By Symon O. Mandala
Disaster management systems can be organised in different ways depending on the coordination of efforts between various levels of government, organisations and communities.
Generally, there are three main approaches to organising disaster management systems, namely centralised, decentralised and hybrid disaster management systems.
The choice of the approach to adopt depends on a number of factors such as the governance structure of a country, the type of disasters the country faces, the availability of resources as well as the capacity of local and national authorities to coordinate effectively, among others.
Further, each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses.
A centralised disaster management system is one where the primary authority, coordination and decision-making are concentrated at a central point, typically at the national level.
In this model, disaster response efforts are governed by a central authority while local and regional setups are expected to follow directives from this central agency.
In this setup, the decisions, resources, coordination and chain of command originates from the apex body as centralised.
Centralised disaster management systems can be efficient in large scale disasters, ensure faster resource mobilisation and allow a unified approach to the management of disasters.
However, this approach is considered slow in facilitating response in remote areas, it has limited local knowledge and lacks flexibility.
There is also the issue of slow decision making and resource allocation as the system can be overwhelmed.
A decentralised disaster management system, on the other hand, entails decision-making, resource allocation and coordination being distributed across multiple levels of government and local bodies.
For instance, each region, municipality or district has a significant degree of autonomy in managing disasters within its area of jurisdiction.
Decentralised disaster management systems are characterised by bottom-up decision making in which local governments or regional authorities are responsible for developing and implementing disaster management plans.
Further, resources such as emergency funds, rescue teams and supplies are often allocated locally.
More importantly, local communities play an active role in preparedness, response and recovery as they are directly involved in the management process.
Local authorities tend to have the ability to tailor their responses to the specific needs and to act quickly without waiting for instructions from the Central Government.
