Setting up a National Disaster Preparedness and Response Mechanism – Guidelines for National Societies (NDPRM)

This publication presents a set of practical guidelines that are designed to support National Societies in developing the processes, systems, teams and individuals involved in preparing for and responding to disasters. The guidelines acknowledge that response is first and foremost local, but that it takes place within the global solidarity of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement).

By following these guidelines, National Societies will be better able to:

• develop their capacity in disaster preparedness and response
• ensure that their work meets a global set of disaster preparedness and response standards
• coordinate their approaches with other National Societies and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

What are the guidelines?

The ultimate purpose of these guidelines is to help National Societies carry out independent, informed and responsible humanitarian actions that adhere to internationally recognized humanitarian standards – both within and outside the Movement. They are designed as a proposal for action, and as a tool to guide the transformation of existing policies, manuals and guidelines into concrete preparedness and response action.

They have been developed with the following National Society capacity-building objectives in mind:

• to contribute to the coordination of our national and global systems (working as an integrated system, ‘From Local to Global’, the Global Agenda and Strategy 2020, among others)
• to motivate and facilitate the role of National Society leadership in national preparedness and response mechanisms
• to improve the quality and responsibility of disaster preparedness and response, including minimum standards, indicators, tools and references
• to learn and profit from the experience of others
• to empower National Societies to become more creative and innovative in disaster management (DM), within a recognized framework.