National Plan for Disaster Management (2016-2020).

This National Plan for Disaster Management is a 5-year sectoral document that reviews the NPDM 2010-2015. Its main goal is to guide the implementation of the Disaster Management Act 2012, which seeks to promote safer and more resilient communities by adopting a holistic approach towards disaster management. The Plan, flexible and adaptive in cognizance of the changing nature of risks, has three core goals of (1) saving lives; (2) protecting investments; and (3) effective recovery and places importance on the necessity of DRR for sustainable development and to the emerging risks linked to urbanization and climate change. It is based on Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and follows the national targets indicated in SFDRR and is aligned with its following 4 priorities (1) Understanding disaster risk; (2) Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; (3) Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience; (4) Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Concerning the topic of nutrition, the Plan focuses on food security by (i) promoting it as an important factor in ensuring the resilience of communities to hazards; (ii) suggesting the establishment of buffer food stock for crises; () promoting regular disaster preparedness, including essential food and non-food relief supplies, as appropriate to local needs.
To protect the environment, the main actions proposed are directed to the preparedness for disasters, at both at the institutional level and the level of practical interventions on the territory. Among others (i) upgrade and strengthen national awareness-raising initiatives on hazards and DM, through community, institutions, and media; (ii) give particular attention to awareness-raising and data products on earthquakes; (iii) invest in building the capacity of government staff to utilize the risk information for the planning, implementation and monitoring processes; (iv) undertake nationwide capacity building for resilience, including dealing with new human-induced and chemical hazards; (v) carry out physical works and structural measures for resilience including the construction of fire stations in all towns and commercially important areas; (vi) strengthen flood management through existing and new policies and programs on river management for erosion-prone areas, riverine and coastal regions; (vii) strengthen the national forecasting and early warning system; (viii) provide groundwater recharge technology in urban areas, and improve the use of rainwater.
All the interventions proposed in risk management are to be inclusive with an emphasis on two main areas (1) ensure incorporation of gender issues in decision making; (2) ensure adequate considerations for people with vulnerabilities (e.g. single marital status, age, disability). And to ensure inclusive economic and social growth, the Plan includes the need for (i) integrating DM measures in all development initiatives, with the participation of every part of society, and not only the Government, because DM for resilience contributes to sustainable development; (ii) strengthening institutional capacities including local financial institutions and insurance, especially for agriculture, and also strengthening the financial capacity of social protection institutions; (iii) creating market and value chain facilities to enable communities to operate enterprises during a disaster, to serve also as pre-disaster storage depots and create alternative livelihood options in disaster hot spots.
As for Governance, the Plan takes the ‘whole-of-Government’ approach to comprehensive disaster risk management and response initiatives, pursuing disaster preparedness and mitigation into relevant areas of activity of the entire government, businesses, and non-government entities. The timeline for the 5-year NPDM 2016-2020 is structured into three program periods: (a) 2016 is a preparatory year and many of the actions are continuation of existing programs; (b) 2017-2018 is planned for initiation of new actions in addition to existing actions undertaken in the previous period; and (c) 2019-2020 will include more initiatives and an activity peak is planned by taking into account the expected growth in institutional capacity through the actions of the preceding stages. Many of the core targets will continue to be implemented over the long term until 2030.