When a disaster hits, the institutions that cope best are rarely the ones with the most resources — they are the ones that agreed on a strategy long before the crisis began. Every relief team, every information system, every general plan has to be built and tested while things are calm, because there is no time to improvise once a disaster is already unfolding.

This course looks at disaster management strategy as a discipline in its own right: the agreed procedures that administrators and staff at every level follow before, during and after a disaster, supervised by crisis and emergency centres under international oversight, with the single aim of keeping the severity of a disaster — and the loss of life and property — to a minimum.

Who Should Attend?

• Managers of public and private institutions and companies.
• Managers of public relations departments in institutions.
• Managers of disaster management and relief work crews.
• Workers in humanitarian organizations.
• Graduates and students from health-related faculties.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain disaster management strategies and why they matter amid international crises.
• Walk through the key steps involved in managing disasters of every kind.
• Apply the core skills needed to work within humanitarian organizations.
• Operate effectively in disaster and emergency management within their own field.
• Handle global crises and disasters with a structured approach.

• Building and Running the Relief Team

  • Forming a relief work team and defining each member's tasks
  • Explaining responsibilities and analysing available resources

• Understanding the Crisis You're Managing

  • The concept and definition of crises and disasters
  • Disaster characteristics, dimensions and classification

• Setting the Strategy

  • Core disaster management strategies
  • Establishing an integrated information system to support decisions

• Planning, Evaluating and Closing the Loop

  • Methods for preparing general disaster management plans
  • Evaluation and final review of the response