturing or recording events/process." - Shriji Kurup,  Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Chennai

I. Reflections on the 'early warning' and vulnerability reduction vis a vis new challenges that have emerged for disaster risk reduction

• Early Warning systems have improved in terms of communication-operational structure and technology. However, these 'early warnings' are largely to predict natural hazards. I would like to look at 'early warning' in a broader sense of early warnings against unplanned and unsafe development or early warnings against human induced hazards. In this context, we may not have really improved.
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs): EIAs are also a sort or 'early warning legal document' on possible impacts and mitigation needed while siting projects. We could very well call these "Early Impact Assessments" -- literally they are supposed to be 'early' assessments against environmental destruction. 
• Over the last 10 years, along the tsunami affected coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, we see a pattern in the emergence of mega power plant projects, ports and huge infrastructure establishments; often coming up at the cost and destruction of coastal ecology/landscape, traditional livelihoods and making the area more vulnerable to various natural hazards.
• A review of the EIAs that have been submitted/accepted by different proponents in the tsunami affected coastal districts can therefore help in quantifying whether they "warn" about the impacts or do they ignore the impacts. What are the risks produced and how are they going to be addressed.
• Similarly, reflecting about the Uttarakhand floods - hazard - (2013) - did it become a subsequent disaster because people could not be evicted due to a lack of Early Warning Equipment/Machinery or was it that safe development norms were ignored and EIAs in this area did not adequately warn about such risks?
• Early Warnings of the Violent Human Hazard - the terrorist attacks and mass massacre of people: A new emerging threat world-wide is that of multi-stakeholder conflicts and violence that manifests as brutal killing of innocent people. This also results in large infrastructure damage, disruption of services, mass migration of people and a non-functional society that lives in fear and disparity. This situation is certainly more destructive than the situation when a natural hazard like tsunami, earthquake occurs. But are such terrorist and violent attacks being considered as "Human made Disasters". Would current DRR measures consider addressing "Human Violence" as an emerging aspect for reducing risks and vulnerabilities.
• The recent terror attacks in Assam (Kokrajhar and Sonitpur) happened in spite of 'early warning' by intelligence agencies. The terrorist attacks of school children in Pakistan is also an 'early warning' of how new human made hazards are going to evolve in societies.

II. Need to improve engagement of citizens in development planning, monitoring and implementation

• There is a scope for participatory EIAs; scope to involve citizens in several aspects of monitoring "development" and even engaging them for disaster risk reduction plans. 
• The Biological Diversity Act (2002), for example, has legal provisions to create Biodiversity Management Committees at village level and also provisions to create their biodiversity management plans. Using these legal provisions, we could build a society that is resilient and nurtures eco-friendly development. 
• Similarly, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2011 Notification has several important provisions to ensure safe coastal development and engage coastal communities/ district CRZ committees in coastal development planning and monitoring. One of the provisions is that the industries given permission for operating their business in the CRZ areas need to submit a six monthly compliance report on public domain. This information on the compliance undertaken and measures undertaken for CSR and also for CSR planning can be shared with the local community and engage their participation for better CSR planning and conflict resolution. All these contribute to peaceful societies.
• Citizen action in social movements, clean up campaigns is also increasingly needed to promote peaceful and cooperating societies. This is also a way to improve vigilance and build a social barrier against spread of violent thoughts, dialogues and actions. 

III. Other observations and suggestions:

• Analyse HFA Country reports and other global decadal assessments (e.g. of global warming, pollution levels, literacy, poverty, MDGs, ecosystem assessments, HDI, etc.) to cross-check, validate the status and identify trends as to whether globally there is a movement towards ‘safe development’ and resilience. Whether global developmental patterns are risk reducing or risk producing - in which sectors, ecosystems and to what extent.
• Like the concept of ISO, emerge a global brand, standards, guidelines for ‘safe development / sustainable development’ that focus more on processes rather than the product. E.g. A building in itself may be earthquake resistant but the processes employed in making the building might have caused several risks / damages. This concept has potential for measuring developmental processes, quantifying risks, costs and benefits. Have provisions to have Certification of "sustainable, safe and resilient" products or processes and incentives people engaged in such actions. 
• Target DRR education to those groups who are in position to contribute substantially and whose approach matters most in influencing developmental patterns and E.g. industries and corporate sector, manufacturing sector, political parties.
• Invest in traditional knowledge systems and leverage from existing cultural wisdom to create a culture of safety and eco-friendly living at individual and societal level.
• Identify global hotspots which are having the most risk index and form special partnerships, programs, packages to encourage global contribution towards improving coping and adaptive capacities in such regions and ecosystems.
• Consider special focus on and global plan of action for island nations.
• Prepare a "State of Disaster Preparedness - Report to the People" by National and State Governments. This should help bring in mechanisms to generate national reports from local and regional level inputs. Incorporate indicators that are measureable, quantifiable and verifiable. Consolidate information periodically using GIS based process and provide open access information database that help citizens world over to visualize better the vulnerabilities – temporal and spatial.
• Explore synergizing HFA with other UN Conventions and action plans (that may also culminate in 2014-15 and those that contribute to risk reduction, sustainable development, environment protection etc. E.g UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), Rio+20, Climate Change discussions, biodiversity conventions, Earth Charter etc.).
• Explore evolving ethical frameworks to address disaster response and risk coverages.
• Allocate more technical and financial resources for developing the capacities of the officials mandated to look after disaster management duties at the district and state levels.
• Form a consortium of NGOs / technical bodies to assist the government bodies and local administration in assessment of risks, monitoring existing risk reducing programs, etc. These could effectively work as voluntary back end offices also
• Analyse organizational preparedness of NGOs, CBOs in our country and identify strengths and weakness. It would also be helpful to identify duplication of works, significant gaps and opportunities for improvements, in the context of disaster management.
• Recognize exemplary work in disaster management, sustainable-safe development and create brand ambassadors for carrying forward the message for disaster risk reduction.
• Evolve programmes on Disaster management (e.g Disaster management clubs, First aiders, search and rescue workers etc.) in colleges and form a cadre of well trained youths.
• Increase focus on Gram Panchayats for participatory planning, allocating finances and human resource development for improving skills, particularly in safe handling, use of technology etc.
• Target industries and corporate sector for investments in research on disaster risk reduction, industrial safety, manufacturing process, organizational preparedness and pro-active contribution to safe infrastructure creation.
• Analyse existing schemes / programs in Panchayats and quantify how these help in reducing vulnerabilities and can improve capacities. Train grass root members in vulnerability assessments and creation of micro-level information for planning regional level DRR measures.

IV. Suggestions/Recommendations for developing a monitoring mechanism for capturing progress at all levels (multi-stakeholder framework)

More than monitoring progress at all levels, it is the question of what to do when it is recorded that progress is not there? In India, the majority of problems are not due to non-availability of monitoring systems, but more because of in-effective implementation and non-punishment of violators. (e.g. A classic case is the Coastal Regulation Zone 1991 norms where mechanism for safe coastal development is available, but yet coastal areas of our country continue to be pushed into increasing vulnerability and risks due to violations of CRZ and also due to the violators not being brought to justice or the wrong doings corrected).

Therefore, in disaster management context, we need a system that 'guides, mentors, monitors, evaluates and has a power to make corrections or give justice to the vulnerable' rather than just a monitoring system capturing or recording events/process.

• Public stakeholder meetings and consultations: Design public consultation meetings at local level and state level to share actual observations, learnings and shortcomings.
• Crowd sourcing technology and open access platforms: Use IT and public involvement to capture ground level data, information and situations and make available on real time basis preferably with options to view them on a temporal and geographical space. E.g. google earth images with photographs of existing structural vulnerabilities in different areas can bring out patterns or risks, violations and corrections required across the country.
• GIS enable query systems, data capturing systems to visualise data and current status – both temporally and spatially.
• Engaging legal professionals and judiciary more proactively and voluntarily to observe trends, events around them and take legal course for corrective actions for risks created due to unplanned developmental activities or violations. 

Disaster management planning and drills, but no cultural shift yet

Role of local organisations

Need convergence on preparedness and task force approach - Joseph P. Sahayam

"Preparedness is still not sufficient because in the context of climate change preparedness has to look at scenarios of uncertainty, and address needs of eventualities that we still do not know." - Joseph P. Sahayam, CASA, Tamil Nadu, India

The works carried out in the last ten years have led to very good levels of preparedness activities.  The challenge is to maintain the level of preparedness over time in an area where such disasters are not frequent phenomenon. 

For this purpose, the Panchayat has to be the key for all programming. In our work we manage programmes in a cluster mode, each cluster covering four to five villages. However, in larger government approach the individual Panchayats need to be the basic unit. 

Another requirement is that all agencies should follow the same approach of preparedness and task forces. As of now each agency creates its own system and there is confusion at the level of the community and you cannot even put all units together to get a consistent larger system. Such convergence has to be brought in through closer cooperation amongst the agencies, and between the government and NGOs.  As of now people working in NGOs and government departments are not even aware of each other's programmes and this needs to be addressed through closer collaboration. 

NGOs being aware of and tapping into government schemes is the best way for mainstreaming of our risk reduction activities into developmental programming. Such mainstream according to me is the only way ahead, and all key sectors of development have to make this happen. 

Invest more on local organisations, rather than international experts - Guillaume Chantry

"Local communities, local organisations know more about their situation, their needs than 'experts'. Can funds be better used to consolidate local organisations rather wasting time and resources on hiring international experts?" -Guillaume Chantry, Development Workshop France, Hue, Vietnam

In Bandah Aceh, 6 months after the Tsunami, the landscape was still rubble. 

As many International Organisations did data collection, planning and recruiting of experts from the world, some local Organisations (like UpLink) werealready rebuilding resistant and well adapted houses with families, in a collective and participatory process, from a simple office in the suburbs.

Indeed, the situation has changed in most of the disaster areas. There is better warning and information of population - often associated with Action Plans. Yet, the same waste of money/energy still happens when the big disaster comes (like in Philippines after Haiyan). Local communities, local organisations who know more about their situation, their needs than 'experts'. If all these funds were used to consolidate local organisations in prevention (and reconstruction…) and not for developed country 'experts', great progress will be made for the protection of vulnerable people!

Continued post-disaster education changes children's futures - Annie George

"Simply ensuring the children go back to school and creating an awareness of the outside world has brought in a remarkable change in the future of the next generations." -Annie George, BEDROC, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India

It is quite well known that the fishing communities prefer their sons joining them in their fishing activities at an early age of 12. So, while the level of literacy, as measured by the indicator of knowing to read and write, shows Nagapattinam at a very high level of more than 80%, we also had a lot of drop- outs by the 7th std., which was not tracked anywhere. After the Tsunami, a lot of NGOs who were closely involved with the communities, started campaigns on resending children to schools. They also held bridge classes and tuition centres. This has had a great impact on education and today most children are in school till at least the 10th Standard.

Although this has also been supported through the opening up of the external world through the TV, internet etc., the focused attempt, in the course of two- three years, of the external players like the NGOs, has made a vast difference in their outlook on education. This has opened up more channels of development and today we have a lot of youngsters, including girls, who have opted for service sectors like hotel management, engineering, agriculture etc. largely due to this external influence.

Move from guidelines to firm binding commitments on DRR - Hari Krishna Nibanupudi

"Move from guidelines to firm binding commitments for National Governments and International Organisations with decisive actions to integrate disaster resilience perspectives in development and infrastructure investments; collaborate and cooperate locally and regionally with a focus on reducing risks; invest on local capacities and increase the role of local communities in land use planning and development activities." - Hari Krishna Nibanupudi, Kathmandu, Nepal

On the day of the Tsunami...

It was about 08:30 AM on the Sunday Morning of 26 December, 2004. I was entering a temple for morning prayers in Hyderabad. My phone rang. It was Raghu from ActionAid on the other side. He sounded anxious, asking me whether I watched the news. I said no and asked what the matter is. What he told me made me to rush to my office, Oxfam in Secunderabad. Exactly 24hrs later I was at Pudupakkam village, one of the most affected by Tsunami in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu for an initial assessment. What do you assess when everything is grounded? Who to talk to, when half of the village is mourning for the other half? Finding nothing to do, I started helping some young children, who were trying to drag some usable stuff from the rubbles of houses. Few hours later, some of the villagers gathered around me. Not many outsiders reached this village by that time. Therefore, people had lot to talk just as a means to deal with the tragedy. Walking and talking, we reached a sole surviving Tree. Involuntarily, I was holding a hand of an old man, who never spoke. After reaching the tree, I looked at him. His eyes were dry and deep. He probably exhausted his tears crying the whole day and night after losing his entire family. He was not in a position to say anything. He just wanted a reassuring human company. He held my hand for one more hour and then left. I didn’t try to stop him or tried talking to him, for, I found nothing I can do to solace him. He found his solace in his own resilience. He just wanted to be with a fellow human for some time after losing his entire family.

I returned to Chennai (Capital city of Tamil Nadu state) in the evening to attend the coordination meeting of INGOs at the office of ActionAid. I felt the surviving community of Pudupakkam in terms of composure, clarity of purpose and ability to coordinate and help each other. After some shameless indulgences in competition during the period of crisis-filled relief phase, the humanitarian agencies were able to establish a semblance of coordination to pave way for a good rehabilitation and reconstruction work.

I learnt some most important lessons after this exposure: 

• A culture and attitude of collaboration is an important means of disaster preparedness for the Government and the humanitarian agencies. In the absence of such pre-existing collaboration, the chances of shaming themselves with competitive relief marketing remain very high.
• Listening to the communities affected by disasters is an important part of humanitarian work. Being with communities in times of crisis and assisting them find their source of resilience and adaptation is as important as providing material assistance.
• The main source of resilience of communities (i.e., all of us) affected by disasters is their sense of dignity and self-worth than external charity.  The most important role of external charity is to enhance the capacities and spaces for communities to build back better by themselves. 

Challenges

•  Lack of collective will and coordination among humanitarian agencies in the initial phase of Tsunami response created confusion, chaos, duplication and wastage of relief material in the first few weeks of the response.
• The political will and determination for an effective response didn’t adequately translate in to effective administrative action (with a few exceptions) due to lack of experience of the bureaucracy in disaster response.
• Local NGOs in the affected areas lacked prior experience of disaster response and exposure to minimum standards and accountability processes

Transit shelters vis- a -vis temporary shelters - Annie George

"Spend adequate time in designing and developing transit shelters that are locally appropriate, technically safe and add to the sense of well-being of the family." -Annie George, BEDROC, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India

The only blot on how Tamil Nadu responded to the post-tsunami rehablilitation was the temporary shelters created. Given an impossibly short time frame, of 14 days, to move affected communities from the relief camps, the Administration was forced to go in for shelters that could be built fast with readily available material. The result? Bitumen sheds which was impossibly hot during the summers and fragile enough to tear during the monsoons. The initial cost of Rs. 8000/- per unit then had to be repaired twice at an incremental cost of Rs. 4000 - 6000/- each monsoon, apart from raising of the floors, rebuilding of the toilets etc. bring up the cost to Rs 24,000/-, which would have been enough to build a sound transit shelter. This would have been safer, healthier and certainly more conducive in giving the affected communities a sense of dignity after the harrowing trauma that they had just faced and were struggling to cope with.

Given the fact that shelter reconstruction, as has been seen after many such disasters, takes four to five years for completion, it is only fitting that we spend adequate time in designing and developing transit shelters that are locally appropriate, technically safe and adding to the sense of well-being of the family. In the long run, this is also cheaper as the communities can themselves handle the small repairs and maintenance work. Involving the communities in the construction of their own shelters will also contribute to their temporary income generation as well as build up their capacities on maintenance and future works required if they want to make changes in their own shelter.

Fifteen Resilience Building Action Points for 2015 and the fifteen years beyond - Loy Rego

“Let us pursue these action points in a persistent people-led, people-centred movement for resilience.” – Loy Rego, MARS Practitioner's Network, Mumbai, India 

Some reflections on from the last 3 decades of disaster reduction work inspired by the three Asian catastrophes whose decadal anniversaries we commemorate on the fifteen minimum standards we need to set for ourselves to achieve in the coming decade and a half:

1.   Effective, well functioning, Government led multi stakeholder institutional arrangements for resilience planning and implementation to tackle disaster and climate risks, at multiple levels in each country.

2.   Well resourced programmes to support implementation from national budgetary resources, enhanced by locally mobilised contributions and supplemented by external resources.

3.   An early warning system (EWS) that reaches at risk people in a timely manner with understandable messages.

4.   EWS built on a backbone of local volunteers delivering periodic public education about the system, and protective actions by individuals and communities to save lives and livelihood assets and locally appropriate protective infrastructure to evacuate people and safeguard livelihood assets.

5.   A national disaster and climate risk assessment system that can be disaggregated down to comprehensible risk maps for local jurisdictions, in  formats that aid risk informed decision making by local authorities and the people at risk.

6.   Preparedness plans at multiple levels that are developed in an inclusive manner with roles defined and confirmed for all stakeholders, which are well resourced from local budgets.

7.   Readiness at multiple levels maintained through well trained and practiced local authorities, emergency service personnel and local volunteers and a system of periodic drills and exercises.

8.   Effective land use planning and development regulation at both ecosystem level and each administrative level that respects the protective function, and the interconnectedness of ecosystems across administrative boundaries.

9.   National Building codes enforced by local authorities appropriate to local hazard profile; with professional capacities of construction sector personnel built; and shaped by a demand from homeowners; with priority assistance given to those in most at risk areas living in poor quality housing.

10. Climate and disaster proofing of local livelihoods with adaptation strategies devised and implemented that are based on localized risk assessments.

11. All new schools and hospitals built and maintained to appropriate standards of hazard resilience and, with existing schools and hospitals assessed, repaired and retrofitted to these standards.

12. Special attention be paid of the special needs and vulnerabilities of children, women, aged, people with disability, ethnic and linguistic minorities, dalits in all preparedness plans and risk reduction programs, while welcoming and valuing the leadership they bring to their own communities and multi stakeholder settings.  

13. Special attention to developing and implementing risk reduction strategies for low frequency high severity risks from earthquakes, tsunamis and technological hazards.

14. Disaster and climate resilience be effectively integrated into national and sub-national sustainable development strategies and programs, especially the national programs to implement the Sustainable Development Goals,

15.Ensure that the major group system based multi stakeholder multi constituency engagement in the development of HFA2 be transformed into continuing  involvement in its implementation at national and local levels and in related resilience building institutional arrangements.

Let us not wait for the new global framework that emerges from Sendai, nor be constrained by HFA 2 should it not contain some of these action points. Let us continue to pursue them by patient, determined efforts community by community, district by district, province by province, nation by nation in a persistent people led, people centred movement for resilience. 

Policy guidelines for transitional shelters and ecological non-negotiables - Sushma Iyengar

"Create a set of ecological non-negotiables for pre and post disaster measures; and a policy guideline for timely temporary and transitional shelter support." - Sushma Iyengar, Member, Owner Driven Reconstruction Collaborative (ODRC)

10 years have gone by since the Indian Ocean churned on Dec 26th, 2004. It must be said that there is today a more evolved understanding of Tsunamis, a higher consciousness of early warning systems, and the need for disaster preparedness in India. However, our rehabilitation processes, measures and choices continue to be primarily political, unorganized, and knee-jerk. 

10 years later areas of rehabilitation despair continue to be: 

1.  Developing a policy guideline for timely support for temporary and transitional shelters. In the absence of one, we continue to leave communities vulnerable to issues of safety, climatic variabilities, ad hoc philanthropic measures, and reduced dignity. This also leaves the state and civil society in a weakened position to institutionalise sustainable, long term shelter rehabilitaion measures.

2.  We continue to neglect local governments. Acknowledging, recognizing, integrating and empowering the essential role of local governments, both in the preparedness and in the post disaster relief and rehabilitation should have become an essential aspect of recovery processes. Likewise, we should have, by now, going by the Tamil Nadu experience,  learnt how to relate, integrate and perhaps  regulate the role of  indigenous systems of local governance - community institutions, traditional panchayats, self help groups etc who may carry tremendous credibility with the affected communities.

3.  Surrendering to the basic premises, values and principles of environmentally sustainable pre and post disaster measures. Whether it is in creating bulwarks against future disasters, developing settlements and habitats, land use patterns, introducing new livelihood options, or shelter reconstruction, our impulses, policy choices, and implementation methodologies do not yet have a set of ecological non negotiables.

Respect social realities; bridge environment, disasters and development in policy action - Janki Andharia

“We continue to look at disasters as a single, one off event. Policy action must be based on an appreciation of the deep connection between environment, disasters and development.” - Janki Andharia, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

I happened to be in Port Blair on a holiday when the Indian Ocean tsunami swept through the Nicobar Islands, south of Port Blair, causing enormous destruction. I could visit Carnicobar and Nancowry restricted areas, on 1^st January and had an opportunity to learn about the salutatory rescue efforts of the Army, Navy and Air force.

A disaster exposes the underbelly of a society- it is rightly said. The administration was weak and depended heavily on the armed forces leaving one wondering about the massive resources that come to the Islands precisely because they are viewed as being “remote” and tribal communities, as “primitive “ and in need of development. Were there any lessons?

During the next 3 years, working closely with the Nicobari tribals and the administration, one learnt what was going on in the name of governance. The utter insensitivity of untrained local officials to the Nicobari culture, their aspirations was a major challenge in conceiving and implementing relief and rehabilitation programmes.

 The recovery processes in the A&N islands have resulted in drastic changes in the physical and cultural environment of the Nicobarese communities, caused largely by a huge influx of cash in a traditional, largely subsistence-based economy and newer (read corrupt) ways of transaction. They have learnt that this is what democratic governments do!!

Lesson: Clearly external agents and government officials needed to give credence to the way people experience and construct their social realities. This appreciation of context and acknowledgement of the special and distinctive social circumstances of each ethnic group, each community or settlement would have aided the discovery of their particular assets and abilities by those in the line of duty. Such an appreciation would involve moving away from the dominant perspective of viewing them as ‘backward, primitive’ and understanding their highly evolved traditional wisdom and also recognise the strengths of their cultural norms and practices.

 The gap between what is professed in the name of recovery and what actually transpires is unacceptably wide- and this duality epitomises governance across the world- and surely world leaders must work on ways of addressing this gap.

While mainstreaming DRR is an oft repeated mantra, development processes seem to be driving the planet towards destruction, “rendering the world unsafe”. (Many traditional cultures believe that these disasters are a “sign”).

However- within policy practice we continue to look at disasters as a single, one off event. Despite a large body of literature produced especially after the tsunami- both on lessons learnt and best practices- their internalisation remains weak- reflecting political will of a state or a nation. 

Decision making continues to be driven by economic imperatives of profit and the environment on which life on the planet depends, is plundered. The challenge of guiding policy action based on an appreciation of the deep connection between environment, disasters and development-cannot be undermined – is a clear lesson. 

There is a very large body of literature that provides fascinating insights on what needs to be done- relevant only if the national and world leaders care and mean what they say!

Cost benefit analysis of DRR investments - Komal Kantariya

"Systematic Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of investments in DRR and preparedness to strengthen practice as integral part of development." - Komal Kantariya, UNDP, Shimla, India

I take this opportunity to highlight the need for a systematic Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of investments in DRR and preparedness. Many investments have gone in to various DRR programme and a diverse set of agencies are associated with these. CBA offers opportunities to better understand the factors that contribute to risk reduction and identify the emerging needs of various stakeholders.This will also help improve DRR planning and investments in various sectors, including mainstreaming efforts. More importantly, this will help strengthen an institutional perception of and practice on DRR as an integral part of development planning rather than a standalone sector or departmental priority.

Children's DRR - CCA groups as part of local governance - Ray Kancharla

"Form children groups for DRR and CCA implementation and this will guarantee future safety." - Pushpendu, Children's Group Leader, Coastal Village

Pushpendu (15) and Krishna Kumar (16) who are both leaders of Children Groups in their respective villages recommend that in every village there must be a Children Group whose leaders should be represented in the local governance. Because of this children are safe without any risk of child labour too. They led the local mitigation issues by campaigns and piloting embankment restoration through mangroves. 

For the visually impaired Kalpana in the deep Himalayan range, no development gain has reached her till disaster struck. It is the disaster risk reduction through Child Friendly Space in her village that introduced her to mainstream. She is now in the sustainable institutional care. Kalpana said "I feel today like a human being. I received care, protection and know that my future is assured".

- Ray Kancharla, Save the Children, India

Create an environment where all play their role; and allocate sufficient DRR funds - Munish Kaushik

"Allocate sufficient resources to risk reduction, rather only when lives are claimed. Consider the world as one. Stop being hyocritical and put the interests of every last person ahead of economic interests." - Munish Kaushik, Cordaid, New Delhi, India

Lessons

• One of the MOST important aspects of disaster preparedness is 'Early Warning". We have achieved quite a lot in relation to Cyclone (Phalin and Hudhud) and seen the results also in terms of reduced number of deaths, but MUCH more needs to be achieved in case of rains/floods/drought and other water/weather related disasters. In fact, considering the recent violence, we are NOT handling 'manmade' disasters and linking early warning with it. Strange!!!
• Considering our experiences in North Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in flood affected communities, 'technology' and 'science' is NOT a problem. We can generate information, do analysis and predict. The worst problem is getting that information to local communities in simple form and in real time. Even if information reaches, either its too vague to decide or too late. There have been some demonstrations (40 villages) done by agencies like PGVS/Christian Aid/Cordaid, which needs to be scaled up. Communication is the key. 
• In terms of Structure, lower level authorities like "Panchayats" must be strengthened. This has to be done. Capacity Building and equipping them(PRI) with Information, equipments and resources is necessary. And not just from 'Response" point of view, but also from Risk Reduction" perspective. 
• National programmes like MGNREGA, IAG, NRLM- all must have by-default screened through Risk Reduction lens. We wonder why is it not done? And success of these programmes can be assessed by this simple indicator whether "Risk" of communities has reduced apart from economic or infrastructural development. 
• School safety is the key. It must be a Mandatory now in every school. Not just in Syllabus but necessary resources must be allocated to make school safer especially after recent militant attacks and all. 

New challenges:

• Considering the size of country and need, appropriate skill and know-how is not available. So, we really need to invest in making DRR popular and create a human Force which can deliver risk reduction efforts at ground level. 
• Lots of things are happening in scattered manner. One gentleman said DRR is an Orchestra where different instruments" need to play in a synchronized manner. Now, the biggest challenge is how to bring these instruments (Education/Health/Defense/NGOs/Judiciary/Administration/Communities/Private sector/Academic institutions) together and more so, create an environment where all play their role as assigned with best of their capacities. Ideal! Aspiring for it.

Humanitarian energy is amazing, but knowledge management remains a challenge - Vikas Goyal

"Knowledge management of work on the ground remains a challenge. We badly require systems to institutionalise implemented projects and lessons for future reference." - Vikas Goyal, Health and hygiene promotion specialist, UNICEF, South Sudan

I worked on the tsunami reponse in both Sri Lanka and then in Indonesia working on hygiene promotion as part of the WASH team. My reflections include: 

• The amount of energy that the humanitarian sector can put in is amazing. Particularly for the first phase, there was no dearth of resources. 
• For the first time in the Asian region, a coordination / cluster system was set up. This approach is important and worked very well to manage the large influx of aid and the many organisations involved.
• There is a need to contexualise to areas and situations. Asia was a new area for many of the international NGOs and cuture / ways of working were very different to Africa. This took some getting used to for many. 
• The post-tsunami work has left a lot of capacity within the communities and some progress on risk reduction has been done. We are in a better position to deal with the risks today.

Mainstream DRR through education - R.R. Krishnamurthy

"Invariably the rural coastal areas, with maximum concentration of fisher and coastal poor communities, needs special focus in terms of higher education. Higher education opportunities will seed resilience through improved economic performance, and will also create a platform for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction through education." - Dr. R. R. Krishnamurthy, University of Madras, Chennai, India

The work at the University of Madras, in collaboration with many stakeholders, has thrown up critical lessons from the Tsunami experience.  The absence of data, and our overall attitude towards data, simulations and knowledge base for risk reduction is very detrimental to building safe pathways of development in the coastal area.  After the tsunami it was not very clear what reasons were behind the sporadic pattern of damage along the coastline. Data on land topography was poor, and seafloor topography even poorer. Even survey of India could provide only 10 meter contour data.  Only after the tsunami GOI took up 5 metre contour mapping. Data is critically important to know relationship of seafloor and land topography with inundation patterns and resultant damage. Inundation modelling using such data can help create more accurate understanding of differentiated vulnerability along the coastline and help prepare appropriate risk reduction plans. 

Training and capacity building, coordination, planning and education works were carried out extensively after the Tsunami. Going into the local communities was most enriching for me.  Nemmeli is an important coastal “hot spot” on the South Chennai coast of India, which is surrounded by about 15 coastal hamlets with majority of fishing community and located in close proximity to the UNESCO heritage site - Mahabalipuram. This coastal region has faced the devastation of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and invariably cyclone and storm surges in every monsoon. A Community College has been established in 2011 and there are about 400 first generation learners from BPL (Below Poverty Line) families were given affordable quality education and the students are being trained to meet the present day need of industry and society. The outcomes of last two academic year efforts are witnessed with the change in mind set of local community in enhancing their livelihood security and entrepreneurship development skills.

Prof. Kathiresan's work on Peechavaram Mangroves was another landmark, as it demonstrated how lives can be saved through environmentally conscious development and conservation of the coastal eco-system.  Joint mangrove management has even otherwise been taken up seriously, with MSSRF and Tamil Nadu Forest Department having done much work to promote this, and it has now shown the benefits in terms of disaster risk reduction besides the other benefits of eco-system conservation. However, we are still struggling to do environmental awareness across the various diverse themes that come under this larger umbrella, for example how to make coastal villages do proper solid waste management, cattle management etc.  Lack of funding and transfer of technology to the field areas are some of the barriers. 

School safety, convergence of efforts and upgraded shelter response needed - Rahman and Mihir

"In the effort to reduce future risk, three priorities must be addressed: school and children's safety;convergence of government and civil society DRR efforts; and common minimum criteria for shelter response." - Yezdani Rahman and Mihir Joshi, SEEDS, New Delhi, India

Being part of the initiative in all the phases of the Tsunami response in the Andaman Nicobar islands, it is worth summarizing the effort and its impact in last 10 years of Indian Ocean Tsunami. A lack of awareness and an unplanned approach added to the emergency. The days are still haunting the islanders but the rectification of the mistakes committed earlier has been immense in the islands. The holistic disaster management planning, enforcing stringently the building byelaws, effective communication of early warning and above all the continuation of the activities on School Safety. Having covered some of the major requirement of resilience, there is still long way to achieve the benchmark completely.

Comprehensive School Safety: A challenge since its inception, risks are getting more complicated with advancement of varied vulnerability. We have one more year to go to fulfill the Ahmedabad Action Agenda (2007) goal of “Zero mortality of children in school from preventable disaster by 2015”. Though we've made progress, we still cannot ensure the safety of children from preventable disasters. Actions are being done by us all but as it is not being converged the efforts are either lost or we are unable to build upon it. Zero mortality of children is far-sighted and can only be achieved if Government considers civil society and the community as their partner and involves them in their action plans. Holistic planning and actions with a systematic approach is of the highest priority.

Government - NGO partnership: The topic is largely being talked upon but the actions are limited to discussion. Even if it is happening, it is either at the top level or at the ground, which eventually does not get registered or acknowledged. The efforts dilute depending on an individual's interest and fades back to square one. Each one of us consider ourselves as competitors and not as partners to achieve the goal.

Consider the example of State of Odisha wherein the concentration of civil society is considered to be one of the highest and has been instrumental in reducing the risk and addressing emergencies. Civil society is not only to be considered for response but for risk reduction as well. They bring in the voices of community and a sense of  accountability. Thereby to achieve any effort and impact to its fullest, participation, planning and execution at all levels and by all is a significant indispensable requirement.

Shelter response: The idea of transitional shelters as well as materials and designs used for reconstruction are still being debated. It is high time that we agree on some common minimum criteria for shelter response along with the materials. Affected communities must be involved from the beginning; as a part of designing, implementation as well as monitoring. Mass awareness programmes are required for shelter construction to educate various stakeholders for long-term resilience. Building by-laws should be simplified to aid common understanding.Various stakeholders involved in shelter response need to agree on key non-negotiables before proposing any solutions (including wages) to ensure future issues are avoided. 

Understand differential vulnerabilities of communities - Chandrima Biswas

"One of our crucial learning from the Indian Ocean Tsunami is that despite all technical advancements, disasters will continue to be unpredictable. The only way to be better prepared is by being aware of the differential vulnerabilities of communities and enabling them in enhancing capacities." - Chandrima Biswas, ActionAid, India

Effective evidence-based DRR decisions and investments are required - Jyotiraj Patra

"DRR planning, investments and decisions need to be informed by robust research-based evidence. Such research has to be more policy-relevant and practice-oriented rather than pure academic pursuits." - Jyotiraj Patra, Independent Researcher

In my opinion one of the key emerging needs is around adequate and effective evidence-informed DRR decisions and investments.

India has witnessed many natural disasters of different intensities and scale after the 2004 Tsunami. Among them, hydro-meteorological disasters have caused significant loss and damage across scales. One of the key challenges associated with these hazards is the uncertainty with regard to their occurrence and intensity. Floods in Uttarakhand (2013) and Kashmir (2014) highlight the changing patterns of these hazards. It is under these circumstances that DRR planning, investments and decisions need to be informed by robust research-based evidence. Firstly, there is a need to further strengthen disaster risk research in India by greater institutional collaboration among the scientific institutes, universities, humanitarian agencies, NGOs and private sector. Such research has to be more policy-relevant and practice-oriented rather than pure academic pursuits. The architecture of this research programme should be need-based and the Science and Social Science Research Councils, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and various Science and Technology (S&T) departments could collaborate with the NDMA, SDMAs and DDMAs to identify key areas for research. Most importantly, there should be an institutional mechanism in place to ensure coherence and continuity in this endeavor and go beyond the business-as-usual approach of project-based research. This is all the more necessary to better understand and address the uncertainties associated with hazard patterns and likely impact. The National Policy on DM (2009) identifies research as a key component of disaster risk and this provides adequate institutional opportunities to establish a multi-disciplinary, dynamic and robust disaster risk research system in India. This system could also be effective in bridging the boundaries across DRR, climate change adaptation (CCA) and resilience building. The Integrated Research in Disaster Risk (IRDR), a joint initiative of the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the UNISDR is one such example. 

Disaster resilience must be a non-negotiable national priority - Vinod Menon

"There must be zero tolerance to avoidable deaths caused by natural hazards, extreme events and climate change. Disaster Resilience has to be a non-negotiable national priority and the responsibility of all stakeholder groups." - N. Vinod Chandra Menon, Founder Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India 

I. Achievement include: The  enactment of the Disaster Management Act 2005 with the unanimous support of all parties in both the houses of Parliament; the establishment of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chaired by the Prime Minister of India through a Gazette notification even before the passing of the Bill; the formulation of National Disaster Management Guidelines for the Management of various disaster typologies including the Management of Tsunamis in 2010; the formulation of the National Policy on Disaster Management which was approved by the Cabinet in October 2009; the largest community mobilisation exercise in strengthening disaster preparedness through the UNDP-Government of India supported Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in 174 districts in 17 states and UTs; the establishment of 14 battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as a dedicated first responder force (the only one of its kind in the world); the strengthening of IMD's precise early warning capability demonstrated through the sterling example of minimising loss of lives in Cyclone Phailin in Odisha and in cyclone Hudhud in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; the outstanding Tsunami Early Warning System established by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Systems (INCOIS) at Hyderabad with bottom pressure recorders, tidal gauges and buoys; the strengthening of multi-stakeholder partnerships like NGOs, private sector, PRIs, media, etc. in disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction; the mobilisation and centre-staging of community in disaster preparedness by NGOs; the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction in development planning; the maturing of multi-faceted specialisations by State Disaster Management Authorities especially in States like Gujarat, Odisha, Assam and Bihar; the exemplary work done by NDRF, State Disaster Response Forces like ODRAF in emergency preparedness and response; improvements in Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessments; initiatives in Urban Disaster Risk Reduction approaches; institutionalising Owner Driven Reconstruction; applications of remote sensing, satellite imagery, scenario analysis and modelling, etc; and the applications of emerging technologies like deployment of Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAVs) in emergency response, damage assessment, etc. 

II. Challenges iclude: The inadequate attention being given to address the critical gaps in emergency preparedness, disaster risk reduction and mitigation; the lack of effective coordination between government Ministries, Departments and agencies in the Government of India and the state governments; and the need to improve the early warning and forecasting capabilities for predicting the potential occurrence of extreme events continue to be challenges as demonstrated in the Uttarakhand floods and landslides and  the Kashmir floods.

III. The national leaders need to recognise and acknowledge that there must be zero tolerance to avoidable deaths caused by natural disasters, extreme events and climate change. The investments in disaster risk reduction and mitigation need endorsements by Finance Ministers and central planning bodies. Special efforts must be made to ensure the development of skills and capacity of youth and women to be change agents and catalysts for social transformation. Improving the effectiveness of Disaster Management at the national, provincial and local levels has to be the responsibility of all stakeholder groups. Disaster Resilience has to be a non-negotiable national priority and the capacity building of stakeholder groups like policy makers, elected representatives, corporate executives, community representatives, grassroots women's groups and youth must be ensured through allocations of funds from corporate social responsibility and other dedicated sources. Wherever felt expedient, the institutional mechanisms like NDMAs and provincial disaster management agencies must have the autonomy and the flexibility to create corpus funds for frugal innovations and path breaking initiatives.

I hope this will provoke some reflections among all those who work so passionately for strengthening disaster resilience in the country.