National Policy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management.

The National Policy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management is a sectoral national strategic document applicable to the period of 2013-2023. Its main objective is to reduce disaster risks and potential damage caused by a disaster through establishing a comprehensive and coordinated disaster risk management system in the context of sustainable development.
Specific objectives of the policy are the following: (1) to reduce and eventually prevent disaster risk and vulnerability that pose challenges to development through enhancing the culture of integrating disaster risk reduction into development plans and programmes as well as by focusing on and implementing activities to be carried out before, during, and after the disaster period to address underlying factors of recurrent disasters; (2) in times of disasters, to save lives, protect livelihoods, and ensure all disaster affected population are provided with recovery and rehabilitation assistances; (3) to reduce dependency on and expectations for relief aid by bringing attitudinal change and building resilience of vulnerable people; and (4) to ensure that disaster risk management is mainstreamed into development plans and programmes across all sectoral institutions and implemented at all levels.
The document also envisages such measures as official disaster declaration system, decentralized disaster risk management system and provides for mainstreaming of disaster risk management into sectoral institutions as well as source of resources and resource mobilization procedure and information management and communication system, among others.
The document notes that the government will lead activities geared towards the establishment and implementation of the disaster risk management system and disaster risk management will be decentralized to community centres. With regard to the system’s administration structure, there will be a Disaster Risk Management Council, a Disaster Risk Management Coordination as well as a Disaster Risk Management structure in those that will be designated as lead sectoral institutions and Focal Points in those institutions that have a role in disaster risk management. The Disaster Risk Management Council to be established at all levels will have an oversight responsibility regarding monitoring and evaluation of the execution of the policy and its implementation strategies.