SUPPORTING ACTIONS FOR BUILDING DISASTER RESILENT

COMMUNITIES THROUGH STRONG AND SUSTIANBLE PARTNERSHIPS

Nicole A. Brown, ODPEM, Jamaica5th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive

Disaster ManagementCDM: Strengthening Partnerships for ResilienceMontego Bay, Jamaica, 6 – 10 December 2010

• The Building Disaster Resilient Communities (BDRC) Project

• The BDRC Partnership Building and Strengthening Strategy

• Emerging Trends and Issues

Overview of the Building Disaster Resilient Communities Project

• Three-year project , supported by CIDA

• Objective: to strengthen community capacity to respond to and mitigate against disasters, while identifying measures to improve disaster and risk management at community, parish and national levels

Project Outputs

• Sustainable partnerships in disaster mitigation and emergency response built and/or strengthened.

• Selected men and women in vulnerable communities trained in disaster mitigation and emergency response, with a community-developed response plan and community disaster/emergency response team (CDRT/CERT)

Project Outputs (continued)

• Selected vulnerable communities in each parish have developed mitigation plans in operation.

Selected Communities

• St. Thomas Trintyville & Llandewey• KSA Gordon Town & New Haven• St. Catherine Old Harbour Bay & Bog

Walk• Portmore Gregory Park & Waterford• Clarendon Kellits & Rocky Point• Manchester Alligator Pond & Porus• St. Elizabeth New River (Santa Cruz) &

Pisgah/Ginger Hill

Selected Communities• Westmoreland McNeil Lands & New

Roads• Hanover Chigwell & Sandy Bay• Trelawny Zion (Martha Brae) &

Clarke’s Town• St. James Tangle River & Dumfries• St. Ann Moneague & Lime

Hall• St. Mary Annotto Bay & Port

Maria• Portland Swift River & Berridale

‘Partnership’ within the BDRC

• Concept of multi-stakeholder partnerships – central to the BDRC.

• Partnership outcome and partnership approach to implementation.

Jamaica Red Cross

Local Parish & Municipal

Councils of Jamaica

Building Disaster Resilient

Communities

Social Development Commission

of Jamaica

‘Partnership’ within the BDRC

‘Partnership’ within the BDRC

• Partnership as a means to an end not an end.– Effectiveness of implementation and

sustainability of intervention– Strengthening governance for DRRM.

• Project Management and Evaluation Framework – pulse taking mechanism.

The BDRC Partnership Strengthening StrategyA Framework for:• Building commitment to, and ownership of

DRRM;

• Developing clarity of purpose within the membership within the National and Parish Disaster Committees;

The BDRC Partnership Strengthening StrategyA Framework for:• Fostering and improving trust among

members of the committees;

• Increasing roles and responsibilities; and

• Exploring models community integration into the national disaster management structure.

The Process

• Partnership Facilitator (March – Dec 2009)

• Surveys and interviews (April – July 2009)

• Consultations (July – November)– National Disaster Committee– Mayors and Secretary Managers– Parish Disaster Committees x 4 regions

The Findings - General

• DRR poorly operationalised in the National Disaster Management.

• Policy and legislative frameworks

need strengthening.

The Findings - National

• Uneven functioning of National Disaster Committee (NDC) sub-committees

• Agency participation in the NDC dependent on individuals

• Lack of integration between the NDC and other processes

• Lack of direct linkage with Parish Disaster Committees (PDCs)

The Findings - Parish

• Lack of political commitment to DRRM

• Incomplete understanding of roles on and responsibility to the PDCs

• Inadequate leadership

The Findings - Parish

• Political interference

• Division between technical agencies and local authorities

The Findings - Parish• Lack of accountability mechanisms

• Lack of commitment to local authority processes

• Perception that disaster management is the job of the Parish Disaster Coordinator

The Findings - Community

• Zonal committee structure uneven

• Limited outreach capacity by coordinators in larger/mountainous parishes

• Some parishes have direct community representation on PDCs, others not

The StrategyWorking at national, parish and communitylevel to:• Build commitment ownership of DRRM

• Develop clarity of purpose – national and parish

• Foster and improve trust among committee members

The Strategy

• Increase understanding of roles and responsibilities

• Explore models for effective community engagement in the parish structure

Goal

• To improve working relationships among the key stakeholders in Jamaica’s national disaster management structure, in order to support more effective, integrated and better resourced DRRM.

Areas of intervention• Legislative framework and accountability

• Conceptual framework for DRRM

• Management and coordination of partnership-based committees

• Community representation on PDCs

Outputs• Recommendations for legislative, policy and

regulatory improvements documented for ODPEM

• Operational management and monitoring mechanisms for Parish Development Committees developed

Outputs• Modalities for community representation

and active participation within institutional arrangements of the national disaster management structure developed

• Capacity and skills of key disaster management personnel at parish and community levels strengthened.

• • Good practice and lessons learnt DRRM case

studies produced.

Outputs • Good practice and lessons learnt DRRM case

studies produced.

Implementation

• Lack of dedicated personnel (situation about to change)

• Aspects integrated in to ODPEM

Emerging Trends and Issues • Process of developing partnership strategy

provided a forum for sharing beyond traditional boundaries

• Implementation partnerships can have positive spill-over effect on working relations within PDCs

Emerging Trends and Issues

• Partnerships for project implementation under the BDRC can serve as a model for other initiatives at parish level and BDRC methodologies can be applied beyond the scope of the project

Emerging Trends and Issues • The BDRC model has helped expanded

partnerships and strategic alliances at the parish level

• Improving the working relationships at the PDC level can serve as a platform for: helping refine the DRRM programme at the parish level

Emerging Trends and Issues

• Partnerships for project implementation under the BDRC can serve as a model for other initiatives at parish level and BDRC methodologies can be applied beyond the scope of the project

Emerging Trends and Issues • The current context requires a paradigm shift

away from traditional ways of thinking about disasters and about who has a role to play in DRRM

• Structural constraints continue to work against improved partnerships for DRRM

Title

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus et magna. Fusce sed sem sed magna suscipit egestas.

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus et magna. Fusce sed sem sed magna suscipit egestas.

Goal

• To improve working relationships among the key stakeholders in Jamaica’s national disaster management structure, in order to support more effective, integrated and better resourced DRRM.