ESTRUCTURA DEL SISTEMA EDUCATIVO MARROQUÍ

To complete the evaluation process for the current Disaster Response Administrative System planning stage, and after determining the points of weakness for this stage, a set of recommendations were revealed from the responses of the interviewees. These recommendations have been categorised into sub-nodes as listed in Figure 4.6 below:

Figure 4.6 Nodes for Planning Recommendations

4.3.3.1 Education on Disaster Risk

It has commonly been assumed that good educating and training might lead to improve preparedness and response at all levels before during and after disasters. Moreover, the capacity of staff and community could be built and fostered by doing so. According to interviewee E21

“building and strengthening the institutional capacity for preparedness and response from

the potential risks” is essential when the disaster strikes. In order to gain proper planning, experts stressed the importance of education for both the staff and public. From the recommendationsobtained from theexperts’ own experience,courses in the field of planning are suggested by interviewees E3 andE18. This can be seen by these responses: “Intensify external training courses in the field of planning” and “schematic staff contribution in

external courses in the field of planning”. Similarly,intervieweesE3, E8, E15, E17, and E25-

E28 stressed attending internal and external courses and focusing on attending external courses in order to transfer experience and knowledge as well as to deal with the modern techniques in responding to the disaster. Moreover, because ofbureaucracy and nepotism, the external courses are limited to high-ranking officers and staff. Therefore, interviewee E3 recommended “involving the intermediate and lower staff in courses outside Iraq”. Interviewee E19, on the other hand, proposed another idea; “Conducting studies and research in the field of planning relying on previous experiences and global research”. This would

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enhance the planning process. Interviewee E6 went on to add a suggestion related to

“continuous training for staff”, where planning and the responding process could be further

improved.Interviewee E19 agreed with this suggestion and added: “…..conduct joint exercises for the plans with the relevant organisations”. In a similar way, interviewee E6 proposed

“carrying out field practices of the different incidents in order to determine the pros and cons

of implementation and thus address the negatives”. Interviewees E11, E22, and E25 support

this view by stressing on field practices due to their importance in supporting teamwork and providing a response in a coordinated manner.

To ensure community safety during disaster, skills and provisions for disaster preparedness and response can be developed by providing a comprehensive education over generations. Such development could be achieved by “increasing community awareness and involving civil defence material in curriculum” (E9). Interviewees E8, E16 and E19 agreed with these recommendations, stating the necessity of “educating the public” by “…..including a civil

defence syllabus in the curriculum of schools and universities” and “preparing a community

education programme as a support”. Moreover, interviewee E21 highlighted “training and

dissemination of knowledge about risk management”, also “increasing awareness of the risks

through education in all its stages”. Further, interviewees E8, E19, and E21 emphasise

continuous communication with the public to raise awareness of the threats of risks and

the dangers of approaching the scene, which is necessary to avoid the dangers of the sequential bombing. IntervieweeE20 agreed with the aforementioned view and raised a new important point in terms of using media in community education to raise awareness about the role of

civil defence during the responding stage. Additionally, interviewee E21 put emphasis on

“disaster preparedness at the community level by focusing on the community safety behaviour and practices”, “apply education, knowledge and innovation techniques to build a safety culture among the public to enhance the ability to deal with disasters at all levels”, and “ensure

broad local community participation (tribal - religious - other civil society organisations) in preparedness and response to disasters”.

4.3.3.2 Endowment of Equipment, Tools, and Infrastructure

In this section interviewees E3, E6, E16,E18, and E21-24 highlighted the importance of using

sophisticated equipment and mechanisms, special heavy rescue equipment (such as

shovels, excavators, etc.), equipping with modern planning equipment such as a fast internet system, and linking the directorates of civil defence with the e-government network. IntervieweeE21 pinpointed an early warning system in his recommendations, stating the need

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for “securing effective early warning systems for different threats, such as radiological,

chemical, and biological weapons”. Moreover, interviewee E3 put emphasis on “maintaining

the planning of special supplies”. Interviewee E18 highlighted another suggestion, stating that he would like to see the “set up of fire nozzles and a security cameras network within the required technical specifications”. In addition, interviewees E6, E18 and E22-E24 had the same opinion, by proposing the increase and modernisation of civil defence centres within the scientific criteria for distribution according to geographical area and population. So that disaster response planning can rely on such civil defence centres and do proper planning of activities for disaster response.

4.3.3.3 Financial Resources

To implement the plan properly, “resources should be accurately estimated” (E1), as well as that “adequate financial resources should be allocated” (E12). Moreover, to enhance and encourage all the employees in different departments within the directorate to do their roles that are allocated in the response plan, “danger allowances for each employee of civil defence

classes should be allocated” (E19).According to interviewee E19, “a danger allowance is the

amount of money allocated to the employees of the Ministry of Interior who work within a hot spot (hot spot means the vulnerable areas that encounter the risk of terrorism and include north

of Babylon, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah AL-Dien, Al-Anbar, and Ninawa)”.

4.3.3.4 Law Activation

It seems to be responding to disasters is a shared responsibility between the responders and community. Therefore, law enforcement might have vital roles in responding to disasters such as being first responders in disaster incidents and providing the community with safety and security. As such, interviewees E4 and E14 put emphasis on “activating the decisions of the civil defence services under Law No. 64 of 1978 amended by Act 44 of 2013, which are

applicable so far” due to the importance of the commitment to such a law when implementing

a response plan.

4.3.3.5 Planning Process

To arrange an appropriate action in order to response in an effective and timely manner, response planning processes might be considered as a critical tool which is prepared in advance to solve problems that probably arise while responding to the disaster. To enhance this tool, interviewee E10 stated the need for “developing a unified plan to response to the disaster for the governorate, which includes the participation of all organisations with all its possibilities

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to determine responsibilities, duties, and the hierarchy”. In a similar way, interviewees E6,

E20, E23, E25 put emphasis on preparing prior plans to any disaster and preparing the elements of the plan (human resources, modern machine, and infrastructure). Interviewee E23 is of the opinion that “increasing the number of civil defence centres depending on the

scientific criteria for distribution according to geographical area and population”.

In addition to what has been mentioned before, interviewee E8 stress that “attention and support for the planning process should be given by the decision-makers”. Interviewee E10 added that “before starting the planning process, planners should focus on disaster forecasting and monitoring”. Interviewee E10 agrees with this suggestion, adding that

“addressing the negatives occurring after each accident” might decrease the margin of error

in future planning. However, interviewee E11proposed the idea of providing the planning process with updated feedback from the staff by “holding regular meetings with all the officers and staff members and consulting them about all that would raise the work efficiency,

development, remove the obstacles, and find solutions to them”. This point was also supported

by interviewee E12, who sees this from the operative point of view by “giving opportunities to junior directors to participate in making plans because they represent the future managers”. Regarding thecoordination between the authorities and the rest of the relevant organisation, interviewee E18 asserts the point of ensuring that roads are open for civil defence teams. This can be seen in interviewee E18’s response: “There is a need for coordination between

the authorities and the rest of the relevant organisations in relation to roads being open”. In a similar way, interviewee E6 put emphasis on “removing excesses from the national electricity grid”. IntervieweeE13 highlights another different point, which can be seen by this response:

“The need to apply and update safety standards for buildings”.

4.3.3.6 Specialist Staff

Many interviewees (E8, E14, E16, E18, and E19) argue that specialised staff are needed in planning departments. Interviewee E18 believes that “specialised technical staff in planning should be increased”. While interviewee E14 recommends that planning departments should

“rely on competent and experienced people with academic achievement, who have been

trained through the internal and external planning courses”. These recommendations are based

on the remarkable shortages in experienced and specialised planning staff, particularly technical staff. This shortage might lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the plans.

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To sum up, various suggestions have arisen from the arguments in this section. A summary of the planning recommendations’ sub-themes is presented in Figure 4.7 below. In the next section, planning stage summary is provided.