Capacity Building

Challenges

Developing fire and disaster management plans without building capacity or raising awareness locally can be detrimental to the development of a successful and sustainable plan.

Approach

Local individuals and communities are critical components to a successful, long-term, sustainable disaster management plan. Capacity Building develops and strengthens skills, competencies and abilities of both individuals and communities to achieve their desired results during and after disasters, as well as preventing hazardous events becoming disasters.

When undertaking disaster management planning assessments it is important that one embraces the local community as well as indigenous traditions, methods and materials in these.  This helps not only to gather and better comprehend what is happening locally, as well as what heritage needs to be protected, but also allows one to understand how they have been managing these disasters over the course of time and what may or may not be effective locally.  Local residents are also likely the first emergency responders to such incidents particularly in remote areas and therefore critical to the successful outcome.

By making the local community part of the process and solution, it also  not only helps to maintain the overall local culture as well as traditions, but also help ensure disaster mitigation measures are more likely to be implemented and maintained over time.

Deliverables: