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.