International disaster management programme

Course objectives

The course addresses effective disaster management at strategic and policy levels, focusing on the preparedness and response phase of the disaster management cycle. It provides a wide-ranging discourse on issues and challenges facing emergency authorities in disaster management at the national level. The programme also shares with international participants Singapore’s whole-of-government response framework towards disaster management.

At the end of the course, participants should be able to:

• Understand Singapore’s approach and system in disaster management
• Appreciate the range of strategic challenges facing government agencies in disaster management and the approaches and means to overcome them
• Deepen knowledge on the technologies to increase efficiency and strengthen command and control capabilities
• Share experiences in crisis management and media management in crises

Course synopsis and methodology

Instructional methods will include lectures, case studies and on-site training with video reviews of participants’ action and response.

The topics include:

• Dynamics of natural hazards
• Crisis management system
• Managing emerging threats: terrorism and infectious diseases
• Organisation of emergency response force
• Management frameworks for effective disaster management
• Civil-military cooperation
• Building resilient communities
• Roles of UN agencies and NGOs in humanitarian assistance
• Crisis leadership competency framework
• Management of security in disasters
• Use of technology in managing incidents
• Crisis communication and media management (including on-camera training)