How can you learn from recent disasters to improve your humanitarian assistance and coordination?

Have process and discipline to record what you did, when, why and how Engage in deliberate candid hot wash and after-action process Develop specific corrective action, capability and capacity objectives for the gaps identified Assign each to an accountable individual with a timeline For communications and essential functions, train and exercise alternate, contingency and emergency process Add disaster readiness to each regular meeting agenda in blue sky days to assure incremental progress and engagement of new staff Welcome whole community collaborators and include those with other disaster experience to your table Be open to opportunities for improvement, even if that is not how it has always been done in your jurisdiction.

During the planning and preparedness phase, for this reason it is of the utmost importance to identify and develop those stakeholder relationships with priority populations within your jurisdiction. Volunteer organizations active to disaster (VOADs) and community organizations active in disasters (COADs) can be influential in overcoming governmental distrust and ensuring that the greatest amount of resources can flow to the areas of greatest need.

The most important thing I have learned in my professional life is the necessity of preparing an appropriate plan for every event or accident. Your plans must always be ready and your forces well trained. You must also write and record everything before, during and after the mission or accident... You must discuss and analyze mistakes and avoid their occurrence in the future... Do not forget to look closely at the plans of previous leaders and do not forget to leave your documents and notes for whoever will assume leadership after you.

Don’t wait until disaster strikes before considering data needs. Among the best ways to learn is to collect and analyze data on your core mission objectives. For example, if your mission is to need immediate human needs (water, shelter, etc) then bake in ways to understand how many people you have reached, and to what extent you have supported them. Data points such as client feedback are also critical to understand quality of service. Don’t be afraid to bring in experts to support the design and build of your data collection and analysis.

Great care must be taken to avoid undermining local capacity, whether that be medical care, public health, business, agriculture or the construction industry. Continued monitoring of the situation AFTER departure or cessation of immediate emergency operations is necessary to assess the degree to which outside assistance destroys the communities local capacity to support itself in a long-term perspective.

Improving humanitarian aid after disasters involves continuous evaluation and adjustment. Post-disaster assessments help identify strengths and weaknesses of the response. Analyzing data from various sources provides a comprehensive view of the disaster's impact. Extracting lessons from each disaster and benchmarking against best practices is crucial. This feeds into training programs and capacity building for disaster response teams. Coordination mechanisms and policies should be updated based on these learnings. Investments in technology can boost response effectiveness. Community engagement is key, as they are often first responders. This learning process should be ongoing, with every disaster being an opportunity to improve.