Training program on Mainstreaming Disaster Management in Infrastructure Sector

Disasters and development are co-related in terms of both negative and positive impacts. Disasters can both destroy development initiatives and create development opportunities. Development schemes can both increase and decrease vulnerability. It is estimated that in Asia alone, over the next fifteen years, an investment of $1.7 trillion per year will be required in the infrastructure sectors for development (ADB: 2017). A large part of this infrastructure will inevitably be exposed to a plethora of natural hazards including floods, earthquakes, storms, tsunamis etc. At the same time, there is a risk that the new infrastructure may itself create new disaster risks. The Socioeconomic and Environment factors are also interlinked in development process hence there is a need to apply strategies for mainstreaming DRR in development sector specially in critical Infrastructure. Further, mainstreaming DRR in development sectors is an important focus area in the Sendai Framework for tackling underlying disaster risk drivers and enhancing resilience of communities (1).

There is a clear two-way relationship between the concept of Disaster Risk Reduction and quality of infrastructure design and construction methodology, which is not yet well explored. The focus in the sector is still very “asset based” which considers infrastructure as a discrete set of assets and risk assessments are thus undertaken on this basis and in many cases do not consider the wider implications on the systems as a whole. In designing and constructing infrastructure the concept of disaster risk reduction needs to be introduced which addresses risk from a systems perspective to ensure that the role that the asset plays in enhancing the performance of the system and associated risks to the system are well understood. The incorporation of lessons learned from post disaster assessments is usually reflected in updates to planning and development policies, regulations and codes, but does not appear to translate into a risk-based approach to planning and development of infrastructure and is still very asset focussed. There are still capacity constraints at national and regional level in two critical areas (2):

1. Monitoring and Enforcement of planning and development regulations and codes is often lacking. The regulations and codes maybe up-to-date and reflect best practise, however lack of capacity and resources to enforce them results in construction of poor quality infrastructure.
2. Operation and Maintenance of infrastructure is often neglected due to lack of finance or capacity (skills and knowledge) which increases the vulnerability of the infrastructure to damage from natural events.

Over the last decade, an active push to change this has begun with initiatives to mainstream DRR into development decision making and build resilient societies and infrastructure. Many of these efforts are working at the local level to integrate community level risk reduction and preparedness work into local development planning and investment processes. Therefore, this Training Program will have a particular focus on Energy, Transportation, Water Supply & Sanitation and Communication Infrastructure and the methodological perspectives for addressing its vulnerability.

The purpose of training workshop is to provide platform for sharing of knowledge from various SAARC Member States and facilitate exchange of experiences amongst the professionals from the SAARC Member States for integrating risk reduction in infrastructure Sector. This will help ensure that all new infrastructure is not only disaster resilient itself but also does not create new disaster risks. The experts/speakers for this training are from SAARC Member countries, national and international organization etc. The training will be hosted in SAARC Disaster Management centre (IU) at GIDM campus, Gandhinagar, Gujarat India during 8-12 January 2018.

Program Objectives

1. Understand the vulnerability of infrastructure towards natural hazards in the SAARC Region;
2. Discuss the issues and challenges of vulnerability assessment and ways of reducing Infrastructure vulnerability;
3. Understanding Infrastructure protection in the context of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and the different dimensions of prevention and mitigation measures at which action is possible;
4. Share best practices and lesson learnt amongst the SAARC Member States to enhance the knowledge for integrating risk reduction in infrastructure Sector;
5. Improve awareness on approaches and tools for mainstreaming DRR into development planning at national and subnational levels.

Course Duration

The Course duration is for five days with lectures, discussion and Group exercise sessions. The course will also include a field visit where the features related to Mainstreaming Disaster Management in Infrastructure Sector will be demonstrated.

Source

1. National Institute of Disaster Management
2. UN: Infrastructure and Development, 2014