National Disaster Resilience Strategy: Enhancing New Zealand's Risk Management and Emergency Preparedness

National Disaster Resilience Strategy Summary Version

Introduction

The National Disaster Resilience Strategy is a comprehensive 10-year plan designed under the Civil Defence Emergency Management CDEM Act. This document outlines the overarching vision and strategic goals for enhancing civil defense emergency management across New Zealand, ming to build a resilient nation that effectively manages risks, prepares for emergencies, responds promptly, recovers swiftly, and empowers communities to act indepently while promoting safety and prosperity for all.

Purpose

The purpose of this Strategy is to establish a clear path forward in managing risks proactively and building resilience in alignment with the CDEM Act objectives. The Act emphasizes promoting sustnable risk management that contributes to public safety and well-being, encouraging community participation in risk assessment and management processes, coordinating response efforts through regional groups, facilitating integrated national-local planning, and fostering inter-agency collaboration for seamless emergency responses across diverse sectors.

The Strategy underscores the importance of addressing risks inherent within New Zealand's landscape, which are both identifiable and influenced by unpredictable global factors. It highlights that resilienceour ability to anticipate, mitigate, respond to, adapt to, and recover from disruptionsis crucial in navigating uncertn future conditions. With an increasing number of potential hazards threatening our nation, strategic steps must be taken to enhance our readiness for emergencies.

Goals and Priorities

The Strategy's primary goal is to strengthen New Zealand's resilience by managing risks proactively, ensuring effective emergency response and recovery processes, and empowering individuals, organizations, and communities to act collectively for safety and well-being. This ambition is pursued through three strategic priorities:

1. Risk Management

2. Effective Response and Recovery

3. Community Resilience Enablers

Each priority contns specific objectives med at various levels of operation.

Objectives

The strategy outlines six core objectives for risk management:

• Identifying and understanding potential scenarios involving hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, and capacities, with a focus on informed decision-making.

• Establishing robust organizational structures and processes that incorporate community perspectives in risk assessment and reduction efforts.

• Enhancing public awareness of risks, developing risk literacy, and fostering capability to assess risk levels.

• Ensuring climate change adaptation considerations are integrated into development and investment practices.

• Promoting risk-awareness during construction and natural environment management to prevent the creation of additional risks.

For effective response and recovery:

• Prioritizing the safety and well-being of individuals as the central focus in emergency systems.

• Strengthening relationships with Indigenous communities iwi to incorporate their perspectives, tikanga, and understanding into emergency planning and decision-making processes.

• Enhancing national leadership for clearer guidance and consistent management during emergencies.

• Defining roles and responsibilities at national, regional, and local levels for response and recovery efforts, empowering community-based initiatives while ensuring coordination with broader plans when necessary.

• Building a capable and robust emergency management workforce to facilitate effective response and recovery actions.

• Strengthening information systems that support decision-making in crises, allowing stakeholders and the public to make informed choices promptly.

For fostering community resilience:

• Empowering individuals, households, organizations, and businesses through strategic planning for enhanced preparedness, especially targeting vulnerable groups.

• Cultivating social connectedness by promoting a culture of mutual d and collaborative strategies to build resilient communities.

• Adopting a holistic approach to cityregion planning that integrates resilience objectives into key policies and strategies.

• Addressing infrastructure needs and upgrading systems based on identified risks where feasible.

• Incorporating cultural values in recovery plans to safeguard cultural continuity, institutions, and activities while embracing diverse participation in resilience-building efforts.

Implementation

This Strategy encourages all readersindividuals, businesses, communities, citiesdistricts, government entities, and national organizationsto consider how each priority and objective impacts their specific roles. It invites proactive engagement to contribute toward individual and collective resilience enhancement. Readers are urged to reflect on potential actions that could support risk mitigation, promote safety, and foster well-being in their personal lives, professional contexts, community involvement, cityregion management, or governmental initiatives.

In , the National Disaster Resilience Strategy is a foundational document for building a resilient New Zealand capable of managing risks effectively, responding swiftly to emergencies, and empowering communities to act collectively for public safety and prosperity. It calls on all sectors and levels of society to work together in achieving its goals through strategic planning, informed decision-making, and collaborative action.

Last Updated: November 9, 2020
This article is reproduced from: https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/cdem-sector/plans-and-strategies/national-disaster-resilience-strategy/national-disaster-resilience-strategy-summary-version

Please indicate when reprinting from: https://www.o062.com/Earthquake_prevention_and_disaster_reduction/National_Disaster_Resilience_Strategy_v1_2020.html