ECM AND TROCAIRE IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN
On Tuesday 7th January 2023 Staff at Episcopal Conference of Malawi had a Meeting with Trócaire where Climate justice and Disaster Risk Management Officer for Trócaire Mr Phillip Nyasulu made a presentation on Emergency preparedness planning (EPP)
During his presentation Phillip Nyasulu said Emergency preparedness planning is a process undertaken by an organization to prepare to respond to any emergency without necessarily identifying its nature and scale and thereby preparing for a humanitarian response to the ‘known’ as well as ‘unknown’.
“EPP involves identifying existing capacity and gaps, for emergency response, and planning and implementing a series of actions to increase response Capacity.” Explained Nyasulu
Nyasulu added that the purpose of this Process is to support the country team to better prepare themselves for an emergency situation by bringing together members of various teams with diverse roles and expertise, to systematically assess Trócaire’s emergency response capacities and gaps by considering existing staff and partner capacity.
“This also help in raising awareness amongst staff members on emergency preparedness and clarify roles and responsibilities during emergencies as well as to estimate resources required.” He added
Mr Nyasulu also highlighted on
Contingency planning where he said is the process of planning for a response to an anticipated emergency in a given country, based on an agreed scenario/s.
“Contingency planning is one part of the general emergency preparedness planning process. Its main aim is to develop full contingency plans once EPP is in place, this will depend on the risk context in each country.” he added
The Secretary General of Episcopal Conference of Malawi Fr Alfred Chaima expressed gratitude on behalf of the Conference and all the bishops saying the session is an eye opener for the local Church to prepare herself how to timely reach out in times of disasters .
“I thank Trócaire for teaching us more about EPP, this echoes the Catholic Social teaching which puts the respect for the dignity of human person among others as it’s core values.” Said Fr. Chaima.
Trócaire Strategic Plan of 2021 – 2025, goal number 4 is meant to “Protect Human dignity in humanitarian crises” which in practical term ensures that ‘‘Communities affected by crises receive timely, accountable and needs-based humanitarian assistance that protects their safety, dignity and fundamental human rights’.
Trócaire is the overseas development agency of the Irish Catholic Church.P