"Dealing at early stages with the rehabilitation of social and economic conditions in post-disaster or post-conflict situations offers a unique opportunity to rethink past development practices, improve the sustainability of human settlements development and prepare communities to prevent against threats and risks." UN-HABITAT is mandated, through the Habitat Agenda, to take the lead in disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness and post-disaster rehabilitation with regard to human settlements. The Disaster Management Programme has been tasked to fulfill this mandate through supporting national governments, local authorities and communities in strengthening their capacity in managing human-made and natural disasters. This applies both to the prevention and mitigation of disasters as well as the rehabilitation of human settlements. DMP also creates awareness among decision makers and communities on mitigation methodologies and adequate rehabilitation in human settlements. It bridges the gap between relief and development by combining the technical expertise, normative understanding and lessons learned through UN-HABITAT field operations Strategy "In addressing disasters both in terms of response and prevention, there is a simultaneous need for hand-on experience to develop understanding and credibility, and a clear exit strategy for promoting sustainability and self-reliance." The Disaster Management Programme provides support to national governments, local authorities and communities by: - Developing techniques and tools for the management of disaster prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation;
- Designing and implementing training programmes, as well as supporting training activities executed by other agencies and field projects;
- Promoting horizontal cooperation by networking institutions, experts and experience on disaster related activities in human settlements;
- Design, implementation and backstopping of projects at local, national, regional and global level;
- Strengthening coordination and networking among communities, NGOs, governments and external support organizations in addressing disaster-related activities.
Operational Framework In order to achieve the objectives laid out in the Habitat Agenda to address human settlements issues in disaster and post-conflict settings, DMP provides a combination of long term technical and normative support through ongoing partnerships within and outside UN-HABITAT with a surge facility to allow for the provision of immediate support during emergency phases. This combination ensures that DMP is able to impact all phases of post-conflict and disaster management cycles to promote sustainable human settlements development within situations of crisis with maximum effect.
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