LEARNINGS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE DEPP REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON LOCALISATION AND FIELD VISIT – CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE AFRICA DELEGATION

Following the DEPP Regional Learning Conference on Localisation in Manila on 18th & 19th July

2017, some of the delegates from the Africa and Asia regions and the UK took part in a field visit to

three centres in Pasig City, Manila to learn more about preparedness initiatives in which the district

is investing. Here, the Africa delegates share their reflections and learnings from the experience and

how these compare with early warning and preparedness activities they are implementing in

Ethiopia through the Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme.

MAYBUNGA BARANGAY HALL:

Angeline Kagawood, the Disaster Risk Management Officer, welcomed delegates to Maybunga

Barangay Hall. Angeline pointed out that the Philippines is the second most disaster prone country

in the world and that Maybunga is prone to severe flooding. To mitigate the effects of flooding, the

Barangay (village) uses pumping stations to move water from flooded areas, invests in river

dredging, recycles plastic waste, and ensures drainage systems are clear and that garbage is

collected regularly and systematically.

She also explained that there is a fault line passing through Metro Manila dividing the city into two

and an earthquake could result in millions of deaths. Since the 1990s the city has been investing in

ways to mitigate the effects of an earthquake, including using school networks to share information

with populations in Metro Manila, allocating 15% of the Maybunga Barangay and Metro Manila City

budget to disaster risk management efforts, and ensuring a standing agreement is in place between

NGOs and the city hall to provide training and general support during emergency response.

These efforts are monitored and evaluated by the Metro Manila City office. The City Hall is

comprised of different departments, including offices for people with disabilities and senior

citizens, to ensure that vulnerable groups get access to services. In addition, the police unit

monitors all crime in the area by mapping high risk areas and sharing this information with

stakeholders.

The local community also gave a presentation explaining how their village would respond in the

case of an emergency and the different ways they are involved in capacity building for

preparedness and response.

PASIG CITY COMMAND CENTRE:

This Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) uses digital technology to provide services including

traffic control, crime monitoring and response, and disaster response. It also uses software that

predicts areas likely to experience flooding based on weather forecasts, enabling officers within the

centre to respond by opening flood pumping stations. Different sensors used to monitor water

quality, noise and heat help the EOC to identify problems and respond accordingly.

The EOC has a call center that functions 24/7 and it takes a minute for the team to receive

information on the caller’s name, emergency situation and location. This information is then saved

and shared with the deployment team closest to the location, who arrive on site within five

minutes.

The team has used large-scale awareness raising and security checks to reduce fake calls. Cameras

in the city, radio communication and face-recognition software can be used to detect individuals

that may pose a security threat, as the EOC is directly connected to the national security agency.

Delegates were also taken to view additional preparedness efforts made by the command centre

which included stocking food and other non-food items.

RESCUE EMERGENCY DISASTER (RED) TRAINING CENTER:

Delegates also visited this centre, which is financed by the government. The centre offers

preparedness training to schools and organizations and is mandated by law to respond to an

emergency within five minutes.

The delegates also heard a presentation from Bulkod Tao, an organisation in Brgy that reinforces

the capacity of communities to respond to emergencies.

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNINGS FROM THE FIELD VISIT

The importance of vulnerability and risk assessments in disaster preparedness planning:

the case of Bulkod Tao in Brgy

Yoseph Wolderfalel, CRGE Technical Advisor at Oxfam, shares his thoughts on the importance of

vulnerability assessments in providing stakeholders with crucial early warning information.

The Bulkod Tao presentation demonstrated that there is a pressing need for institutions and

individuals, including policy and decision makers at all levels, donor organisations and other civil

society stakeholders, to receive information on the challenges potential hazards can cause.

Vulnerability assessments, such as hazard mapping, can compare how susceptible an area and

community is to potential hazards. They also allow for a better understanding of the factors that

increase the vulnerability of a specific disaster hotspot, and knowing these factors can serve as a

starting point for identifying suitable preparedness plans or interventions. This suggests that

vulnerable communities need to be the ones carrying out risk assessments with the support of

technical staff, and innovate simple and cost effective approaches for preparedness.

In Ethiopia, the National Disaster Risk Management Commission is working to produce an area-

specific risk profile for several woredas (districts), but whilst the mapping has been completed, it

has not yet been linked to real-time response mechanisms. In many cases, the responses of local

communities to the impact of extreme climatic events (as almost all the disasters in Ethiopia are

climate driven) have mostly been reactive instead of proactive due to the lack of preparedness.

However, research can be used to create adequate preparedness plans for such extreme events.

Vulnerability assessments will help to increase awareness of the impact of climate change among

policy and decision makers as well as communities and other stakeholders. They provide ministries

and government agencies with solid reasoning for responses to climate change impacts and

contribute to an ever-growing pool of knowledge about adaptation planning.

Therefore, through a collaboration between local partners in Ethiopia, guidelines and a database for

vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning need to be developed, tested and refined by

local practitioners.

Adapting learnings from the field visit to early warning system design in Ethiopia

Zewdu Assefa, Public Health Ministry Government Representative, highlights the obstacles to setting

up software-based, real-time early warning systems in Ethiopia

There are several challenges to setting up such an innovative system in Ethiopia, including the lack

of hydro-meteorological monitoring; no existing platform for real-time data or information sharing

amongst relevant stakeholders (there is a low interest to share data and a clear data sharing policy

does not exist), and lack of skilled staff.

Ethiopia’s fast growing economy, coupled with its current trends towards globalisation, as well as

the increasingly significant role of ICT and geospatial technology means the country should be

accountable to its citizens, and ensure quality of programming by investing in professionals who

are committed to this goal.

During the visit to the Barangay I realized how the community can learn from the past and prepare

for the future by creating community ownership and awareness, even though many challenges

exist. I am amazed by their level of preparedness, their knowledge of the subject matter and ways

in which they are striving to keep their community safe.

Bridging the humanitarian-development divide

Yves Ngunzi, Country Learning Advisor for Democratic Republic of Congo, shares his thoughts on the

humanitarian-development nexus

In many African countries such as DRC, there is a clear divide between humanitarian and

development programmes, and the 2017-2019 Humanitarian Response Plan is a good illustration of

this. Disaster preparedness is often approached as a development issue as it touches on topics that

are related to governance. In Asia however, the boundaries seem to have been crossed. In disasters

and emergencies, the linkages between humanitarian and development sectors should be

strengthened - one should support the other. If development programmes can work towards

building resilient systems, this will contribute to better response and recovery from disasters.

KEY LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FIELD VISIT

The level of commitment and proactive engagement of the Philippines city government to protect

its people’s safety, and the ability to detect potential disasters through a well-organized, systematic

and technologically supported approach was encouraging. This has inspired us to continue working

towards improving the early warning system in Ethiopia and work hard to establish automatic

weather stations, as part of the DEPP.

Disaster response is most effective when it is planned and integrated into local systems,

knowledge, attitudes and practices. It should be given the seriousness it deserves by local and

central governments, as this leads to well-coordinated teams and fast responses.

Community involvement is essential in every step of preparedness planning and emergency

response. Beneficiaries should be included to ensure local approaches are well coordinated and

effective, and community ownership can contribute to the sustainability of the vision or goal of a

programme.

Evidence based needs and vulnerability assessments must be contextualised, as disasters and

emergencies vary in different contexts.

Technology and the private sector should play a role in disaster preparedness and response, as

this allows for companies to understand humanitarian approaches and tailor products that are

better suited to these. The end result is efficient and effective preparedness systems. In addition,

good data management is key, and having everything in a coordinated database can ensure data

is found efficiently when required.

The concept of localisation needs to be clarified further. In order to avoid circulating conflicting

information about localisation to communities, local, national and international NGOs need to come

to a common understanding of what localisation entails.

There is a need to think about sustainability of DEPP initiatives by strengthening the existing

dialogue with governments and ensure that existing systems and structures are benefiting

communities. Finally, this visit has allowed us to see that such activities and filling capacity and

skills gaps of actors engaged in implementing the DEPP Early Warning Early Action and Public

Health Preparedness in Gambella projects are important priorities.

“The experience of community disaster risk reduction is something that we should take home -

commitment matters, matters, matters!” - Tamrat Terefe, Humanitarian Programme Officer,

Christian Aid, Ethiopia

REFLECTIONS ON THE WHOLE DEPP MANILA EXPERIENCE

The interactions and engagement during the conference were enlightening. Listening to partners

from different regions describing how they dealt with similar issues we encounter validated our

learning and experiences in implementing the DEPP projects. The opportunity to network was also

welcomed, as these interactions enabled us meet partners from the other DEPP projects and

discuss how to work together to build the capacity of local partners, e.g. in the case of Shifting the

Power Ethiopia and Talent Development.

The partnership brokering workshop also provided the opportunity to reflect on what partnerships

are, why they are necessary and how to go about addressing different challenges. It made it clear

how or when partnerships are useful and when to do away with partnerships.

The field visit broadened our understanding of disaster preparedness and response. It confirmed

that we need to actively pursue people-centered approaches to disaster risk management, and that

affected communities and governments should act with a responder mentality, rather than as

victims, as this leads to more effective and efficient response.

RECOMMENDATION

Having had this experience, it is our recommendation that project staff from the different projects

be given such opportunities to engage with others beyond their locality in order to enrich their

experience and eventually their regions through the projects they implement. To achieve this,

partners should always have a collaboration and learning budget to facilitate such forums.

You can find more information on the discussions and recommendations emerging from the

conference here.

Picture 1: DEPP Bangladesh presentation by Shahana Hayat, Talent Development Bangladesh. Rapporteur, Winnie Mapenzi, Context Project Coordinator, RedR UK & Sub Saharan Africa

Picture 2: Disaster Risk Management Officer presenting on preparedness at the Maybunga Barangay Hall

Picture 3: Officer at the Pasig City Control Centre showing participants how technology is making disaster response more effective and efficient

You can find more photos from the field visit here.