Effective Disaster Response

HELLO!

Hello to all of those who are going to be part of this very important subject.

While going through the questions, felt we should look at the "Silent Disasters" we are in.

Whether it is >

A) Starvation & Malnutrition

B) Unethical Scientific practices

C)Inadequate preparation to face uncertainties(As with our experience we are amazed how every disaster(irrespective of scale) is treated as if it is happening for the first time.

We strongly feel we need to address these first -

1) Address Hunger and Malnutrition

2) Whoever is involved in scientific expeditions, place these questions in front of themselves, that whether the purpose addresses these three tenets -

A) Justice
B) Equality
c) Sustainability.

3) Learn from previous disasters.

Just to start the dialogue, Charles Maclean.

Ah Prakash Vinjamuri Surya,

Great to start with your global reframing question of “What is a disaster?”. You address the tendency to forget that natural and man made disasters can exacerbate and be exacerbated by pre-existing starvation and nutrition and lack of preparation for or debriefing of previous disasters. Some options at Disaster Risk Reduction, DRR http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/drr/ http://www.unisdr.org/ http://www.bt.cdc.gov/hazards-all.asp Haiti experience at unintended economic disruption at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti-aid/ Say more about your recommendations to address your other points. Charles

I agree with this idea of "reframing". If you were living in a high poverty area of New Orleans before the Hurricane, or in Haiti, prior to their earthquake, you were already in a disaster that most people were ignoring, or only responding to with random acts of kindness.

This question is of critical importance to all of us who are working to solve a social problem. "How can donors giving via cell phone or on-line be converted from one-time emotional responses to on-going engagement and support?"

I focus on "prevention", or actions that help kids in poor neighborhoods get the range of adult support they need to grow up without detours in jail, or as drop outs, etc. I have created an information hub at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org that anyone in the Chicago region can use to learn more about the problems, and potential solutions, and to look for places where they can be involved. Maintaining this information is a huge challenge. Getting thousands of people to look at it every day, learn from it, then act as a volunteer, donor, leader, advocate to help one or more programs, is an even bigger challenge.

In many ways the "disaster recovery" world has the same problem. A university in Rhode Island (can't recall which one) is doing a lot of work in "disaster recovery" research. I read a paper where they claimed that all recovery is local, and that people improvise, based on what resources and knowledge they have, to respond to emergencies, well before the structured, rigid, response system is in place. If that's the case, building an information base that shows how other people solved similar problems in the past might provide information people could learn from in order to have more options for responding to similar problems in the future.

However, the challenge we face (in my opinion) is

a) how do we get people focused on all the places in the world where disasters are already occurring, or where they are likely to occur, so we're working to prevent those disasters before they happen

b) when a disaster does happen, how do we keep attention and money flowing to all of these other places when the emotional appeal of the current disaster is drawing attention and donations to that place

c) after a time, the most current disaster is a previous disaster, where people are trying to overcome poverty, and the disaster. They join the group of people who still need help when the next event monopolizes attention

I don't have answers. But am trying to find them. I look forward to being part of brainstorming with others who are looking for the same solutions.

Biosanitizer of Dr Uday Bhawalkar can do perhaps a better job then chemical dispersants to effectively handle the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico. He says so. Url: www.wastetohealth.com

For sustainable agriculture which is non polluting, not energy and resource intensive, not costly and which can produce clean food, fuel or fibre by effectively recycling all manner of wastes including toxics, Keshava Krishi based on Vedic Sciences is the answer. It is already a well established and commercialised technology in many crops, geographical zones and different agro climatic conditions where it has worked effectively.
Url: http://agropedia.iitk.ac.in[…]ive-sustainable-agriculture

Clean transportation energy from cellulosic wastes is now a reality. Cellulosic bioethanol from cereal straws of rice, wheat already validated and now under commercialisation. Yield established: 300 litres from 1 Metric Tonne of rice, wheat straws. Cost of production Indian Rupee 16/ litre approximately.

To answer the question of how SE tenets can be applied in these sitations, one key answer that characterises SE is innovation at the systems level, the structural level. So whether it's the crisis mapping work being done by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Ushahidi, or new models of organizational response that are being pioneered by the Global Emergency Group, or innovations in housing materials so that they don't collapse so easily (Build Change) or re-jigging the supply chain of relief goods (Goonj), we're seeing a lot of social entrepreneurs starting to innovate at the systems level. But to its credit, the disaster field has already started to plug into local models of resilience and warning. They have a ways to go but they're much more forward thinking than some other fields I could name. And governments are investing in preparedness too, more than most would think.

To respond to the first comment, one thing that the disaster field has on its side is vividity - people sit up and take notice, even if only for a little while. The test for some other fields that are also essentially disaster-like sitations, is how to make their issues as vivid as a hurricane or earthquake is.

Roshan Paul wisely lasers in on the need for Innovation at the essential Systems Level. Operating at that level requires a practical understanding of what it takes to feel, think, decide, act and mobilize support for the longer term. In this “short attention span”, “fast food mentality decision making era” and “decision making by last quarter-next quarter earnings pressures”, enacting Systems Thinking means tapping sound behavioral change methods.

Some worth considering are:

“Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us” by Daniel H. Pink http://www.danpink.com/drive

and Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard” by Dan and Chip Heath http://www.heathbrothers.com/switch/

Insights and tools for tapping resilience can be found at the site of deceased friend and colleague Al Siebert http://www.thrivenet.com/

I’m blogging while recharging my batteries at a Newport, Oregon Bed & Breakfast on the ocean. Salt air and salty thinking in an eco friendly environment seem to go together.

There are so many disparate & disconnected efforts and effects of a disaster that the hardest part is to really wrap one's wits around it.

The first thing we should do is have a singular central wiki where everyone can add info, links, twitter feeds, ushahidi deployments, video links, data links, etc... The management effort should not be to limit input, or exclude content, but to organize it, group it, clarify it, make it more useful, sort fact from fiction....or verified and unverified, ushahidi's SwiftRiver might be helpful there too. Sorting, finding and analyzing data can be done faster by computer than by a person, but common sense data analysis is ultimately a human task.

WikiDisaster is one name but one more positive would be WikiFix, so that we focus on the solution more than the problem. Help over horror.

With all the info in one place we could form a broad and connected picture. All info would be public domain and would empower everyone to use it, refine it, and learn from it. It could become a central coordinating point for all large scale and small scale issues.

Each Fix would remain and could be used for monitoring current status and fallout. A compendium of successful and unsuccessful actions, it could inform us how to do better next time. Anyone would be free to evolve it and make it more effective.

This could be the beginning of working together as a network of Corporations, NGO's, GO's, and people. Together we would be much more effective than we are as a bunch of disconnected groups, barely aware of each other. The more we share and collaborate the more effective we all are.

Darin,

Your recommendation of a Singular Central Wiki for disaster response deserves attention. I’ve invited several wiki creators and futurists to comment.

In addition to building virtual communities of critical info exchange around disasters, there is documented history of human-kind building communities of “joy, resourcefulness and generosity . . . amid disaster’s grief and disruption”. So says Rebecca Solnit author of “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise During Disasters”. http://www.washingtonpost.com/[…]/AR2009082101111.html Just starting this book and am finding Robert Bly’s “gold in the wound” of disasters - Iron John http://www.achillesheel.freeuk.com/article19_7.html

Back to gleaning from Solnit's wisdom.

Charles

Some of you have asked for clarity on how to post a response to one of the posts.

First click on "join" on the top of the www.skollfoundation.org home page
Then: complete the brief sign in info
Then: Sign in
Lastly: Go to box for the previous post where you want to comment and click on "reply" and input your comments and click on "save" to have them appear.

Thanks for the question from a persistent and frustrated attempted poster.

If you want to begin a new topic as a moderator send your idea to the Skoll Foundation team.

Charles
 

Asking the “See Me As” question as part of humane Effective Disaster Response.

Wise, committed, Effective Disaster Response begins with clear intention and the support of others. During my month of service with NGOs in India, I was drawn to ask a bonding question at the end of our time together. Each time I felt a sufficient connection with those I served, I would upon departing ask this primary question and two deepening questions:

“Until I see or hear from you again, how would you like me to see you and hold you in my thoughts, meditations/prayers at your best, living your service mission?”

This sequence of three questions deepened our relationship, assisted us to hear ourselves and each other and act with integrity and insight consistent with that mission:

1. What is your “See Me As”?
2. When you act from your “See Me As” what does it do for the world?
3. When you act from your “See Me As” what does it do for you?

What if before, during and after a disaster we asked each other these three questions and with permission wrote them down for each other? What if they became the starting point of disaster response follow-up support conversations, emails and Skype video calls?

“In this time of effective disaster response See Me As . . . “

Charles
(Just back from asking and answering these generic questions with two wise elders)

This posting dedicated to the memory of Indu Subramanian who passed this week.

It is difficult to enforce singularity or centrality of a wiki. Different aid groups want to maintain their own independence and infrastructure not relying too much a single third party.

However, I believe there have been a number of attempts to do this sort of thing. One example is wiki.CrisisCommons.org (See their Haiti Earthquake coordination page: http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/[…]/2010_Earthquake ).

I believe there are other Web 2.0 disaster response tools that emerged from Katrina and have been being expanded from there. Sadly I can't think of the names of any of them at the moment. I'll have to have a friend come post about it here.

I appreciate doolang's comment that, "There are so many disparate & disconnected efforts and effects of a disaster that the hardest part is to really wrap one's wits around it."

How honest and true. The proliferation of expertise about disaster response and its availability to those within and beyond the impact area have layered complexity upon complexity. The more we know, the harder it seems to be to deliver on it.

Herein lies the value of the recently released "Checklist for Effective Disaster Response". This simple resource puts everyone on the same page. It fosters productive appreciation of complexity, expeditious reflection on coordination, and awareness of unintended consequences.

In his landmark book "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right,"Atul Gwande writes "Knowhow and sophistication have increased remarkably across almost all our realms of endeavor and as a result so has our struggle to deliver on them. You see it in the frequent mistakes authorities make when hurricanes or tornadoes or other disasters hit." Using examples from the practice of medicine in modern hospitals, Gwande demonstrates how a simple checklist manages complexity to take advantage of the expertise of many people and compensating for omissions and inadequacies.

As Charles Maclean notes in his introduction, the "Checklist for Effective Disaster Response" is available online at http://www.philanthropynow.com/[…]/effective_disaster_response.htm

Thanks for starting this discussion. After the earthquake hit Haiti in January, I wrote a piece on disaster response that is relevant to this conversation. I have included an excerpt of it below, but the full text is available here: http://www.madre.org/index.php?s=4&news=287

Support organizations that reinforce—rather than replicate—the activities of existing community groups. Too often, big international agencies temporarily set up shop and inadvertently undermine local organizations by attracting their best staff, driving up rents and ultimately weakening the very organizations that communities need for long-term recovery.

Support organizations that understand the role that women play in disasters. Women are commonly portrayed as passive victims. In reality, they are critical first-responders. Relief efforts should also recognize that women are the primary care-givers of those who are most at-risk in a disaster and supply women with resources to meet the needs of children, the sick, the disabled and others in their care.

Support organizations that involve people who are impacted by the crisis in relief efforts. The “victims” may not have the resources to address the disaster, but they know first-hand what they need to recover and rebuild. Relief operations designed to include local people to play leadership roles, set priorities and make decisions are the ones that leave skills and resources in the hands of community members.

Support organizations that talk about root causes of vulnerability in a crisis. Haiti’s earthquake is a natural disaster, but there’s nothing natural about families living in shacks without disaster plans or government services. Understanding what makes people vulnerable is the first step in building resiliency.

Support organizations with a history of work in the country. Having local roots, speaking the language and being culturally sensitive go a long way towards getting things done in a crisis.

Support organizations that will stay in the country after the news teams and big agencies leave. Long-term projects keep people thinking about the future, helping to ensure that aid is delivered in a way that builds lasting solutions.
 
Support organizations that are funded largely by people like you. Government-supported agencies are often beholden to government policy, not accountable to their members or, more importantly, to the communities where they work. Haiti needs relief efforts that are going to strengthen Haiti itself, not efforts that pride themselves on funneling most of their money back to US corporations.

Support small organizations. It may seem that a large-scale crisis requires a large-scale response. But many big aid operations are bureaucratic, slow and inefficient. Often, the best response to tremendous, urgent need is to replicate successful small-scale models of aid delivery rather than try to get a giant operation moving quickly.

Support organizations with a human rights perspective. These groups recognize that the provision of water, housing, sanitation and healthcare after disaster is the fulfillment of every person's basic rights. Organizations that view Haitians as rights-holders, not victims, will be more effective at supporting Haitians as they strive to rebuild a society based on human rights for all.

Support organizations that you want to see strengthened. When you donate, you’re boosting the capacity of the organization you’ve given to, even if that’s not your motivation for giving. Remember, aid is power. So the next time you give, ask yourself: who do you want to empower?

 Yifat Susskind in Aid is Power. Who Do You Want to Empower? http://www.madre.org/index.php?s=4&news=287 boils down the challenge and opportunity succinctly in saying:

 “In Haiti, and other places where people face frequent disasters, it’s critical to help save lives in a way that builds community capacity to respond to the next disaster and ultimately, move toward real development.” Consider reading the whole article.

Charles Maclean

“Stop thinking this is all there is...Realize that for every on-going war and religious outrage and environmental devastation and bogus Iraqi attack plan,

there are a thousand counter-balancing acts of staggering generosity and humanity and art and beauty happening all over the world, right now, on a breathtaking scale, from flower box to cathedral...

Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head and sigh and just throw in the karmic towel...Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up and crank your personal volume; right when it all seems dark and bitter and offensive and acrimonious and conflicted and billious...there's your opening.

Remember magic. And, finally, believe you are part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very, very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important and potent and unstoppable.”

By Mark Morford, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle (re-posted with permission)

Great discussion here. Many threads here but I will focus on a few that we are addressing at NetHope.

1. The appropriate use of information and communications technologies has made and can make a big difference in emergency response and follow on program work. Much more can be done however. Like everything in IT, it's a combination of tools (hardware and software), processes and people.

2. Funding for emergency PREPARADENESS is needed. It's understandable that donors want to give when they see a crisis unfold, but investments in ICT are needed before an emergency strikes so that the tools, people and processes can be in place when it's time to respond.

3. With the amount of money that we spend on emergencies and development agendas, it makes sense to dramatically increase the funding for IT solutions that our experience has shown us (mostly in the West) have made a difference. At present, it's thought that the less that humanitarian agencies spend on overhead (which includes IT) the more efficient they are. We must equip humanitarian staff with tools, processes and skills so that they can do what they do better -- assess needs, manage programs, share information, research best practices, evaluate performance and communicate with donors. At NetHope, we call this the "Humanitarian Productivity Gap".

 Frank Schott of NetHope tweaks my awareness in referring to the “Humanitarian Productivity Gap”.

Disaster Preparedness like Preventive Medicine is essential, but not sexy (not yet) for the average donor making giving decisions. My Aunt Delia used to remind me that “people decide emotionally, justify rationally and then collect data until the cows come home to justify what they gut level believed”. What if disaster preparedness appeals for IT funding convincingly addressed both parts of the decider equation?

When talk show hosts heap acclaim on a nonprofit that has “low overhead” without educating potential donors about legitimate, essential overhead, they do a disservice. When nonprofits proclaim that 100% of the donation goes to the disaster what message is that giving to donors about
supporting infrastructure needed to get the job done? I like to ask objectors to overhead, “What is the ‘overhead’ for your family, for your mom and pop business? What’s optional, what’s not? Sometimes the ah-ha light comes on.

One nonprofit leadership sage (perhaps it was Peter Drucker – Does a reader know the exact source?) is reputed to have asked nonprofits, “How many years will it take to achieve your mission?” Five years, twenty years? Then are you building a five year, twenty year organization now? Every day you must decide whether to feed 100 more people . . . or invest in essential infrastructure (like IT). That’s the balancing act ballroom where adroit deciders must dance.

Charles

I appreciate doolang's comment that, "There are so many disparate & disconnected efforts and effects of a disaster that the hardest part is to really wrap one's wits around it."

How honest and true. The proliferation of expertise about disaster response and its availability to those within and beyond the impact area have layered complexity upon complexity. The more we know the harder it seems to be to deliver on it.

Herein lies the value of the recently released "Checklist for Effective Disaster Response". This simple resource puts everyone on the same page. It fosters productive appreciation of complexity, expeditious reflection on coordination, and awareness of unintended consequences.

In his landmark book "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right,"
Atul Gwande writes "Knowhow and sophistication have increased remarkably across almost all our realms of endeavor and as a result so has out struggle to deliver on them. You see it in the frequent mistakes authorities make when hurricanes or tornadoes or other disasters hit." A simple checklist manages the complexity to take advantage of the expertise of many people and compensating for omissions and inadequacies.

As Charles Maclean notes in his introduction, the "Checklist for Effective Disaster Response." is available on line at http://www.philanthropynow.com/[…]/effective_disaster_response.htm

Visitors to this Blog,

It's been a good stretch to host my first blog with you.

Thank you to all those who posted and read the posts.

*The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth. - Pierre Abelard

Here's to your doubting, questioning and seeking,

Charles Maclean