The adoption of international standards in national disaster response is expected to improve the quality and coordination of humanitarian response and disaster preparedness at a national, regional and international level. The purpose of this report is to examine the main opportunities and challenges for engaging with National Disaster Management Authorities (NDMAs) and to look at how best to enable and support NDMAs to adopt international standards and principles in their national emergency response.
Using desk research as well as data from primary interviews, the report aims to further understanding on the main factors which enable or inhibit the adoption of international standards. While context analysis and good planning are key factors in supporting an effective process of advocacy to develop national standards for disaster response, this report aims to draw generalisable lessons for how organisations can approach or work with NDMAs, based on what has been successful in the countries that have adopted Sphere standards and principles in their disaster management policies.
The report is divided into six key themes. The first section, Engaging with NDMAs, sets up the framework of the report, and looks at how NDMAs are structured, how they function, and how they change or adopt new policies. Second, the Process of Contextualisation, looks at how existing processes in Sphere’s approach can be better utilised to overcome some of the main barriers to adoption of international standards by NDMAs. The remaining four sections set out some of the approaches, mechanisms and methods for best practice in successfully enabling NDMAs to adopt international standards in their national response. Each section includes key learnings, which inform the recommendations and suggestions for increasing future adoption of international standards.