Disaster Response Roles and Responsibilities

Disaster Response Key Roles and Responsibilities

Key roles and responsibilities are outlined for disaster response, including evacuation camp/center management, relief delivery, family/individual responses to specific disasters, management of the deceased/missing, psychosocial support, and rehabilitation/recovery preparations.

Evacuation Camp/Center Management General Guidelines

Safety and wellbeing of all affected individuals (including livestock and domestic animals) is the primary concern.
Gender sensitivity must be observed in all evacuation centers.
Local government units (LGUs) are responsible for managing evacuation centers.
Schools, sports arenas, basketball courts, stadiums, multi-purpose halls, and churches, along with other open spaces, can be used as evacuation centers.
Alternative temporary shelters should be established/explored for evacuees/displaced individuals.
Centers must offer basic needs to evacuees.
Schools should not be the prime choice for evacuation locations (use is limited to 3 days for short-term displacement). Medium/long-term displacement should be housed for up to 15 days.
Documentation of individuals/families inside the evacuation center is required.
Evacuation facilities/spaces/areas for livestock and domestic animals should be provided where possible.
Isolation and quarantine protocols & procedures are needed.
Safe, clean, and healthy environments in evacuation centers are essential.
Standard essential facilities should be available within evacuation centers.

Evacuation Center Management Plan

The plan should include a list of evacuation centers with contact numbers for camp management teams.
Activities for the duration of evacuees' stay inside the center must be listed.
Responsible persons/partner agencies and contact information for the management of the evacuation center are needed.
List necessary resources.
Expected outputs per activity need to be outlined.

Evacuation Center Management Kit

A kit should be prepared for use by camp management teams.
Components include LGU camp management plans and operation manuals. It must also include registration forms, forms relating to disaster aid/fiscal quarters (DAFQ), disaster tracking/monitoring (DTM) forms, logbooks, pens, mobile phones, directories of vital contact persons/agencies/offices for camp management.

Basic Facilities and Standards

Shelter and accommodation, camp management office/desk (properly marked and visible), toilets/bathing areas, child-friendly spaces, storage areas, laundry areas, water services, health services (clinic, breastfeeding rooms, etc.), couple's rooms, livestock/domestic animal provisions.
Evacuation shelters should be adequate and suitable for short-term/long-term periods. Electricity and water connections must be confirmed.
Toilet/bathing areas must be well lit, locked from inside, and have adequate ventilation. The design should consider any space constraints and soil/local geology factors. Local sanitation practices and resources must be accounted for and available. EC management teams must thoroughly inspect and routinely check all facilities, including for open defecation, existing facilities, and queues. Standards for different displacement phases (short/long-term) are specified in number of toilets per persons.
Child-friendly spaces (CFS) will be one (1) for every 100 families to support the needs of children below 18 years old. Clean toilets and sufficient play areas are required.
Storage areas must meet safety specifications to protect relief goods from rodents and insects.
Laundry spaces are sized to accommodate 20 persons simultaneously and must have access to existing drainage/water systems, along with roofing and lights. Laundry facilities include suitable basins and benches per persons/hundreds of persons.
Water services must provide at least 15 litres per person per day, with appropriate distancing between water taps/supply and shelters (at least 500 meters). Provision of water availability for 250 persons should be ensured for each functioning water tap.
Health services should include health stations/clinics, breastfeeding rooms, basic drugs/medical supplies/equipment, and 24/7 availability of services. Services may include an out-patient and in-patient component. Services should be located within a 500-meter radius from the nearest public health resource center.

Basic Services

Food provisions include family food packs (3kg rice, 9 canned goods, 6 packs of noodles, 6 packets of 3-in-1 coffee/nutritional alternatives [bread]), clothing, immediate provision of mass feeding with RTEF (ready-to-eat-foods) through the first three days of the disaster, and community kitchen setups for further supplies. Food will prioritize those in special need, such as infants with breastfeeding needs. Milk/milk powder provision should be avoided in distributions.
Nutritional elements within services include monitoring of the Milk Code, MUAC screenings, providing inpatient/outpatient nutritional support, designating breastfeeding areas, and providing supplementary vitamins/micronutrient-packed foods for children.
Protection, involving the management of the disaster camp, must be aligned with human rights. Safety/security for IDPs (internally displaced people) is a priority, especially for child protection from exploitation/recruitment and from crowded evacuation centers. Appropriate safety dividers should be set up to provide space and privacy to families. Necessary legal documentation retrieval/re-issuance assistance should be provided. Other components of protection include gender-based violence response, providing support services for women during the pregnancy and nursing phases.