CITIZENRY-BASED AND DEVELOPMENT-ORIENTED DISASTER RESPONSE: EXPERIENCES AND PRACTICES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT OF THE CITIZENS' DISASTER RESPONSE NETWORK IN THE PHILIPPINES. Annelies Heijmans and Lorna P Victoria, 2001, ISBN 9-7192-3650-7, Center for Disaster Preparedness, 118 pages. Free download available from www.adpc.ait.ac.th/infores/doc.html.

Citizenry-Based and Development-Oriented Disaster Response is an unprepossessing package filled to the brim with surprising goodies, and more concerned with content than form. It cuts through the usual verbiage by presenting innovative approaches "to addressing vulnerabilities to disasters by recognizing and building people's capacities." This should immediately prick the ears of Philippine government disaster agencies, development and urban planners, risk analysts, environmentalists, NGO workers, local government units, the media, and those working in disaster preparedness and management. The book reflects the dedication of institutions and individuals to continually improve on disaster response interventions and to promote the principles of citizenry-based, development-oriented disaster response (CBDO-DR).

The first of four chapters, "Different Views on Disasters and Disaster Management" describes the vulnerability of the Philippines in the context of social, economic and political realities: "Disasters … do not occur only as a result of natural events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons. They are also the product of the social, economic and political environment - an environment where people live in adverse socio-economic conditions that lead them to inhabit high-risk areas and engage in unsustainable and dangerous livelihoods."

The chapter delves into the cycle of poverty that creates situations and environments of vulnerability and questions government policies that exacerbate the inequitable distribution of wealth, the overexploitation of natural resources by foreign investors and the perpetuation of the politics of patronage. The development of the CBDO-DR approach was prompted as much by the government's inability to address the root causes of vulnerability as by an urgent need to develop an alternative disaster management framework.

The sidebars discussing examples of how people's participation, or the lack of it, can affect emergency assistance, are interesting stories in themselves, providing a human connection to the cold facts of disaster statistics. For the reader seriously wanting to venture into this field, the sidebars provide important lessons and "how-tos".

Chapter Two, "Features of the CBDO-DR Approach", argues that marginalized folk or those who are most vulnerable, are at the heart of the development agenda "as its main force as well as its primary beneficiary." The approach puts in context how disaster management in the Philippines could actually tap into the resources and capacities of the sectors it is targeting in the first place. This is two-pronged: addressing disasters and providing an empowering environment.

I especially liked this extract: "Given its roots, CBDO-DR has been summarized in the following way: citizenry-based because of its reliance on the capability of the Filipino people to remedy their disaster situation themselves and to help each other; development oriented because it seeks to address the root causes of vulnerability through an empowerment process." It goes on to document that people retain innate capacities and are not totally helpless in times of disaster. The book notes that among Filipinos, the sense of family and community cooperation remains strong, thus enabling them to mitigate the effects of disasters.

In the third chapter, "Assessing Disaster Situations", the critical importance of people's participation in assessing disaster situations and future risks is emphasized, which is all to the good, since disaster situation assessments have traditionally been done by those who are furthest from risk. The experience of the Citizens' Disaster Response Network (CDRN) describes the valuable contribution of survivors in all phases of disaster management: "It is the local people who know their surroundings best and this knowledge should be used in the analysis. With the participation of the communities, assessments become locality and needs specific."

The chapter also discusses how assessment tools developed by the CDRN were not left merely in the care of disaster response agencies. Rather the skills needed to apply the tools are transferred to people's organizations, a valuable lesson indeed in how communities can be capacitated to address their vulnerabilities. The Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment Matrices are also valuable tools that those involved in disaster management work would do well to heed.

Chapter Four, "Responses to Increase Capacities and Reduce Vulnerabilities", reflects the commitment of the CDRN "to support the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors in the Philippines in their struggle to change policies and structures that generate vulnerability to disasters at the community level." It also talks of how disaster interventions are identified and selected, and how the development of Grassroots Disaster Response Organizations (GDROs) can start capacity-building processes. In another sidebar, the GDRO enabled a community in Central Luzon to survive the onslaught of lahar by using tools and techniques learned from previous training on disaster preparedness.

Overall, Citizenry-Based and Development-Oriented Disaster Response should not be missed by those serious about addressing the root causes of vulnerability. The book's liberal use of graphs, matrices, resource maps and glossaries make it a useful reference. Its mix of technical information and everyday language makes for an interesting read, allowing the chapters to flow, almost seamlessly, from one to the next, thus creating a sense of how the CBDO-DR framework developed over time.

That it has drawn largely from the Philippine experience in disaster response and management speaks tremendously of the work of the Citizens' Disaster Response Network. The Center for Disaster Preparedness should be congratulated for this effort. Now all that needs to be done is to promote the concepts being advocated in the book.

Zenaida Delica Willison is the Director of Training and Education Department, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. She can be contacted at zdelica@ait.ac.th