WHO DOES WHAT WHERE IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN GEORGIA Second edition March 2010 Georgian National Committee of Disaster Risk Reduction & Environment Sustainable Development FOREWORD Georgia is a highly disaster-prone country, which frequently experiences natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes, floods, landslides, mudflows, avalanches, and drought) as well as man-made emergencies (e.g. industrial accidents and traffic accidents). Compounding factors such as demographic change, unplanned urbanization, poorly maintained infrastructure, lax enforcement of safety standards, socio-economic inequities, epidemics, environmental degradation and climate variability amplify the frequency and intensity of disasters and call for a proactive and multi-hazard approach. Disaster risk reduction is a cross-cutting and complex development issue. It requires political and legal commitment, public understanding, scientific knowledge, careful development planning, responsible enforcement of policies and legislation, people-centred early warning systems, and effective disaster preparedness and response mechanisms. Close collaboration of policy-makers, scientists, urban planners, engineers, architects, development workers and civil society representatives is a precondition for adopting a comprehensive approach and inventing adequate solutions. Multi-stakeholder and inter-agency platforms can help provide and mobilize knowledge, skills and resources required for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into development policies, for coordination of planning and programmes, and for provision of analysis and advice. For this reason, UNDP established a Disaster Risk Reduction Think-Tank in Georgia in March of 2009 in close collaboration with the Georgian National Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction and Environmental Sustainable Development (formed in 2008). Since disaster risk reduction requires new collaboration patterns among a wide group of participants, one of the first joint initiatives was to obtain an overview of who does what and where in the field of disaster risk reduction in Georgia. This 3W-exercise was launched at the first Disaster Risk Reduction Think-Tank meeting in March of 2009. Based upon templates from the inter-agency Emergency Health and Nutrition Working Group in Nepal, forms were developed, translated and disseminated to various agencies / institutions involved in disaster risk reduction. Initial results were presented at the third Think-Tank meeting in July 2009 along with guidelines on how to fill in the questionnaire. The second edition was elaborated during the first three months of 2010. Although this second edition remains a working document, we hope the 47 institutional / organizational profiles will facilitate better coordination among stakeholders in Georgia involved in disaster risk reduction. This publication is based on information received from partner agencies / organizations and requires continuous review and updating in order to provide an accurate picture of the disaster risk reduction scenario in Georgia. It is important that partners provide regular updates to their profiles in order to keep the publication current. For any modification, feedback, suggestion, and addition of new partner profiles, please contact Ms Ketevan Khurtsia ([email protected]), National Project Officer for Disaster Risk Reduction at UNDP. This DRR Directory will be printed, updated regularly and made available online. Manana Kachakhidze Erik Kjaergaard Micol Scherrer Executive Secretary DRR Advisor International Programme Officer for DRR Georgian National Committee for DRR UNDP SDC I Guidelines for the “3W” questionnaire 1 – 4. CONTACT DETAILS Please provide contact details of your agency / institution Field Guidelines / remarks 1. DATE AND NAME OF RESPONDER Please provide the date and the name of the person, who filled in the questionnaire 2. NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS OF Please provide agency name, abbreviation, postal address, phone number, fax number, and website address if AGENCY available 3. NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS OF Please provide name, exact designation, email address and mobile number of the head of agency in Georgia HEAD OF AGENCY 4. FOCAL PERSON FOR DISASTER RISK Please provide name, exact designation, email address and mobile number of the DRR focal point in Georgia REDUCTION 5 – 6. PROFILES Kindly note that two agency profiles are required Field Guidelines / remarks 5. GENERAL AGENCY PROFILE Please summarize what your agency / institution does in Georgia in general 6. DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AGENCY Please elaborate on a special profile of your agency’s disaster risk reduction activities. It is important to enter here: PROFILE a. What is being done in the field of DRR b. What is for sure coming up in the field of DRR Note that due to limitation of space, a maximum of 1000 characters for each of the profiles (general and DRR) apply. Any profile longer than 1000 characters will be cut to fit in the final form. 7. TARGET GROUPS Please provide detailed information about the targeted population of your DRR activities Term Definition Target group Group of people or entity that will be directly positively influenced by the program/project/activities 8. THEMATIC FOCUS Please check off relevant boxes indicating main priorities of ongoing and planned disaster risk reduction activities of your agency / institution Please check off the boxes with: - '-' if your agency is not involved in the corresponding field - 'x' if your agency has some ongoing or planned activities in the corresponding field - 'xx' if your agency has many ongoing or planned activities in the corresponding field II Term Definition Disaster response The provision of emergency services and public assistance during or immediately after a disaster Management process that analyses specific potential events of emerging situations that might threaten society and Contingency planning establishes arrangements in advance to enable timely, effective and appropriate responses to such events and situations The building of capacities of the governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and Emergency preparedness individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of hazard events or conditions Methodology to determine and map the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and evaluating Risk assessment and risk mapping existing conditions of vulnerability Awareness raising activities Activities raising the common knowledge about disaster risks, the factors that lead to disasters and the actions that can be taken individually and collectively to reduce exposure and vulnerability to hazards Training and capacity development The process by which people, organizations and society systematically stimulate and develop their capacities over time including through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions Policy dialogue Exchange of information and consensus building between the public, private, and civic sectors through leaders who are in a position to make decisions or strongly influence the trajectory of a possible solution to a challenging issue Structural assessments of infrastructure Engineering structural assessment of buildings, roads, bridges, dams, etc. to define the vulnerability of infrastructure to hazards Engineering preventive measures Any physical construction to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards, or application of engineering techniques to achieve hazard-resistance and resilience in structures or systems Bio-engineering preventive measures Any measure to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards using living plants as building material Retrofitting of buildings Reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and resilient to the damaging effects of hazards The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable Early warning systems individuals, communities and organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss Coordination The act of creating a homogenous political culture; bringing together and causing agencies / institutions to work together efficiently for a common cause 9 – 10. GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS Please provide information about your field offices and presence in regions/municipalities of Georgia 9. HUMAN RESOURCE AND FIELD Please indicate the number of staff involved in DRR activities and location/addresses of field offices PRESENCE 10. PRESENCE IN REGIONS / Please check off boxes ('x') of the municipalities and regions where your agency is currently implementing or planning MUNICIPALITIES to implement DRR activities III LIST OF AGENCIES / ORGANIZATIONS Georgian Government EMD Emergency Management Department (Ministry of Internal Affairs) 1 MRA Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation 2 MRDI Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure 3 NEA (Geology) National Environment Agency (Ministry of Environment), Department for Geology Hazard and Geology Management 4 NEA (Hydro) National Environment Agency (Ministry of Environment), Hydrometeorology Department 5 NSC Office of the National Security Council 6 International organizations and UN British Emb. British Embassy 7 DTROG Defence Threat Reduction Office Georgia (U.S. Embassy) 8 EC European Commission 9 FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 10 ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross 11 IFRC International Federation