Proceso inflamatorio

Likewise disaster, disaster management has also been defined differently. It is therefore argued that understanding the aim of conducting disaster management may help define what disaster management is. According to Warfield (2004), the aim of disaster management is “to reduce or avoid the potential losses from hazards, assure prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective recovery." The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - IFRC (2012) assumes disaster management to be “the organisation and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.” Furthermore, Kaklauskas et al., (2009) argue that post- disaster management strategy should be compatible with the disaster level, economic, social, cultural, institutional, technological, environmental and legal/ regulatory condition of the respective areas. They also argues that no single strategy could be applied to all countries and what is considered the best strategy of one country cannot simply be copied to another country. To accommodate the differences in disaster management definitions, Emanuele et al., (2009) describe disaster management as “the body of policy and administrative decisions, the operational activities, the actors and technologies that pertain to the various stages of a disaster at all levels.”

From the various descriptions and definitions of disaster management, it can be concluded that disaster management is related to the management of policy making, the required response

12 activities, and the stakeholders which depend on the type of the disaster and their positions in regard to the disaster management cycle. Even though the disaster management strategy may be unique to certain areas and for certain conditions, there are, however, major components of disaster management that are relatively similar regardless of the type of disaster and its location. The major components of disaster management will be presented in the following section.

2.2.2.1 Components of disaster management

In the discussion of the components of disaster management, scholars and organisations (eq. Wolensky and Wolensky, 1990, Freeman et al., 2003, DFID, 2005) use different approaches. As discussed in the next paragraphs, the components of disaster management are generally described based on the activities included in the process with respect to the phases of the disaster management cycle, or based on the core elements requiring management.

With regard to the activities in disaster management, the components can be classified into two major phases of the disaster management cycle; pre-disaster and post-disaster. According to Freeman et al. (2003), the pre-disaster components include risk identification, risk mitigation, risk transfer and preparedness. It is in this phase where disaster risk management and disaster risk reduction activities generally take place, which measures include policy and planning, physical preventive, physical coping and/or adaptive measures, and community capacity building (Department for International Development - DFID, 2005). Furthermore, the post-disaster components include emergency response, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Other scholars also refer to the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase as the early-recovery period and the long-term recovery period (Wolensky and Wolensky, 1990). Since the activities in disaster management are closely related to the disaster management cycle, more detailed discussion of this issue will be addressed in section 2.2.2.2 regarding disaster management cycle.

On the other hand, disaster management may be described based on the core elements of a disaster requiring management. Khan et al. (2008) argue that a disaster is the result of the combination of hazard, vulnerability and insufficient capacity or measures of the affected people to reduce the potential chance of risks. They argue that disasters only occur when

13 hazards and vulnerabilities meet, and also bring in the third element - capacity, into the discussion about disaster management. Capacity is imperative, as it may affect the severity of hazard impacts and people’s ability to cope with disaster. Therefore, these three elements are seen as the basic components of disaster management.

In accordance with the definition of disaster described previously in section 2.2.1, even though hazardous events may occur relatively anywhere in the world, the capacity and the vulnerability level of the local community may differ. Consequently, what is considered a disaster in one area may not be deemed a disaster in another area, i.e. should it happen in an area with less vulnerable people or communities, or when the affected communities are able to cope with the impact with their own resources and capacities. Accordingly, it is therefore imperative to understand the respective three components of disaster; hazards, vulnerability, and capacity, which may affect decisions and responses made towards disaster events. Accordingly, more discussion on the three components of disaster management is presented in the following sections.

2.2.2.1.1 Hazard

A hazard can be defined as “a dangerous condition or event, that threatens or has the potential for causing injury to life or damage to property or the environment” (Khan et al., 2008). Generally, hazards can be divided into three categories. Firstly, hazards are called natural hazards if they are caused exclusively by natural origins (earthquake, cyclone, volcanic eruption, etc.). Secondly, socio-natural hazards are hazards which are caused by both natural and man- made causes (flood, landslide, fire, etc.). Thirdly, man-made hazards are those caused by human negligence (pollution, dam failure, wars, etc.).

Additionally, Etkin and Dore (2003, cited in Ashlin and Ladle, 2007) argue that natural hazards will turn into a disaster when they reveal the social vulnerability and cause damage to both the physical and social fabric of an environment. Similarly, Cannon (2008) highlights that even though a disaster which is related to the natural hazards is generally understood and recognised as a natural disaster, a disaster is largely the product decisions made by the human being involving the economic, political and social factors.

14 2.2.2.1.2 Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability is generally understood as “the extent to which a community, structures, services, or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazards, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrain or a disaster-prone area” (Khan et al., 2008). In addition, Rottach (2010) denotes that vulnerability depends on the social, economic, cultural and political conditions, which are the result of the internal changes and outside influences.

In general, vulnerability can be divided into two categories, physical and socioeconomic. The physical vulnerability is rooted in the physical characteristic of the people or buildings. This includes proximity, location, structural strengths, etc. The socioeconomic vulnerability, on the other hand, is rooted in the socioeconomic condition of the people or the community at risk. Included here are the levels of poverty, education, gender, age, etc. For instance, poor people may be more vulnerable to earthquakes due to their inability to build sound concrete houses. On the other hand, people living in poorly built concrete houses may be more vulnerable to earthquakes than the people living in timber houses. However, even though the vulnerability paradigm is often associated with poverty and marginalisation, Cannon (2008) warns that regarding vulnerability as more or less the same as poverty may lead to ignoring or undermining other hazard risk characteristics that may be different from poverty.

2.2.2.1.3 Capacity

In addition to hazards and vulnerabilities, capacity is argued to be one of the important elements of disaster management. Khan et al., (2008) define capacity as “resources, means and strengths, which exist in households and communities and which enable them to cope with, withstand, prepare for, prevent, mitigate or quickly recover from a disaster." Furthermore, Khan et al., (2008) classify people’s capacity into physical and socioeconomic capacity. Physical capacity is the ability and skills that the affected people possess, which enable them to survive or cope with the impact of the disaster. Similarly, socioeconomic capacity is the economic and social condition of the affected people, which help them to survive or to cope with the disaster impacts. For instance, a wealthy community with strong social cohesion is more likely to survive and quickly recover from disaster impact than the poor community.

15 In line with the definition of the disaster, it is the capacity of vulnerable people to cope with the hazardous events that distinguishes and makes a hazardous event an emergency situation or a disaster. It is therefore argued that capacity building or capacity development should be integrated with any disaster mitigation or disaster reconstruction effort.

The basic components of disaster management have been discussed in sections 2.2.2.1.1, 2.2.2.1.2, and 2.2.2.1.3 above with regards to hazards, vulnerability and the capacity of the affected community. As part of the discussion on the disaster management topic, it is also necessary to understand the different activities involved in the disaster management, which are mainly segmented and embedded into different phases, which form the disaster management cycle. More detail discussion on this issue will be presented in the following section.

2.2.2.2 Disaster management cycle

Warfield (2004) suggests that disaster management cycle is “an ongoing process by which governments, businesses, and civil-societyplan for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and immediately following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred... (including) the shaping of public policies and plans that either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate their elects on people, property, and infrastructure." Furthermore, disaster management activities can be divided into several groups based on the timing and foci on the particular activities. These activities altogether form a recurring and continuing pattern that illustrates the on-going process which can be regarded as the disaster management cycle.

Scholars and institutions define the disaster management cycle differently. Some scholars separate disaster management activities into three phases of emergencies or crises; pre- emergency/ crisis, emergency/ crisis and post-emergency/ crisis, (Messer, 2003, Emanuele et al., 2009). Wolensky and Wolensky (1990) divide the post-emergency phase as the early- recovery and long-term recovery period. Similarly, Messer (2003) further subdivides disaster management activities into several groups, namely prevention, mitigation and preparedness (pre-emergency phase), response (emergency phase) and recovery and development (post- emergency phase).

16 Nevertheless, the slightly different definitions and naming of disaster management activities are generally in accordance with the so-called conventional disaster management cycle, which particularly consists of mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery as illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 2.1 – Disaster Management Cycle

Source: Shukla (2013)

The many variables and activities involved in the application and implementation of disaster management lead to the requirement of the tailoring and understanding of the area and the context into which the disaster management strategy is to be implemented. Accordingly, as mentioned earlier in section 2.2.2, Kaklauskas et al. (2009) argue that no single strategy could be applied to all countries and what is considered the best strategy of one country cannot simply be copied to another country.

With regard to development and disaster risk management, UNDP (2004) distinguishes two types of disaster risk management; compensatory disaster risk management and prospective disaster risk management. Whilst compensatory disaster risk management is focused on the “amelioration of existing vulnerabilities and reduction of natural hazards that has accumulated through past development pathways," prospective disaster risk management suggests that “development programmes and projects need to be reviewed for their potential and to reduce or alleviate vulnerability and hazards." Referring to the disaster management cycle, the compensatory disaster risk management is more focused on the preparedness and response

17 phase and stands alongside development planning. Prospective disaster risks management, on the other hand, is part of the sustainable development planning and is argued to be particularly effective in the post-disaster reconstruction phase, when disasters provide the greatest opportunity for development.

The above discussions on the issues of disaster management components and the activities in each phase of the disaster management cycle indicate the links between disaster and development. Accordingly, the next sections will provide a discussion on the link between disaster and development, which cover the issues of development opportunity in disaster and followed by the sustainability aspect development.