Disaster Management

In December 2004, an ocean earthquake that registered a 9.4 on the Richter scale created a huge tsunami in the Indian Ocean, destroying large stretches of the coast in South and Southeastern Asia and Africa and taking the lives of more than 220,000 people. In May 2008, many thousands of people fell victim to two terrible natural disasters in Asia. In the Union of Myanmar a cyclone ripped through the Irrawaddy Delta. With wind speeds in excess of 190 kilometres per hour and tidal waves up to four metres high, it carved out a 190-kilometre wide swath of destruction. Just a few days later an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale shook China’s Sichuan Province.

Natural disaster often result in flooding, hunger, illness or violent conflicts. Decades of successful development is destroyed in the blink of an eye. Human and institutional shortcomings often turn natural events into disasters. Efficient disaster prevention systems must be in place to ensure that people are not simply left at the mercy of nature’s fury. The United Nations emphasised the international importance of disaster prevention as early as 1999 in its "International Strategy for Disaster Reduction" (ISDR).

Inwent works with international partners to promote disaster prevention and early warning systems. We offer a range of programmes that augment the skills and abilities of experts from the field and political decision-makers. Our dialogues contribute to the development of national and regional networks for disaster prevention. Since 2002 the National Institute for Catastrophe Management in Mozambique (Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades, INGC) has been working with Inwent to improve its disaster readiness. The Federal Foreign Office finances training seminars that teach local committee members how to implement preventative measures for the civil population. Some of the topics addressed include methods of emergency response rehearsal and how those affected can protect themselves. Participants also learn how the public can be warned in time and prepared to deal with impending disaster. They develop strategies for evacuation and providing first aid. Programme participants also make their newly acquired knowledge available to their communities or other members of the catastrophe management committee and as such function as information multipliers.

In the wake of the tsunami, the Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) was developed in Indonesia in part with the assistance of German research institutions. Inwent is working with the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the United Nations University Institute for Environment & Human Security (UNU-EHS) to ensure that local communities are capable of using the early warning system effectively. Our programme provides employees from institutions and organisations with the skills they need to create the necessary structures and allocate areas of responsibility.

"Capacity Building for Integrated Coastal Management in the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Tsunami Region in Indonesia" is another Inwent project. Its objective is to provide decision-makers from the affected coastal regions with the skills they need to develop both their own communities and the entire region effectively while meeting criteria for sustainability.

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction