INSTITUTE OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT

AND SAFETY SCIENCE, NIGERIA

SENSITIZATION/AWARENESS
ON

PERSONAL HYGIENE AND DISASTER

EDUCATION AWARENESS

DISASTER MANAGEMENT IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS

KOGO II EXTENSION, SCC ROAD BWARI, FCT- ABUJA

 DISASTER EDUCATION AND AWARENESS

Introduction

The need to survive has always been paramount in man. Therefore, any event
that causes loss of lives and destruction of property has been a cause of serious
concern to humanity. Situation that causes damages and requires immediate or
urgent reactions are variously termed as disaster, crisis or major incidents
amongst others. Disasters could be natural or man-made and could occur with
or without warning, causing widespread human, material, economic or
environmental losses which sometimes exceed the ability of the affected
persons, community or society to cope with, using own resources. A disaster
occurs as a result of a combination of hazards, conditions of vulnerability and
there is insufficient capacity to reduce the consequences of the risk of disaster.

The Concept ‘Disaster’

What is Disaster? Disaster can simply be described as a situation that causes

damages and requires immediate or urgent reactions. Disasters could be natural
or man-made and could occur with or without warning, causing widespread
human, material, economic or environmental losses which sometimes exceed
the ability of the affected persons, community or society to cope with, using
own resources.

This brings to mind that sometime, for there to be a disaster, 2 key variables
must interplay (Vulnerability i.e the level of exposure + Hazard i.e trigger
event).

Hazard
A natural or other phenomenon with potential to bring harm”.
Vulnerability: The measure of the negative cultural, social, economic, and
environmental factors and unsafe conditions that put people at risk of a disaster
when a hazard occurs.

Types of Disaster

Disasters fall into two major categories. These include man-made and natural
disasters. Then sometime………..Mixed (Natural + Man Made)
Natural disasters are brought about by change in natural phenomenon or what
is known as acts of God. They are usually caused by earth formation, earth
movement and weather or climatic conditions. Activities such as earthquakes,
tsunamis, tornadoes, cyclones and volcanic eruptions amongst others cause
such disasters.
Man-made disasters are disasters resulting from any threat having an element
of human intent, negligence or error or involving a failure of man made system.
Also, they are disasters or emergency situations where the principal, direct
cause(s) are identifiable human actions, deliberate or otherwise. Apart from
“technological” and “ecological” disasters, this mainly involves situations in
which civilian populations suffer casualties, losses of property, basic services and
means of livelihood as a result of war or civil strife, for example. Human-made
disasters/emergencies can be of the rapid or slow onset types, and in the case
of internal conflict, can lead to “complex emergencies” as well.
[

An even broader definition of human-made disaster acknowledges that all

disasters are caused by humans because they have chosen, for whatever reason,
to be where natural phenomena occurs that result in adverse impacts on people.

Natural disasters
Earthquake
Volcanic eruption
Tsunami
Celestial collision
High winds (Gale, Storm, Cyclones, Tornado)
Precipitation (Rain, snow, Ice)
Lightning (fire)
Temperature extremes (Hot and cold)
Erosion
Drought
Desertification
Floods
Avalanches

Man Made disasters

Fire
Terrorism
Conflict
Communal clashes
Airplane crashes
Road Crashes

Mixed Natural + human caused

Drought
Desertification
Floods
Erosion
Landslides/mudslides
Fire
Health related
Infectious disease
Others
Despite the difference between these two, it is ideal to note that they can cause
irrevocable damage if the right measures are not put in place to avoid the
same. This is where the need for disaster preparedness comes in (The question
now is, how prepared are we should there be any form of disaster whether
natural or man made). This is to say preparedness goes a long way to cushion
people from the after effects of such happenings.
Levels of Disaster

The National Disaster Response Plan also considers disasters along three levels
to ensure that nation is prepared to manage them. These are:

a. Minor Disaster. Minor disaster is any disaster that is likely to be within

the response capabilities of local government and results in only minimal
need for state or federal assistance.
b. Major Disaster. Any disaster that is likely to exceed local capabilities and
require a broad range of state and federal assistance. NEMA will be
notified and potential federal assistance will be predominantly recovery
oriented.
c. Catastrophic Disaster. Catastrophic disaster is any disaster that requires
massive state and federal assistance including immediate military
employment. Federal assistance will involve response as well as recovery.

Concept of Disaster Management

Management of Disaster is the art of carrying out activities to mitigate,

ameliorate, rehabilitate, recover, prevent and prepare in the event of the
occurrence of any form of disaster.

Disaster management aims to reduce, or avoid the potential losses from

hazards, assure prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and
achieve rapid and effective recovery.
 PHASES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

Impact
Early warning Relief

Before Disaster Preparedness Rehabilitation After Disaster

Mitigation Reconstruction

Source: DO Olowu, Disaster Management in Nigeria, 1999

This representation reflects disaster management as a continuum of inter-linked

activities. It is not a series of events that starts and stops with each disaster
occurrence. Olowu tends to consider disaster in a holistic manner and
attempted to follow the shift in disaster management which emphasizes risk
reduction.

Disaster Management is the systematic observation and analysis of disasters to

improve measures relating to; prevention, mitigation, preparedness, emergency
response and recovery. Note what the definition says – systematic and not ad
hoc or spur of the moment observation. It must be deliberate, planned and
sequential for it to achieve desired result.
Vicious cycle of disaster management

Disaster management aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential losses from

hazards, assure prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and
achieve rapid and effective recovery. The Disaster management cycle illustrates
the ongoing process by which governments, businesses, and civil society plan
for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and immediately following
a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred. Appropriate
actions at all points in the cycle lead to greater preparedness, better warnings,
reduced vulnerability or the prevention of disasters during the next iteration of
the cycle. The complete disaster management cycle includes the shaping of
public policies and plans that either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate
their effects on people, property, and infrastructure.

The mitigation and preparedness phases occur as disaster management

improvements are made in anticipation of a disaster event. Developmental
considerations play a key role in contributing to the mitigation and preparation
of a community to effectively confront a disaster. As a disaster occurs, disaster
management actors, in particular humanitarian organizations, become involved
in the immediate response and long-term recovery phases. The four disaster
management phases illustrated here do not always, or even generally, occur in
isolation or in this precise order. Often phases of the cycle overlap and the
length of each phase greatly depends on the severity of the disaster.

o Prevention - Prevention are measures aimed at impeding the

occurrences of disasters and/or preventing such occurrences from
having harmful effects on communities. For example, the
evacuation of residents before the onset of a hurricane as they do
in Cuba or some parts of the USA. The catch here is that you must
have the mechanism to predict the onset.
o Mitigation – Mitigation is an action taken to reduce the effect of a
disaster on a nation or a community. It’s simply put as minimizing
the effects of disaster.
Examples: building codes and zoning; vulnerability analyses; public
education.
o Preparedness – These are measures which enable governments,
communities and individuals to respond rapidly and effectively to
disaster situations. Appropriate response plans, institutions,
institution, protocols and well trained and equipped responders
(civil and military) Planning how to respond.
Examples: preparedness plans; emergency exercises/training;
warning systems.
o Response - Efforts to minimize the hazards created by a disaster.
Examples: search and rescue; emergency relief .
o Recovery - Returning the community to normal.
Examples: temporary housing; grants; medical care.

Phases of a disaster
Disasters can be viewed as a series of phases on a time continuum. Identifying
and understanding these phases helps to describe disaster related needs and to
conceptualize appropriate disaster management activities.
Rapid onset disasters

Most of the 'natural' disasters we hear about arrive rapidly and in the case of
earthquakes, with no warning. They are rapid onset disasters.

Cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons - the same hazard with a different name in
different parts of the world - arrive with a few days warning, and annually we
know when the cyclone season is likely to occur in specific regions, so that
preparations can be made for their arrival. Floods can arrive very fast, but the
conditions in which floods are likely to occur are quite predictable.

The definitions below correspond to the time sequence following the

occurrence of a rapid onset disaster.

Rapid onset

The relief phase is the period immediately following the occurrence of a sudden
disaster (or the late discovery of a neglected/deteriorated slow-onset situation)
when exceptional measures have to be taken to search and find the survivors as
well as meet their basic needs for shelter, water, food and medical care.
Rehabilitation is the operations and decisions taken after a disaster with a view
to restoring a stricken community to its former living conditions, while
encouraging and facilitating the necessary adjustments to the changes caused
by the disaster.
[[

Reconstruction is the actions taken to reestablish a community after a period of

rehabilitation subsequent to a disaster. Actions would include construction of
permanent housing, full restoration of all services, and complete resumption of
the pre-disaster state.
Mitigation is the collective term used to encompass all actions taken prior to the
occurrence of a disaster (pre-disaster measures) including preparedness and
long-term risk reduction measures. (Mitigation has been used by some
institutions or authors in a narrower sense, excluding preparedness.)
Preparedness consists of activities designed to minimize loss of life and damage,
organize the temporary removal of people and property from a threatened
location, and facilitate timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
Slow onset disasters
Droughts are relatively slow disasters. Climate change, environmental
degradation and desertification are very slow onset events, but can and should
be considered as disasters in terms of the damage and disruption to lives that
they may or indeed already do create.

The sequence of a disaster continuum for slow onset disasters is similar in

framework but has important distinctions. The following terms and definitions
reflect those additions or modifications.
Slow onset disaster

Early warning is the process of monitoring situations in communities or areas

known to be vulnerable to slow onset hazards. For example, famine early
warning may be reflected in such indicators as drought, livestock sales, or
changes in economic conditions. The purpose of early warning are to enable
remedial measures to be initiated and to provide more timely and effective relief
including through disaster preparedness actions.

The emergency phase is the period during which extraordinary measures have
to be taken. Special emergency procedures and authorities may be applied to
support human needs, sustain livelihoods, and protect property to avoid the
onset of disaster. This phase can encompass pre-disaster, disaster alert, disaster
relief and recovery periods. An emergency phase may be quite extensive, as in
a slow onset disaster such as a famine. It can also be relatively short-lived, as
after an earthquake.
Rehabilitation is the action taken after a slow onset disaster where attention
must be given to the issues of resettlement or returnee programmes,
particularly for people who have been displaced for reasons arising out of
conflict or economic collapse.
THE CONCEPT “RISK”

Risk is defined as the probability that exposure to a hazard will lead to a

negative consequence, or more simply, R = Hazard x Dose (Exposure). Thus a
hazard poses no risk if there is not exposure to that hazard.

Risk may also be defined as the expected damage or loss caused by any hazard.
Risk is therefore the possibility that something bad or unpleasant (such as an
injury or loss) will happen.

Risk usually depends on a combination of two factors:

1. How often and severe the hazard (e.g.. a flood or drought).

2. Vulnerability of the people exposed to these hazards.

Summarily, The term risk refers to the concept that an action or choice can result
in a losing situation. The loss could be emotional, monetary, or otherwise. When
the word "risk" is used it means that the concept of choice is involved. Also, it is
a situation in which the probability of obtaining some outcome of an event is
not precisely known; that is, known probabilities cannot be precisely assigned
to these outcomes, but their general level can be inferred. In everyday usage, a
risky situation is one in which the one of the outcomes involves some loss to the
decision maker. (Todaro 1997: 717)

Nothing in life is safe

From the foregoing, it is important to note that when crossing the road there is
a risk of being injured by a car. At home there is an everyday risk of accident or
fire………………… we take actions to minimize risk. This is why when we cross the
road, we carry out the rituals of looking out for vehicles (some of us could use
2hrs to cross the road just to make sure we are safe….. you look left ….right left
right and move front and back before eventually crossing). When we leave home
we turn off heat sources and electrical appliances to minimize the risk of fires.
(this is so because a lot of us uses sub standard electrical materials to electrify
our homes, while some have direct connection thereby abusing building code
standard for house electrification). The action of ensuring that we carry out the
rituals of crossing road or turning off all our appliances shows that we accept
low level of risk. While high levels of risk we try to do something about it.

The risk of disasters and security challenges is something we all face. For some
of us that risk is higher than others. Where we live, what we live in, and what
we do determines our risk.

Also, our knowledge of what makes a person or community more vulnerable

than another determines the steps we can take to reduce their risk.

Risk is a condition that we live with and daily learn to contend with. It varies with
the subject matter and could be a factor of natural or human induced situations.

Also, certain risks are usually taken deliberately with the hope of realizing gains
but in most times it comes with losses. (This means that risk could yield positive
or negative result depending on the outcome)Worthy to note is that risk and
hazards are sometimes used interchangeably, however, in terms of risk
assessment, these are two very distinct terms.

Hazards are events or physical conditions that have the potential to cause
fatalities, injuries, property damage, infrastructure damage, agricultural loss,
damage to environment, interruption of business or any type of harm or loss
(Hazards are events that could cause loss of life, or damage to property or to the
environment).

A hazard is therefore any biological, chemical, mechanical, or physical agent that

is reasonably likely to cause harm or damage to humans or the environment
with sufficient exposure or dose.
 Examples of Everyday Risk
 A 55-year old man wants to quickly increase his retirement fund. In order to do
so at a rapid pace, he must change his investments to those that could either
yield higher results or completely fail, in which case he would lose his
retirement. If the man chooses to move his investments to those in which he
could possibly lose his money, he is a taking a risk.
 A gambler decides to take all of his winnings from the night and attempt a bet
of "double or nothing." The gambler's choice is a risk in that he could lose all
that he won in one bet.
An employee knows that the time for him to leave work is contractually at 5 p.m.
and leaving early puts his job in jeopardy. However, the man is motivated to get
home early to let out his sick dog. By leaving early, the man is risking getting
caught and facing the consequences of breaking the rules.

What is Assessment?

 Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from

multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of
what to know, understand, and can do with the knowledge as a result of
experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to
improve subsequent ideas/learning.

Types of Assessment: Assessment may also refer to:

 Educational assessment, Health assessment, Nursing assessment,

Psychiatric assessment, Psychological assessment,
 Risk assessment, the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of
risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat
Risk assessment: In disaster studies, an analysis that attempts to identify and
evaluate factors that make a given country or community likely to suffer
disasters or security challenges.

Five-step process in risk assessment and management

Risk assessment and management process

Establish the
understand the operating context and environment
context

Identify the risks / identify the internal and external risks / hazards that
hazards poses threat

systemic analysis of various contributing and leading

Analyze the risks
factors (e.g. extend of the exposure, multiple exposures)

Evaluate and characterize and prioritize the list of risks for further
prioritize the risks action

Identify the range of options to tackle the risk &

implement the best choice using available resources
Tackle the risks

Hazard
A trigger event that could cause loss of life, or damage to property or to the
environment.
• What are Hazards? Hazard are events or physical conditions that have the
potential to cause fatalities, injuries, property damage, infrastructure damage,
agricultural loss, damage to environment, interruption of business or any other
type of harm or loss.
• A hazard is therefore any biological, chemical, mechanical, or physical agent
that is reasonably likely to cause harm or damage to humans or the environment
with sufficient exposure or dose.
Hazards that pose Risks in Nigeria
The wide range of hazard in Nigeria includes:
• Floods
• Droughts & pest infestation
• Desertification
• Epidemics & Diseases
• Road accident
• Air crashes
• fire disasters
• Oil spills
• Activities of the Niger Delta Militia and threat to oil/gas explorations
• Increasing levels urban industrial pollution and poor waste manage
• Gully Erosion and Land slides
• Wind storms in the northern parts of the country
• Buildings collapse
• Ethno-religious conflicts
• Terrorism
• Corruption
• Communal crisis
• Kidnappings
• Pipe line and other infrastructural vandalisation

Evacuation
Evacuation is the rapid movement of people away from the immediate threat or
impact of disaster to a safer place of shelter. It is commonly characterized by a
short time frame, from hours to weeks, within which emergency procedures
need to be enacted in order to save Lives and minimize exposure to harm.
Evacuations may be:
Mandatory
An evacuation ordered and directed by authorities when it is judged that the risk
to population is too great to allow them to remain where they are, and where
sheltering in place would likely entail a higher level of risk. This places a duty of
responsibility on authorities to ensure that people have the information and
assistance needed for safe and timely evacuation and that evacuees are cared
for. Advised An official evacuation advisory message may be issued to enable
early response and informed decision-making by the population at risk on
whether and when to evacuate. An advisory may precede a mandatory order to
evacuate as the level of the threat and the risk associated with the alternative
of sheltering in place increases. As for mandatory evacuations, authorities are
usually seen to have a responsibility to facilitate safe and timely evacuations for
those in need of assistance. Spontaneous when people evacuate their current
location due to actual or perceived risk using their own means (self-evacuation)
and without (or before) being officially advised or directed to do so. This may
include people who leave areas outside a designated evacuation zone (also
known as “shadow” evacuations).
Mass Evacuation
For the purpose of this Guide, mass evacuation implies the evacuation of whole
communities, neighborhoods or geographical areas. The scale and complexity of
such evacuations creates the potential for emergency response capacity in a
given jurisdiction or country to be overwhelmed and the necessity for
coordination across one or more jurisdictions to effect the evacuation and
sheltering of evacuees.

Concept of IDP and Refugee Management

The concept of Refugee/IDPs has been subjected to various conceptualizations

and definitions. For the avoidance of doubt, there is the need to take into
consideration the meaning of refugee alongside the word IDPs. The deepened
examination would allow for a better understanding of this phenomenon.
IDP:

An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to flee his or

her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are
often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current
legal definition of a refugee.

While the UN Refugee Convention defined refugee as:

A person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reason
of race, religion, nationality, membership of particular social group or
political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or
owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that
country, or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of
his former residence is unable or, owing to such fear is unwilling to return
to it.

This definition concerns a type of persons who are outside their country and are
unable to return to it because of reasons stated in the UN Refugee Convention.
The African Refugee Convention defines the refugee as:

A person who satisfies the criteria set out in the UN Refugee

Convention or a person who owing to external aggression,
occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing
public order in either part or whole his country of origin or
nationality is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in
order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin
or nationality.

This definition looks at the term refugee far more broadly.

According to UNHCR, refugees are defined as:

People who need to be protected are the victims of political terror,

persecuted on the basis of their race, ethnic origins, religion or
opinions. Others flee because their life and liberty are threatened
by war, civil conflict or social violence.

The definition given by the UNHCR is comprehensive because it captures an

entire example of why or what can make a person or group of people flee from
their natural habitat. When individuals, families and communities leave their
own country in a hurry and seek refuge elsewhere, it is usually because they
have no other option. For some, becoming a refugee is the final act in a long
period of uncertainty. This agonizing decision is taken only when all other
survival strategies failed. In most cases, it is on instinctive response to
immediate and life threatened circumstances.

The definition by UNHCR suggests that refugees occur when people cross
international borders for fear of life threatening situation. It is not everyone who
is displaced during crisis that is qualified as refugee. Furthermore, refugees are
seen as the responsibility of the host country more than the country they are
fleeing.

Based on the adoption of this definition, it is very important to note that people
who have fled crisis, disasters, economic, political or environmental hazard and
have relocated from their homes and settled in another area within their own
country cannot be described as refugees. They are Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP’s). Despite the relocation, they are still within their boundary and their
government is responsible for them.

Factors Militating Against the Management of Disaster

 Bad governance.
 Funding.
 Lack of coordination and collaboration amongst the stakeholders and
members of the communities.
 Non implementation of policies.
  Low public awareness
 Poor record maintenance.
 Lack of training exercise
 Low mobilizing information and communications technologies for
effective disaster warning.

Bad governance: Where those with the political will shy away from the reality
of disaster effect. The implication is that, the slightest occurrence of any
disaster, will have a devastating impact on that community where it happens.
Also, bad governance is responsible for miss-management and play a vital role
in the unwillingness of states and community to manage disasters, thereby
serving as a stumbling block to meaningful and sustainable development. The
political will of those in power is vital to reckon with success in the management
of disaster. Disaster be it in whichever form requires swift and prompt response.
These activities of bad governance are likening to systemic corruptions that have
eating deep into the fabric of such nations.

Lack of Funding: furtherance to the above explanation, it is important to note

that, no organisation can survive without adequate funding. Most society
around the world has suffered greatly the impact of disaster resulting from
inadequate funding and commitment to programs and projects. This is to say
funding is the life wire to the sustenance and management of any form of
disaster.

Public awareness: it is important to promote the engagement of the media in

order to stimulate a culture of disaster resilience and strong community
involvement in sustained public education campaigns and public consultations
at all levels of society. Furthermore building resilience in disaster management
requires some level of awareness; this will enable members of the community
to bear in mind what is expected of them when disaster strikes.

Non implementation of policies: Nigeria is rated high when it comes to policy

formulation. However, a policy can only be regarded as effective and efficient
when properly implemented.
[
Poor record maintenance: Our inability to maintain records has reduced the
chances of information to be used in time of disaster. It is important to note that
existing information will assist the system to be proactive in all its activities there
by building a safe and disaster resilience society. But today, one of our major
challenge is either rodents have eating the documents or the computer system
is not properly cared for.

Education and training: Education implies the imparting and acquiring of

knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar
institution, while training is the process of teaching or learning a skill or job.
When a disaster occurs and there is no enough manpower or professionals to
rescue victims, the impact will be devastating on the community or society. (If I
asked how many of reading this piece can operate fire extinguisher, sure the
answer will be amazing).

Information and communication: This is to say the Nigerian media industry has
to improve on its present standard of operation. It is no longer news in Nigeria
to hear journalists flood the media with information’s capable of seducing the
public negatively.

Conclusion
Let’s conclude the paper by highlighting our role in disaster management and
safety.
 We must strive to acquire relevant disaster risk management knowledge
at all levels by attending seminars, workshops, conferences and taking
professional courses.
 We should be actively involved in community based disaster management
activities such as clearing of drainages, environmental sanitation,
simulation exercises and fire drill for disaster risk reduction etc.
 We should serve as agents of change by sensitizing the general public on
the dangers of building houses along flood plains, involving in criminal
activities etc.
 In a situation of disaster like flood, the young guns (youths) should assist
those who are stucked in such situation using the skills and knowledge
they have acquired through professional training.
 We must work alongside other volunteers in designing specific activities
and programmes aimed at reducing or avoiding disasters.
 We must support government policies and directives to safe the society
through adherence to preventive measures.
 Finally, the government should take advantage of the presence of
veterans, retirees and other professionals in various community to serve
 as community first responders alongside other members of the
community.

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Akgiray, Vedat, Gulay, Barbarasoglu and Mustafa Erdik. (2004). Chapter 3: Case
Study. The 1999 Marmara earthquakes in Turkey. In Organization for
Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Large-scale Disasters:
Lessons Learned. Paris, France: OECD Publications.

Briceno, Salvano. (2004, August). Natural Resources Forum. Vol. 28, Issue 3.

Brauch, Hans Gunter. (2003). Urbanization and Natural Disasters in the

Mediterranean: Population Growth and Climate

Change in the 21st Century. In Alcira Kreimer, Margaret Arnold, and Anne Carlin
(Eds.), Building Safer Cities: The Future of Disaster Risk. Washington, D.C.:
The World Bank.

Comerio, Mary. (1998). Disaster Hits Home: New Policy for Urban Housing
Recovery. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.