APFIC/FAO Regional Consultative Workshop: Securing sustainable small-scale fisheries: Bringing together responsible fisheries and social development, Windsor Suites Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand 68 October 2010

In the Global Overview, we attempt to view reefs in terms of the poor who are dependent on reefs for their livelihoods, how the reefs benefit the poor, how changes in the reef have impacted the lives of the poor and how the poor have responded and coped with these changes. It also considers wider responses to reef issues and how these interventions have impacted on the lives of the poor

Data DNA: The Next Generation of Statistical Metadata

Describes the components of a complete statistical metadata system and suggests ways to create and structure metadata for better access and understanding of data sets by diverse users

Evaluation of the System of Disaster Management Resulting from War Operations and Terrorism in Iraq

Nowadays the science of disaster and crisis management is considered as one of the important sciences all over the world. Therefore, disaster management is considered an important and common subject that requires great efforts. So continuous research is one of the important ways to establish the best methods to evaluate and develop the management of disasters and crises. Such methods are appropriate to deal with the suffering that many countries experience from natural and environmental disasters from time to time. This research aims to show the significance of disaster and crisis management in general. It also explores the current situation related to disaster response management in Iraq. This exploration focuses on the achievement of the basic functions of the management operation (planning, organizing, directing, controlling). In addition, it identifies the weaknesses and the strengths of the current administrative system in all its elements and analyses all the problems and the defects in every element, in order to treat and solve these problems and defects by making recommendations to improve the immediate response system to serve Iraqi disaster management in the future. In order to satisfy this aim, data collection included information obtained from literatures relating to disaster and crisis management. In addition, other information was obtained from a field survey of the directories of the civil defence in Iraq. Furthermore, collective and personal interviews with specialists related to disasters and crisis resulting from the war operations and terrorism were conducted. Analysis of the data results revealed many weak points in the current system and this was confirmed by the field survey. It showed us more clearly the areas where the weak points appear in the management function, especially in the planning and organization functions. One of the most important weak points is the absence of heavy equipment, as well as the shortage of specialist engineering staff and a dependence on assistance from other service departments. This is because of the local roles and the departmental management in the government. Finally, the study reached a set of conclusions and recommendations, including providing the directories of the civil defence with the heavy rescue equipment and providing specialist trained engineering staff to deal with the disasters and crises. Moreover, it sets in place an incentive scheme for the related members of the directories of the civil defence. Such schemes encourage them to continue working to face the unnatural circumstances that Iraq is experiencing and to create an environment similar to that of developed countries in the world. This contributes to overcoming the disasters of all shapes and reduces the damage to lives and property

Improving disaster response evaluations : Supporting advances in disaster risk management through the enhancement of response evaluation usefulness

Future disasters or crises are difficult to predict and therefore hard to prepare for. However, while a specific event might not have happened, it can be simulated in an exercise. The evaluation of performance during such an exercise can provide important information regarding the current state of preparedness, and used to improve the response to future events. For this to happen, evaluation products must be perceived as useful by the end user. Unfortunately, it appears that this is not the case. Both evaluations and their products are rarely used to their full extent or, in extreme cases, are regarded as paper-pushing exercises.The first part of this research characterises current evaluation practice, both in the scientific literature and in Dutch practice, based on a scoping study, document and content analyses, and expert judgements. The findings highlight that despite a recent increase in research attention, few studies focus on disaster management exercise evaluation. It is unclear whether current evaluations achieve their purpose, or how they contribute to disaster preparedness. Both theory and practice tend to view, and present evaluations in isolation. This limited focus creates a fragmented field that lacks coherence and depth. Furthermore, most evaluation documentation fails to justify or discuss the rational underlying the selected methods, and their link to the overall purpose or context of the exercise. The process of collecting and analysing contextual, evidence-based data, and using it to reach conclusions and make recommendations lacks methodological transparency and rigour. Consequently, professionals lack reliable guidance when designing evaluations.Therefore, the second part of this research aimed to gain an insights into what make evaluations useful, and suggest improvements. In particular, it highlights the values associated with the methodology used to record and present evaluation outcomes to end users. The notion of an ‘evaluation description’ is introduced to support the identification of four components that are assumed to influence the usefulness of an evaluation: its purpose, object description, analysis and conclusion. Survey experiments identified that how these elements – notably, the analysis and/ or conclusions – are documented significantly influences the usefulness of the product. Furthermore, different components are more useful depending on the purpose of the report (for learning or accountability). Crisis management professionals expect the analysis to go beyond the object of the evaluation, and focus on the broader context. They expect a rigorous evaluation to provide them with evidence-based judgements that deliver actionable conclusions and support future learning.Overall, this research shows that the design and execution of evaluations should provide systematic, rigorous, evidence-based and actionable outcomes. It suggests some ways to manage both the process and the products of an evaluation to improve its usefulness. Finally, it underlines that it is not the evaluation itself that leads to improvement, but its use. Evaluation should, therefore, be seen as a means to an end

The making of India's COVID-19 disaster: A Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Assemblage analysis

This article analyses the suite of policies and measures enacted by the Indian Union Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through apparatuses of disaster management. We focus on the period from the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, until mid-2021. This holistic review adopts a Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Assemblage conceptual approach to make sense of how the COVID-19 disaster was made possible and importantly how it was responded to, managed, exacerbated, and experienced as it continued to emerge. This approach is grounded in literature from critical disaster studies and geography. The analysis also draws on a wide range of other disciplines, ranging from epidemiology to anthropology and political science, as well as grey literature, newspaper reports, and official policy documents. The article is structured into three sections that investigate in turn and at different junctures the role of governmentality and disaster politics; scientific knowledge and expert advice, and socially and spatially differentiated disaster vulnerabilities in shaping the COVID-19 disaster in India. We put forward two main arguments on the basis of the literature reviewed. One is that both the impacts of the virus spread and the lockdown-responses to it affected already marginalised groups disproportionately. The other is that managing the COVID-19 pandemic through disaster management assemblage/apparatuses served to extend centralised executive authority in India. These two processes are demonstrated to be continuations of pre-pandemic trends. We conclude that evidence of a paradigm shift in India's approach to disaster management remains thin on the ground

Disaster Relief Medicaid Evaluation Project

[Excerpt] This study is a retrospective evaluation of the enrollment processes and service delivery associated with DRM. It examines this unexpected experiment and assesses the outcomes. This report begins with an overview of the Medicaid/Family Health Plus program in September 2001, and is followed by a description of the challenges of, and responses to, the World Trade Center disaster. It then looks at how well the DRM process worked, how accessible needed services were for recipients, how costs compared to costs associated with those previously enrolled in the traditional Medicaid program, and how the different eligibility/verification procedures affected program integrity. Finally, in the section Background Information: Detailed History of Disaster Relief Medicaid, it presents a narrative timeline, detailing the decision steps by which DRM was implemented

Strengthening links between social protection and disaster risk management for adaptive social protection in Nepal

A key challenge in Nepal is the intersection of predictable chronic or seasonal poverty andvulnerability, with rapid-onset and acute shocks. Nepal in the last few decades has epitomized the'perfect storm' in which a number of different factors—disasters, conflict, political uncertainty, and challenges to economic growth—coincide with deleterious effects on people's well-being anddevelopment progress. While social protection (SP) is playing an increasing role in tackling chronic and seasonal poverty and wider vulnerability and exclusion, recent disasters in Nepal, particularly in 2015, highlight how making SP more flexible and adaptive could allow a more effective and efficient development and humanitarian response. The World Bank in Nepal contracted the Centre for International Development and Training at the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, and the Nepal Institute for Social and Environmental Research, to carry out the technical assistance (TA) project 'Review of policies, systems and programs in social protection and shock response for adaptive social protection in Nepal'. The overall objective of the work is to make recommendations on possible policy, programmatic, and institutional measures for more adaptive social protection (ASP). The analysis was delivered using a mixed-methods approach. An analysis of existing data (including the Household Risk and Vulnerability Survey [HRVS] data) was used to understand the scope and coverage of existing programs and their links to disasters and shocks. A desk review of literature explored legislation and policies, program documentation and official implementation guidelines, and evaluations and research. Interviews took place with key informants at the national, district, and local government levels as did focus group discussions (FGDs) and individual interviews, especially with recipients of SP programs, at the ward or village level in the districts of Bardiya, Humla, Saptari, and Sindhupalchok.World Bank - P16351

National disaster risk assessments in Europe. How comparable are they and why?

In the late 2000s, a process started that was designed to approximate the national disaster risk assessments in the European Union. Member states are currently obliged to prepare their assessments every three years. The European Commission will summarize the results, which should not only lead to a better overview of common risks but also direct future joint activities and investments. To date, two rounds of this new practice have been implemented and summarised. The present study investigates how and why this largely informal integrative practice was born, how it is facilitated, and how successful it has been vis-à-vis the expectations, especially achieving a relative comparability of the national risk assessments

Impact, Diffusion and Scaling-Up of a Comprehensive Land-Use Planning Approach in the Philippines: From Development Cooperation to National Policies

This evaluation report investigates the impact of ten years of comprehensive land-use planning in the Philippines. Characterized by fundamental developmental challenges associated with scarce land resources, environmental degradation, natural hazards and persistent poverty, land-use planning plays a crucial role in finding answers to these pressing challenges. The impact evaluation assesses a technical approach to enhanced land-use planning and capacity development from community to national level, supporting decentralized planning, natural resource governance, and resilience to natural hazards and climate change. The so-called SIMPLE (Sustainable Integrated Management and Planning for Local Government Ecosystems) approach by the Philippine-German cooperation, managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), was implemented in two regions of the Visayas. The ambitious intervention operated in a challenging environment with multiple stakeholders, overlapping mandates, and imprecise legal frameworks. In cooperation with GIZ, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) rolled out the related enhanced Comprehensive Land Use Planning (eCLUP) guidelines nationwide. Based on a mixed-methods and quasi-experimental design, the evaluation generates relevant findings for the improvement of land-use planning and local governance interventions, for sustainable natural resource management, disaster risk management, and for welfare improvements of communities and beneficiaries. It shows relevant factors for the successful implementation. The report draws important lessons for local planning and the national framework, and suggests solutions to the fundamental gap between planning and plan implementation, improved innovation diffusion and efficient processes, effective community participation, and public accountability