MFCD successfully conducted a one-day workshop on Emergency Response Preparedness, on the 4th August, 2018 at Nagarodaya Centre, Colombo 8.
MFCD’s president, Mr. M. Hanan lucidly outlined the concept of MFCD’s involvement within the DRR Sector, and explained its salient features. He also spoke on MFCD’s disaster management protocol which deals with humanitarian aspects during emergencies in particular; preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters. He further elaborated on the importance in empowering local community-based organizations through leadership development and capacity building.
The main topic under the theme of Emergency Response Preparedness was delivered by Mr. Zuhair Kariyappar, Deputy project manager – UN Habitat, Sri Lanka. Essentially, an effective Emergency Response Preparedness (ERP) system, can foresee emergencies that are likely to occur and will equip individuals to appropriately pre-plan key components. Hence, Mr. Zuhair illustrated objectives and underlined the pillars of ERP with an equation of 2P and 2R – Prepare, Protection, Recovery, and Response.
Mr. Ashraff Hussain of National Relief Services Development office, Ministry of Disaster Management, highlighted the importance of “Communication with government institutions during disaster”. He stressed the fact that reliable and accessible communication and information systems were keys to a community’s resilience.
Dr. Novil Wijesekara, National Coordinatorof Disaster Preparedness and Response Division – Ministry of Health, enumerated the importance of coordination between the health sector, other organizations and agencies in disaster planning and response. He spoke at length on the subject of “Coordination with health sector in Disaster Response”.
In his guest speech, Dulan De Silva, Executive Chairman, GivetoLanka, reckoned that social organizations which work for disaster management should also focus on poverty elimination activities and cited the example of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) which is at the forefront of the poverty alleviation program in Bangladesh.
