PHASE 4
Response
Definition
Response is defined as “actions taken directly before, during or immediately after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected (United Nations General Assembly, 2016)”.
The ‘response’ phase consists of two components:
Brief Description
Effective and efficient response activities rely on disaster risk-informed preparedness strategies, and action defined in contingency or preparedness plans (see Phase 3). This includes the development of the response capacities of all actors (e.g. individuals, communities, civil society organizations, the private sector and government agencies). Despite well-strategized plans, a general problem with the emergency appeal-based fundraising is that it is based on voluntary contribution. That makes humanitarian aid often too unreliable and unpredictable to be taken into the decision-making process by recipient governments and people. Any humanitarian response can only complement local efforts to optimize the impacts.
The two components aim at answering the following key questions:
- What is the effect of insurance on response and relief programmes − and subsequently on the affected population, the private sector and the government?
- Can insurance better integrate agro-meteorological and climate information in humanitarian decision-making processes?
- Can insurance reduce the adverse impacts of ex post financing?