July 2005 Disaster Relief Improvig Respose ad Log-Term Recovery U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ceter for Corporate Citizeship ad Booz Alle Hamilto Executive Summary O July 11, 2005, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Ceter for Corporate Citizeship (CCC) ad Booz Alle Hamilto brought together 70 govermet, busiess, ad oprofit leaders to work o a Global Disaster Relief simulatio as a exercise i public-private-oprofit coordiatio. The Simulatio led to several key fidigs, icludig the idetificatio of commo challeges to coordiatio ad the developmet of recommedatios for overcomig them. Challeges to coordiatio iclude cultural differeces ad disruptio of critical ifrastructure, local govermet admiistratio, ad commuicatios. Participats, however, foud that by buildig cross-sector dialogue ad uderstadig, by ecouragig disaster preparedess ad cotigecy plaig at the local ad iteratioal levels, ad by developig multiple disaster relief coordiatio mechaisms, these obstacles ca be overcome. Backgroud I geographic scope ad material damage, the December 26, 2004, earthquake ad tsuami i the Idia Ocea regio is the largest atural disaster o record. Thousads of busiesses, dozes of NGOs, ad more tha 50 govermets pledged $6.7 billio i immediate ad log-term aid. Of this, oly $2.5 billio has bee disbursed. The record-settig outpourig of both cash ad i-kid doatios overwhelmed coordiatio mechaisms ad highlighted the eed for better practices. The disaster relief effort lauched i respose to the Asia tsuami illustrates the importace of coordiatig public ad private sector disaster relief efforts. Without effective global coordiatio, doated goods, services, ad moey ca go uused, lost i the overwhelmig umber of doatios that are offered immediately followig a disaster like the tsuami. I other cases, doatios do ot address victims eeds because commuicatio betwee the public ad private sectors ad NGOs is limited. Moreover, i-kid doatios ofte do ot match the specific requiremets of idividuals ad commuities i disaster-affected regios. Improvig public-private coordiatio ad cosideratio of logterm eeds ca lead to a more sustaiable recovery that esures victims cotiue to receive ecoomic, social, ad health assistace as their eeds evolve ad as the disaster fades from the headlies. The Simulatio CCC ad Booz Alle Hamilto desiged a simulatio iteded to prompt discussio o a rage of disaster relief ad recovery coordiatio issues, icludig: Icorporatio of log-term ecoomic developmet plas ito relief ad recovery efforts
2 Istitutioal, social, political, ad cultural challeges to coordiatio Ehaced commuicatio amog govermets, NGOs, iteratioal orgaizatios, ad busiess durig a disaster relief ad recovery effort The July 11, 2005, simulatio, Disaster Relief: Improvig Respose ad Log-Term Recovery, brought together approximately 70 disaster relief, recostructio, ad iteratioal developmet experts; officials from the Uited States ad Domiica Republic govermets; ad executives from a broad array of idustries, icludig fiacial services, automotive, pharmaceuticals, cosumer products, ad telecommuicatios. The simulatio was played i two moves that correspoded to critical periods of time i disaster relief ad recovery: the immediate ad the logterm. At the start of the simulatio, participats were cofroted with a sceario: a category 5 hurricae Hurricae Ophelia was pummelig the orther coast of the Domiica Republic. Thousads of lives were lost, property was destroyed, ad ifrastructure was sigificatly damaged. To address this disaster, a mix of participats from govermet, busiess, ad disaster relief orgaizatios were grouped ito four Stakeholder Teams represetig the busiess commuity, U.S. govermet agecies, ogovermetal ad iteratioal orgaizatios (NGOs/IOs), ad the Domiica Republic. Durig the moves, teams worked i break-out sessios to respod to the crisis, mitigate its impacts, ehace future preparedess, ad coordiate these efforts with other stakeholders. Teams coveed after each move to report their actios ad fidigs, ad to idetify solutios for improvig real-world disaster coordiatio. The primary objective of the simulatio was to explore how to improve multisectoral coordiatio of disaster relief ad recovery through better processes, plaig, ad commuicatio. Participats fulfilled this objective ad took away from the simulatio recalibrated thikig about sustaied disaster relief ad log-term recovery. They gaied isight i how to coordiate across sectors to provide effective ad sustaiable disaster assistace. Fidigs The most obvious challeges highlighted by the simulatio were the differeces created by istitutioal culture. For example, participats stated that govermets ad NGOs/IOs aturally ted to focus their attetio o public health ad safety issues durig disasters. Busiesses, o the other had, are maily iterested i protectig their employees ad restorig operatios. Participats oted that fidig ways to merge these diverse iterests will foster closer coordiatio ad ehace relief ad recovery efforts i both the short ad log-term phases of a disaster respose. Aother challege created by istitutioal culture relates to perceptios. NGOs/IOs ted to perceive the busiess commuity as profit-motivated, while the busiess commuity seeks greater accoutability from NGOs/IOs for appropriate use ad impact of doated resources. This atmosphere of distrust ad stakeholders lack of kowledge about each other was revealed to be a sigificat factor affectig disaster relief coordiatio. Participats felt that cotiued dialogue, iformatio sharig, ad icreased orgaizatioal trasparecy could chage perceptios, thereby stregtheig coordiatio ad opeig ew paths for public-private sector parterships. To address these challeges ad to explore routes to more effective coordiatio, participats developed three sets of key isights.
Exhibit 1 Iteratioal Disaster Respose Stakeholders Determie Customer Provide Decisio Prefereces Support Source: Booz Alle Hamilto The first focused o the reliace of iteratioal disaster relief ad recovery efforts o three iterdepedet stakeholders; NGOs ad IOs, busiess, ad door ad local host govermets (see Exhibit 1). The stregth of each of these stakeholders determies the effectiveess of collective efforts i ay give disaster cotext. NGOs/IOs Disaster Relief/ Emergecy Preparedess Govermet I this exercise, the local host govermet became the corerstoe of disaster relief ad recovery efforts ad set the framework for a multisectoral respose. All teams agreed that the degree ad ature of stakeholder itervetio i disaster relief ad recovery should be dictated by the leadership ad will of local host govermet etities. Participats uderstood that whe basic govermetal ifrastructure remais itact after a disaster, local govermet should be the primary source for iformatio o relief ad recovery eeds ad coordiatio mechaisms. Idustry Stakeholders should uderstad each other s stregths, weakesses, ad iterests this allows for cotigecies should a sigle player be uable to Moitor respod. I some disasters, oe or more of the stakeholders may be icapacitated or overwhelmed ad the other(s) must be aware of ad pla for the impact of weak or missig parters. This fidig idicates that idetificatio of key stakeholders ad appropriate dialogue should take place before a disaster hits. Uderstadig local eeds ad sesitivities helps tailor a appropriate respose. Iteratioal aid should support local policy. Several participats stressed the importace of culturally ad ecoomically sesitive assistace. Sesitive assistace esures that doatios are usable ad appropriate to the disaster at had. I additio, relief efforts that are culturally ad ecoomically sesitive to local eeds will support a commuity s redevelopmet istead of hider it. If doors ad relief groups are ot well-iformed about a affected commuity s ecoomy, doatios ca stut ecoomic redevelopmet. For example, if caed fish is set to a commuity that relies o local fisherme for its ecoomic livelihood, the local ecoomy may suffer because its primary goods ad services are ot i high demad. Timely, actioable commuicatio amog stakeholders facilitates aligmet of resources with eeds. Proactive commuicatio helps prevet redudat efforts ad esures doors are well iformed of eeds. Greater trasparecy i all policies, practices, ad actios is eeded to build cross-sector trust ad to ecourage givig. Participats oted that oe challege to multisectoral coordiatio is the lack of uderstadig amog stakeholders. The secod set of isights addressed the plaig ad executio of the trasitio from relief to recovery (see Exhibit 2). Trasitio from immediate respose to log-term recovery relies o idividual orgaizatios
Exhibit 2 Disaster Assistace Trasitio Phases Plaig ad Preparedess Immediate Respose ad Relief providers should stregthe local capacity to maage, operate, ad maitai such programs to esure sustaiability. Doig so esures that the affected commuity will cotiue to operate ad maage recovery programs ad projects oce recostructio experts leave. Local sustaiability also promotes a sese of local owership of these programs ad creates opportuities for employmet ad ecoomic recovery. Esurig cotiued support from doors requires that Source: Booz Alle Hamilto sesitivity to larger recostructio issues, stakeholders evolvig roles ad resposibilities, the establishmet of sustaiable local programs, ad build-up of local capacity to prepare for ad respod to future disasters. Log-Term Recovery ad Recostructio Some orgaizatios are better suited to provide immediate respose; others, to provide log-term recovery assistace. Each stakeholder must uderstad where its stregths lie ad how its role evolves through the course of a disaster respose. This kowledge should be icorporated ito local plaig so each etity s capabilities ca be matched to the appropriate stage of the disaster relief effort. For example, participats oted that i the Uited States, resposibility for residetial recostructio is usually haded over from the Federal Emergecy Maagemet Agecy to the Departmet of Housig ad Urba Developmet, a etity better equipped to hadle recostructio issues ad tasks oce immediate disaster eeds have bee met. Relevat programs eed to be icorporated ito the local ifrastructure. Iteratioal disaster assistace the public message chage from a emergecy plea for help to commuicatig success of the overall efforts while outliig evolvig ad pedig eeds. Participats oted that commuicatig success to doors shows that their gifts have bee resposibly used to support effective programs. But, while the immediate crisis may have passed, critical eeds persist. Whe doors are cofidet their doated resources are well-used, they are more likely to cotiue givig. The third set of isights addressed the importace of disaster preparedess. Improvig disaster preparedess must be a cosideratio throughout both the immediate relief ad log-term recovery efforts. Preparedess should be desiged i ways that mitigate the impact of future disasters. To this ed, participats made the followig recommedatios for actio: Stregthe local ad regioal capacity to effectively pla for, maage, ad coordiate the multisectoral respose. Local ad regioal orgaizatios ca be overwhelmed by iteratioal attetio ad iquiries durig disaster relief efforts. Ofte, bottleecks are created simply because orgaizatios ad govermets lack the capacity to fully maage ad coordiate a large-scale relief effort. I other cases, disaster relief ad recovery plaig has bee isufficiet or ot udertake at all. To build local capacity, participats proposed the establishmet of atioal
5 emergecy commissios ad recostructio agecies, workig with local govermet, busiesses, ad domai experts to develop emergecy preparedess plas ad, last, icorporatig disaster mitigatio ito recostructio plaig. NGOs should parter with doors, such as the busiess commuity, i advace of a disaster to better uderstad the resources that ca be made available to support relief ad recovery efforts. Participats suggested creatig a master list of geeral disaster relief ad recovery eeds ad available resources to streamlie iformatio gatherig ad sharig. Strategic parterships, improved awareess, ad iformatio sharig will speed up the doatio process durig a disaster NGOs will kow i advace what resources are available to them. Proactive preparedess ca mitigate the effects of a disaster. These actios might iclude establishig buildig codes that improve structural itegrity (ad providig assistace i gettig such policies adopted) ad plaig for the employmet of displaced workers i recovery ad recostructio projects. The simulatio cofirmed that coordiatio amog govermet, busiess, ad NGOs/IOs is critical to the overall effectiveess of disaster relief ad recovery efforts. As the simulatio progressed, participats leared that a disaster respose is most effective whe each of the stakeholders cotributes to both the maagemet ad this operatio of disaster respose efforts. Participats built o this uderstadig ad idetified cocrete ways to ehace coordiatio, commuicatio ad disaster preparedess. Perceptios were chaged ad participats walked away with actioable ideas ad recommedatios to apply i the real world. Next Steps The simulatio fostered dialogue across sectors ad allowed participats to see coordiatio issues from perspectives other tha their ow. A iformal cosesus was reached o the issues of the primacy of local host govermets ad the icorporatio of log-term plaig ad preparedess ito disaster respose efforts. Participats agreed that their efforts should be coordiated primarily with local govermets, ad that cosideratio of preparedess policies is the key to mitigatig the effects of future disasters. Participats have already started takig real world actios as a result of the simulatio. The CCC has distributed cotact iformatio for all simulatio ad discussio participats to facilitate ogoig dialogue ad collaboratio i iteratioal disaster relief efforts. Additioally, the CCC has developed a Tip Sheet for busiesses to refer to whe disaster strikes; it promotes public-private parterships ad coordiatio ad provides potetial doors with guidace that will help esure offers of assistace are timely ad appropriate. At the closig of the simulatio, oe participat remarked, Disaster relief workers ad officials from govermets, NGOs, ad busiesses come together ad talk about commo goals quite ofte, but it is rare that their agreemets ad promises to work together are implemeted whe a disaster hits. It is imperative that participats follow through o the parterships ad ideas developed at the simulatio ad that they build o the actios already take. Such commitmets will yield tremedous beefits i future relief ad recovery efforts ad ultimately for the people ad places devastated by disasters.
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