The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as the lead disaster response agency in the Philippines, continues to reiterate the need for effective information and knowledge management for disaster risk reduction practices and community resiliency in both the national and international policy-making arena.

The DSWD was invited to attend the Expert Consultation on Disaster Information and Knowledge of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand recently to discuss the disaster information management system of the Philippines through Disaster Response and Management Bureau (DReAMB) Director Felino O. Castro V.

During the event, Dir. Castro discussed the need to scale-up appropriate reliable information and communication technologies and processes as well as knowledge-sharing of all stakeholders from all levels — including the regional and global levels — in order to reduce transboundary disaster risks and promote climate change adaptation and resilience.

“Institutionalizing disaster information management governance involves all stakeholders-partners from government, the private sector, sectors of civil society responsible for managing data over its lifecycle, and those who create and deliver trusted information and to those that share value adding knowledge as basis of all disaster risk reduction and resilience actions and initiatives,” he said.

Moreover, the director also considered the need to preserve and ensure accessibility of Common and Fundamental Operational Datasets (CODs and FODs) – data sets that provide the foundation for humanitarian response coordination, which includes baseline data, population statistics, geographical boundaries, telecommunication and transportation networks, etc.

“Gleaning lessons from our work to address previous disasters in our region, it is but necessary to build, maintain and provide access to Common and Fundamental Operational Datasets (COD, FOD) to all stakeholders involved not only in response, but also for the other thematic areas of disaster risk reduction and resilience. These CODs and FODs are extensively used in risk assessments and predictive analytics for humanitarian response,” he emphasized.

Finally, Director Castro said, “We encourage national stakeholders to innovate their respective information management systems consistent with regional and global frameworks that contribute to our common aspirations of leaving no one behind and a safer, adaptive and disaster resilient communities towards sustainable development.” ###