Disaster Relief—Improving Response and Long-Term Recovery

On July 11, 2005, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Corporate Citizenship and Booz Allen Hamilton brought together 70 government, business, and nonprofit leaders to work on a Global Disaster Relief simulation as an exercise in public-private-nonprofit coordination.

The simulation was intended to prompt discussion on a range of disaster relief and recovery coordination issues, including:

• Incorporation of long-term economic development plans into relief and recovery efforts



• Institutional, social, political, and cultural challenges to coordination



• Enhanced communication among governments, NGOs, international organizations, and business during a disaster relief and recovery effort

The simulation fostered dialogue across sectors and allowed participants to see coordination issues from perspectives other than their own. An informal consensus was reached on the issues of the primacy of local host governments and the incorporation of long-term planning and preparedness into disaster response efforts. Participants agreed that their efforts should be coordinated primarily with local governments, and that consideration of preparedness policies is the key to mitigating the effects of future disasters.

Booz Allen's Chris Kelly, Mark Frost, and John Larkin are the authors of "Disaster Relief—Improving Response and Long-Term Recovery."