International disaster management programme

In response to the needs of member states in developing institutional capacity aimed at medium-to-long term disaster risk reduction, an international training programme on disaster management, jointly sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under its Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) was held for the first time in May 2009.

There was an overwhelming demand from the member states and 26 participants participated, drawn from senior disaster management professionals around the commonwealth. As a result of the programme's success, a proposal was made for a '2nd Commonwealth Disaster Management Programme' to take place from 3-14 May 2010. The training programme will be conducted by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), Civil Defence Academy.

Key Objectives

The Programme is designed to train senior public officials from disaster management agencies and government institutions responsible for risk reduction and disaster management within the Commonwealth so as to enhance their capabilities.

Participants to the programme will acquire a strategic overview of Singapore’s approach towards disaster management. The programme addresses emergency response and incident management at both tactical and operational levels. It provides a wide-ranging discourse on issues and challenges facing the emergency authorities in disaster management at National and local levels.

At the end of the programme participants should be able to:

• Deepen the understanding of the principles and approaches relating to risk, crisis and disaster management;
• Appreciate the range of tactical and operational roles undertaken by government agencies in disaster management;
• Share experiences of best practices and learning in the areas of risk reduction and management;
• Explore the application of technologies to increase information efficiency and strengthen command and control capability;
• Articulate the desired behaviours of leaders in a crisis situation based on Singapore’s experience;
• Acquire an in-depth knowledge of the exercise methodology used to validate operational concepts;
• Build strengths in promoting the mainstreaming and integration of disaster risk reduction and management in development policies and strategies.

Key contents:

• Principles of risk, crisis and disaster management
• Policy frameworks for risk reduction and management (building codes,...etc)
• Preparedness and early warning systems;
• Risk Reduction and mitigation measures
• Contingency and continuity Planning
• Business continuity planning
• Roles of Government Agencies, Roles of International Organisations and NGOs
• Home Team Crisis Leadership Competency Framework
• Role of and Application of Technologies
• Critical Incident Stress Management
• Information & Media Management
• Planning & Conduct of Exercises

Faculty and methodology:

The course comprises classroom lectures, case studies, conceptual discussions, group work, presentations and field visits to relevant institutions. Instructors in the programme will primarily be senior instructors of the Singapore Civil Defence Academy. In addition, adviser(s) of the Commonwealth Secretariat will also lead relevant training sessions. Senior officials in government and public agencies may also be invited to share their experiences with participants in formal and informal settings.

Class size will be limited to facilitate and encourage both formal and informal interaction among participants, and between participants, seminar leaders and key external resource person(s).

Requirements for country report:

To enable course participants to share practices from different Commonwealth countries and organisations, all participants will be required to make a 10 minutes presentation on disaster management in their country, during the programme. The presentation, in MS PowerPoint format, should cover the following areas:

1. Country Profile
To introduce the country in terms of geography, demography, relations between the Central Government and the Local Authorities and the main disaster threats (both man-made and natural disasters) facing the country.

2. Emergency Management
To elaborate on the overall system to manage disasters, focusing on disaster response and incident management structure, using any recent experiences where relevant.

3. Organisational Structure
To introduce the role and functions of participant’s organisation in the disaster management, the scope of the involvement, the organisational structure and specific capabilities.

4. International Collaboration
To describe the international collaborative effort of the country towards disaster management, e.g. disaster assistance, training courses, MOU etc;

5. General Sharing
Any other facts about the country, organisation, or experiences that the participant would like to share

By the end the programme, participants will have developed and presented an individual “Action Plan” for implementation when they return to their home country. If further inputs from Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) by way of meeting the training needs of senior managers, or the design and development of in-country programme are required after attendance of the workshop, appropriate submission should be made through the offices of the respective Points of Contact (POC) for consideration by the CFTC.

Course Attire

The attire for the participants during the course is as follows:

First Day (Course Opening and Photo-Taking) and last day of the course (Closing Ceremony)
• Uniformed Personnel – Official Department Uniform
• Non-Uniformed Personnel – Business Suit with tie, or National Costume

The rest of the course
• Uniformed Personnel – Working Attire (uniform)
• Non-Uniformed Personnel – Office Attire

Terms of the award Selected applicants will receive training awards sponsored by the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), which include training fees, hotel accommodation expenses (room and breakfast) while on the programme, and a training allowance of Forty Singapore Dollars (S$40) per day. The daily training allowance will be paid from the first day to the last day of the programme. The nominating government/organisation is normally responsible for meeting the participant’s cost of return air travel. However, CFTC will consider meeting participant’s air travel cost (economy class) based on need only. If financial assistance for airfares is required, please indicate the request clearly in the GID/1 nomination (Part II, question 4). Participants should ensure that they have adequate insurance coverage during their stay in Singapore, as they will be fully responsible for all outpatient medical and dental costs and for the costs arising from any loss or theft of personal belongings. The Singapore Government will enrol the participants in a commercial health insurance plan which will cover hospitalisation expenses in Singapore only.