CPA Parliamentary Academy
38th CPA Small Branches Conference

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions

About the Workshop

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions

With increasing population growth, rapid urbanisation, climate change, environmental degradation and widespread poverty, a growing number of people and assets are exposed to disasters. Disaster Risk Preparedness, therefore, consists of a set of measures undertaken by governments, organisations, communities, or individuals to better respond and cope with the immediate aftermath of a disaster, whether it be human-made or caused by natural hazards.

The challenges for those in small jurisdictions, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are particularly pronounced. They are among the most disproportionately impacted by climate change, facing environmental vulnerabilities, and often lack the resources and capacity to develop disaster risk and management institutions.

Approaches to disaster risk are agreed upon and firmly embedded into international commitments, including the 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2015 Paris Agreement. These commitments put the state as the central organ in ensuring effective disaster risk preparedness and reduction. Parliaments and Parliamentarians, therefore, are uniquely positioned to catalyse, oversee and monitor disaster risk preparedness laws and policies and their impact at local levels. The Sendai Framework explicitly calls for Parliamentarians to develop new or amend existing disaster risk reduction-related legislation, set budget allocations and hold governments accountable for public protection.

This session explored the range of governance mechanisms that small jurisdictions have and can implement, including through institutions, policies and legal frameworks that coordinate and oversee disaster risk preparedness. It also explored how the application of different disaster risk preparedness strategies has enabled small jurisdictions to increase their resilience and become more prepared in the face of disasters.

Panellists

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions
Professor Kate Cochrane, Institute of Hazard Risk and Resilience, Durham University, Head of Resilience, NHS Highlands

Kate is the Head of Resilience for NHS Highland, a Professor in Practice within the Durham University’s Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience and is one of the founders of the After Disasters Network.  As the Emergency Planning Manager she support the Falkland Islands Government in their response to Covid and has recently co-authored the journal article Falkland Islands' Covid-19 recovery planning experience

She has wide ranging expertise in planning for, and leading recovery, following major incidents and has worked on incidents including flooding, modern day slavery, culvert collapse and the Grenfell Fire.  She worked with communities whose lives were irrevocably changed by Hurricane Katrina and Deepwater Horizon and also with communities whose members have gone on to threaten or commit terrorist acts. 

Kate developed the first multi-agency Concept of Operations that was designed to support the immediate rescue and longer term response available to adults and children who have been trafficked into and around the UK and is currently working with Northumbria Law School to help inform current practice and recommend policy developments.  Before Kate moved to the Falklands at the start of 2020 she led the preparation of policies and processes for Newcastle City Council for both anticipated and unanticipated events and represented the council on the local, regional and national groups.

Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tonga

Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu acquired the academic qualifications, professional experience and record of achievement that earned her appointments to increasingly important positions in the Planning, Finance and the Foreign Service of the Tonga government. During her 15 years as the Deputy National Authorising Officer/Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs, she managed the development programme of the Vava’u Group of islands and she drew on that formal training and learning as a practitioner to achieve a series of successes in building capability and improving policies.

Her early career took her to five years service as Macroeconomist and then as Planning Officer in the Central Planning Department. she took the lead in preparing project and program development with aid donors for implementation in Tonga. She also spent a year as Acting Deputy Secretary for Finance and was instrumental in budget preparation and budget policy development.

Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu was appointed to the position of Deputy National Authorising Officer/Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1991 and took over the management of the EU program in Tonga which was focussed primarily on the development of the Vava’u Islands, but with significant allocations for the rest of the country under the non-focal component of the programme.

In 2002, Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu was appointed to the position of Secretary for Foreign Affairs & National Authorising Officer, in which position she managed the transfer to the ministry of the immigration department, a task that she successfully completed. From February 2005 to 14th April 2009, she was appointed to be the Permanent Representative of the Tonga to the United Nations and the Ambassador to the United States of America, Canada, Cuba, and Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

In April 2009 to April 2015, Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu served as Deputy Director General, Secretariat of the Pacific Community and OIC of the Suva Regional Office. In January 2010, she also took on the responsibility of Director of Education, Training and Human Development Division directly supervising five main programmes including (i) Secretariat of the Pacific Education Assessment Board (SPBEA); (ii) Centre for Community Education Training (CETC); (iii) Human Rights Programme (RRRT); (iv) Human Development Programme covering gender, youth and culture; and (v) Regional Media Centre (RMC). she is also a member of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s Reference Group on Sexual and Gender Based Violence; co-chair the working Group on 1325 Women, Peace, and Security; Steering Committee on the UNDP Pacific Operations Centre; PIFs Working Group on Human Resources Development; Chair of the PIFs Working Group on Population & Health; a member of the SPC Human Rights Programme External Advisory Board and Deputy Pro Chancellor & Deputy Chair of the University of the South Pacific Council.

From April 2015 to December 2015, Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu served as Acting Pro Chancellor and Chair of the University of the South Pacific Council. she also assumed the Chairmanship of the SPC Human Rights Programme External Advisory Board. From July 2015, she became a Director of a Consulting Company, ‘Utoikamanu & Associates. She was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Tourism on the 3rd January 2017.

Hon. Fekitamoeloa Utiokamanu took up the post with the United Nations, of Undersecretary General & High Representative for the Least Developed, Landlocked and Small Island Developing States in May 2017 to June 2021. The Office of the High Representative works across 91 countries; and is responsible for advocating for, supporting, mobilizing, coordinating and reporting on the programmes of action for the least developed, landlocked and small island developing countries; as well as the achievement of internationally agreed goals, including the SDGs.

Workshop Resources

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions

Workshop Summary

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions

This session explored the range of governance mechanisms that small jurisdictions have and can implement, including through institutions, policies and legal frameworks that coordinate and oversee disaster risk preparedness. It also explored how the application of different disaster risk preparedness strategies has enabled small jurisdictions to increase their resilience and become more prepared in the face of disasters.

The workshop heard that disaster is fundamentally about people and the harms caused to communities by hazards. To better understand how to respond to disasters, consideration was given to defining the key concepts - disasters, resilience, hazards, threats, and risks. What is important in formulating a response to a disaster is not the cause of the disaster but its consequences. Emergency plans must address the most urgent information needed when disaster strikes: Who is in charge? Who is on the response team? What decisions are taken automatically? What must be considered? Where to get extra support? Ultimately, a successful response depends on asking the right questions and asking for help.

Small island jurisdictions are among the most disproportionately impacted by climate change, facing environmental vulnerabilities, and often lacking the resources and capacity to develop disaster risk and management institutions. The workshop considered the example of Tonga, an island nation that is at high risk due to geological hazards and climate change. In response to the threats faced, the Legislative Assembly of Tonga has passed legislation to provide financial and planning tools to government react and maintains a role in scrutinising government action on emergency preparedness and management.

Workshop Recommendation

CPA Small Branches Workshop A: Disaster Risk Preparedness for Small Jurisdictions

As part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference outcomes, each workshop put forward a recommendation. The following recommendation was approved:

 

“Parliaments from small jurisdictions should build on and find effective ways to hold governments to account for strategies aimed at preparing for and managing disaster risk, including through the use of oversight and accountability mechanisms at their disposal.” 

 

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